The launch of Doudna, the next supercomputer at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), will bring with it new technological capabilities for research—and new challenges for science teams as they adapt their codes and workflows for these new paradigms. To prepare, NERSC invites users to apply for the NERSC Science Acceleration Program (NESAP) by July 9.
What is NESAP?
NESAP is a collaborative effort that prepares code teams, vendors, and library and tools developers for advanced architectures and new systems, offering participants training, compute time, and assistance from NERSC and HPC vendor staff to adapt and optimize their workflows. Founded in 2014, the program has previously laid valuable groundwork for those using Cori and Perlmutter; looking forward, the focus of NESAP will be on a range of end-to-end workflows, including those for the next generation of NERSC systems and for DOE’s Integrated Research Infrastructure (IRI) program.
Why apply?
Doudna (NERSC-10), arriving in 2026, is designed to deliver 10x the performance of Perlmutter and power the most complex workflows in science research, seamlessly integrating simulation, experimental/observational data analysis, and AI-driven discovery. NESAP provides multi-year hands-on collaboration with NERSC and leading HPC vendors to ensure that teams are ready to take full advantage of cutting-edge system performance and capabilities. All projects, users, and developer teams expecting to operate complex workflows at NERSC in 2026 and beyond—especially those addressing workflow bottlenecks, data and control flow challenges, and forward-looking research workflow designs—are encouraged to apply.
For more information, read the NESAP Call for Proposals.
About NERSC and Berkeley Lab
The National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) is the mission computing facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, the nation’s single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences.
Located at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), NERSC serves 11,000 scientists at national laboratories and universities researching a wide range of problems in climate, fusion energy, materials sciences, physics, chemistry, computational biology, and other disciplines. An average of 2,000 peer-reviewed science results a year rely on NERSC resources and expertise, which has also supported the work of six Nobel prize-winning individuals and teams.
NERSC is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility.