Science at NERSC

NERSC's core mission is to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery. NERSC and its nearly 6,000 users are are extremely active contributors to all fields of energy-related science in which computation and data analysis play a central role. NERSC is citied in about 1,500 refereed scientific publications per year. A complete list of science articles is at Science News and science presentations can be found at Science Highlights Presentations. On these pages we present some highlights from our users and describe some of the ways NERSC gathers requirements for science and recognizes its users accomplishments.

NERSC HPC Achievement Awards

The NERSC HPC Achievement Awards are given annually to recognize extraordinary scientific achievement from NERSC users and to encourage the innovative use of High Performance Computing resources. Read More »

Accelerator Science

Particle accelerators are among the largest, most complex, and most important scientific instruments in the world. Extreme scale computing technologies such as those at NERSC are needed for their design, optimization, commissioning, and operation. Read More »

Astrophysics

Numerical simulation is now the dominant mechanism of discovery in theoretical astrophysics and cosmology, which encompasses what may be the most fundamental problem in all of physics: the nature of dark energy and matter. Read More »

Biological Sciences

Better knowledge of biomolecules and the processes they undergo is vital for achieving a predictive, systems-level understanding of complex systems that have potential use in bioenergy, carbon cycling, biosequestration, and biogeochemistry. Read More »

Chemistry & Materials Science

Simulation plays an indispensable role in efforts to understand, predict, and ultimately control matter and energy at the electronic, atomic, and molecular levels. The goal is to provide new or improved materials for use in a wide variety of applications. Read More »

Climate & Earth Science

By developing computational tools to effectively model Earth's climate and helping to understand, predict and mitigate the impacts of environmental contamination, scientists are ensuring that society can successfully adapt to a changing world. Read More »

Energy Science

Be it better photovoltaic efficiency, finding deep-sea oil and gas reservoirs, or better understanding of chemical catalysts, energy research demands extreme-scale computing resources. Read More »

Engineering Science

Researchers in this area develop and apply a variety of advanced computational methodologies for solving large-scale complex fluid flow problems. These can arise in Department of Energy (DOE) mission areas related to energy, environmental, and industrial technology. Read More »

Environmental Science

NERSC users advance fundamental science to understand, predict and mitigate the impact of environmental contamination. This is especially important for remediation of contaminated areas where hazardous materials might become widely dispersed by groundwater flow. Read More »

Fusion Science

If humans could harness nuclear fusion, the process that powers stars like our Sun, the world could have an inexhaustible energy source. Read More »

Math & Computer Science

Modeling and simulation requires a concerted effort to couple advances in algorithms, programming models, operating systems, filesystems, I/O environments, and data analysis tools. Read More »

Nuclear Science

NERSC supports both experimental and theoretical nuclear research that leads us on a journey of discovery into the nucleus of the atom - the very heart of matter. The goal is a roadmap that will help unlock the secrets of how the universe is put together. Read More »