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The UFS has a High-Performance Computing (HPC) cluster consisting of more than 800 processing cores. Researchers and postgraduate students of several departments and groups use the HPC facility to conduct their research, for example, Physics and Astrophysics, Biotechnology, Medical Physics, Agricultural Science, the Institute for Groundwater Studies, Maths, Applied Maths and Statistics and Computer Science. During the first nine months of 2011, the HPC was used to perform over 395 computational years. In simple terms, this means that if the researchers were to use a single computer core to do the same calculations, the researchers would have waited 395 years for the results. The consequence is that the HPC has a very high output in terms of publications in accredited international journals (more than 46 over the past three years) as well as several oral and poster contributions to conferences. The HPC group presented a Linux course in July 2011. Over 50 students from across the country (UCT, University of KwaZulu-Natal (Westville Campus), Stellenbosch University, Durban University of Technology (DUT), Walter Sisulu University, Groote Schuur Hospital and the UFS) attended the course.
Enquiries: Prof Jeanet Conradie (Chairperson of the Special-interest group: High-Performance Computing)
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