Simulation, visualization, and artificial intelligence have become essential tools for understanding and addressing many of society's most complex problems. At the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS), seizing the opportunities that supercomputing and other advanced digital technologies offer for addressing these challenges is at the center of all that we do.

HLRS was established in 1996 as the first German national high-performance computing (HPC) center. As a central unit of the University of Stuttgart and a founding member of the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing, HLRS supports large-scale computational research not only in the Stuttgart region, but also for researchers across Germany and Europe.

Through its alliance with the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing, HLRS participates in Europe-wide initiatives including the Partnership for Advanced Supercomputing in Europe (PRACE), the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, and GAIA-X. As coordinating center for the EuroCC 2, CASTIEL 2, and FFplus projects, we are also leading efforts to increase and coordinate HPC expertise across Europe.

As home to one of Europe's fastest supercomputers and a large team of HPC experts, HLRS provides essential tools and solutions for cutting-edge academic and industrial research, particularly in the sciences and computational engineering. At the same time, we are working constantly to improve high-performance computing, and to identify opportunities for using HPC, data analytics, and related technologies in other areas where it can have an impact.

HLRS's remarkable computing resources enable researchers in the basic and applied sciences to study extremely complex problems that would be impossible to investigate in any other way. Some of our users' most important application areas include high-resolution climate and weather modeling, automotive and aerospace engineering, combustion, wind energy generation, biomedical engineering, astrophysics, molecular dynamics, computational chemistry, materials science, particle physics, and bioinformatics. Learn more about user research.

Staff scientists at HLRS are involved in dozens of funded collaborative research projects, working closely with academic and industrial partners from across Europe to address key problems facing the future of high-performance computing. Many of these projects also involve applied research to address global challenges where HPC can provide new kinds of practical solutions. In addition, HLRS is leading multiple international projects focused on increasing HPC competency across Europe. Learn more about HLRS Projects.

HLRS's HPC training program is among the most extensive and experienced in Europe, providing continuing professional education to approximately 1,000 trainees each year. Our training curriculum addresses topics in parallel programming, visualization, cluster usage and administration, performance optimization and debugging, data analysis, and programming languages for scientific computing. Additionally, HLRS helped launch the Supercomputing-Akademie to address the unique needs and interests of scientists, engineers, and IT administrators in industry.

Since its founding, an important part of HLRS's mission is to support industrial R&D by providing HPC capabilities and expertise that are often impossible to develop in the private sector. Companies both large and small use HLRS's world-class computing resources for their research & development. Our one-stop, comprehensive services particularly support the competitiveness of Baden-Württemberg's thriving high-tech engineering community. In addition, our Solution Center model focuses on improving access to HPC computing resources in industries where it holds great potential for innovation. Learn more about how HLRS supports industry.

Because high-performance computing unavoidably requires large amounts of energy and other resources, HLRS takes sustainability seriously. We have implemented comprehensive environmental and energy management systems that are recognized with formal certification under the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), the world's most demanding framework for environmental management. Much of the science that HLRS makes possible is also aimed at improving sustainability, addressing topics related to climate change, green energy, and more sustainable mobility concepts. Learn more about sustainability at HLRS.

Computer simulation and artificial intelligence are changing science, technology, politics, and society in fundamental ways that are so far only vaguely understood. HLRS's Department of Philosophy of Compuational Sciences is investigating this transformation, and promotes public understanding of simulation methods and how to evaluate its results. By enabling philosophers, social scientists, and historians of science to work side-by-side with simulation scientists at HLRS, the department is uniquely positioned to conduct methodical research that considers the practice of simulation and its implications in detail.

As a research center affiliated with the University of Stuttgart, promoting public understanding of simulation is an important part of HLRS's mission. Each year we host students for "Simulated Worlds," an enrichment program that gives young people the opportunity to pursue computer science projects alongside HLRS staff. HLRS also participates in Girls' Day and the University of Stuttgart's "Tag der Wissenschaft," opening its doors and offering tours of our computing room and visualization facilities. In addition, HLRS staff regularly participate in public science and technology events, presenting lectures or demonstrating our latest activities. Learn more about public education and outreach.