NERSCPowering Scientific Discovery for 50 Years

Partnerships

Strategic Partnerships in Advanced Computing @ NERSC

Scientific computing is an increasingly important ingredient in technological innovation. The same HPC capabilities that enable scientific discovery can be powerful tools in energy resource modeling, device simulation, and model-based design. Through allocation programs described below, NERSC partners with researchers in public and private sectors to develop new capabilities in modeling, simulation, and data analytics. Thousands of scientists from national labs, academia, and industry use NERSC. With decades of experience in providing advanced scientific computing and data services to Office of Science funded teams NERSC also partners with public and private sector researchers to advance HPC capabilities and their impact.

Partnering with NERSC

NERSC is also accessible through allocation programs that welcome companies, industry groups, and small businesses. NERSC's private sector partnerships bring together researchers from government labs, academia and the private sector in a wide range of domains that connect scientific discovery with technological innovation. Researchers with innovation agendas that advance the DOE mission can apply to access NERSC's advanced computing capabilities, scalable data analytics and HPC expertise. 

How can user facilities access NERSC?

NERSC partners with experimental and observational science facilities serving as a computational hub for telescopes, microscopes, and large scale scientific instruments around the world. NERSC is itself a DOE user facility and supports inter-facility science where HPC has a role. User facilities seeking to partner with NERSC in computing and data are encouraged to 1) check with their program manager if an existing allocation program may already be established and 2) contact us with the specifics of your request. In partnership with ESnet and NERSC several user facilities sponsor computing and storage at NERSC to support their data analytics needs.

How can companies access NERSC?

NERSC has two HPC allocation programs open to non-DOE projects. These allocation programs and eligibility requirements are described here. Both programs invite participation from industry, companies large and small, as well as not-for-profit industry groups with HPC-scale computing interests. NERSC realizes that these two allocation programs may not fit every science agenda. A more general CRADA (Cooperative Research and Development Agreement) is possible where access to NERSC systems and expertise do not fit with existing allocation programs. CRADAs can address e.g. proprietary data and cost-recovery concerns not addressed by ALCC and DDR. For more information on CRADAs see the links at the bottom of this page. 

Partnership Highlights and Programs

Recent work done at NERSC includes the areas listed below. Read more on how to partner with NERSC in applied science innovation. 

Science DomainPartnersGoalsCapabilities
Wind Vertum Partners Wind systems optimization  WRF weather code 
Batteries Sepion Inc. More powerful batteries Ab Initio MD
Additive Manufacturing Carbon Inc.  3D printing of a wide range of materials  Reactive Flow Modeling
Engines United Technologies RC Efficient Spray Combustion  Two-phase CFD codes 
Buildings EERE Accelerate building retrofits Energy+ modeling code 
Manufacturing APPTI (formerly Agenda 2020) Energy efficient paper mills Chombo-Chrunch framework

NERSC is open and accessible through DOE allocations for small businesses, energy-related research and technology co-design partnerships. If your research could benefit from HPC or you have questions about partnering with NERSC, contact Richard Gerber, NERSC Strategic Partnerships Lead, ragerber@lbl.gov, 510-486-6820.

More information about HPC access can be found here: