BSC-CNS Newsletter January 2018

A step forward in Parkinson’s disease

BSC participates in a study published in Nucleic Acids Research that points to new biomarkers that might help in the early detection of Parkinson and multiple system atrophy (MSA), as well as in exploring possible treatments. The team is using genomics to advance our understanding of Parkinson´s disease. They have discovered a mechanism that regulates the expression of alpha-synuclein, a protein linked to Parkinson´s disease and MSA.

Simulations predict that Antarctic volcanic ash can disrupt air traffic

Simulations demonstrated that Antarctic volcanoes might pose a higher threat than previously considered. A research focused on the potential impacts of ash dispersal and fallout from Deception Island highlights how ash clouds entrapped in circumpolar upper-level winds have the potential to reach lower latitudes and disrupt Austral hemisphere air traffic.

New project to plug the software-stack support gap for energy-efficient computing

Imagine being able to write an application once and have it scheduled from Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to data centres and supercomputers, all while making the most energy-efficient use of the hardware available. This is the main challenge the European project LEGaTO will tackle over three years of research. The project is coordinated by BSC.

BSC participates in the V-Heart SN project with Alya

BSC, partner in the V-Heart SN (Spanish Research Network for Cardiac Computational Modelling ) network, will provide Alya as the main cardiovascular simulation tool of the network, to expand its use both in Spanish academic and clinical environments. V-Heart SN aims to make the use of virtual hearts easier by employing computational models in daily clinical practice.

BSC researchers, selected for ERC “Consolidator Grant”

Carlos Pérez García-Pando, group leader of the Atmospheric Composition and AXA Professor at BSC, and Francisco J. Cazorla, leader of the CAOS research group at the BSC and researcher in the CSIC, have been selected to receive two Consolidator Grants from the European Research Council (ERC) for their projects FRAGMENT and SuPerCom.

BSC participates in the establishment of a research centre for the Atlantic

BSC is to form part of the Atlantic International Research Center (AIR Center), whose headquarters is in the Azores. The centre will do research in scientific areas such as climate change, oceans, supercomputing, atmosphere, space and energy, carrying out studies with data obtained from the Atlantic Ocean.

New release of the DLB library (2.0)

The Computer Sciences department at BSC is proud to announce the release of DLB 2.0 (Dynamic Load Balance). The most relevant feature of this version is the novel DROM (Dynamic Resource Ownership Management) module. This module provides an interface to manage the computational resources assigned to processes during their execution by an external entity (i.e. job scheduler or resource manager).

Agreement between BSC and PIMEC to improve competitiveness of small companies through HPC

BSC and PIMEC are to establish a collaboration framework to promote the innovation of small companies through HPC. This agreement aims at improving competitiveness of companies through the development of solutions on Machine Learning, Big Data, Neuronal Networks and Artificial Intelligence applied to business cases of a small size.

MareNostrum 4, chosen as the most beautiful data centre in the world

MareNostrum 4 supercomputer has been the winner of the Most Beautiful Data Center in the world Prize, hosted by the Datacenter Dynamics (DCD) Company. MareNostrum 4 competed with such impressive facilities as the Switch Pyramid in Michigan, the Bahnhof Pionen in Stockholm or the Norwegian Green Mountain.

BSC researchers selected for two HiPEAC Tech Transfer Awards

On behalf of the CAOS group, Francisco J. Cazorla won an award for the entry titled ‘Enabling Real-Time Guarantees on Multicores with Rapita’s Verification Suite and BSC's Micro-Benchmark Technology’. A second Tech Transfer Award was obtained by the entry ‘OmpSs@FPGA for Industrial Internet of Things, submitted by Carlos Álvarez on behalf of a team of BSC-UPC researches within the Computer Science department.

BSC Fusion Group Member wins prestigious EUROfusion Engineering Grant

Albert Gutiérrez, from BSC Fusion Group, has been awarded with a prestigious EUROfusion Engineering Grant (EEG) for his project entitled Software Engineering: Development of High Performance Computing capability for fusion workflows, integrated to the ITER Modelling framework. The grant will have a duration of three years.

BSC opens applications for 20 predoctoral INPhINIT-"La Caixa" fellowships

INPhINIT is a doctoral fellowship programme devoted to attracting international Early-Stage Researchers to the top Spanish research centres. In this 2nd edition, BSC offers 20 predoctoral positions. The selected candidates will have the opportunity of joining BSC’s research groups to carry out one of the research projects selected.