As one of the UK’s leading research universities, we are renowned for the strength, quality and breadth of our research and teaching capabilities, enabling research that truly changes the world.

To further strengthen our unwavering commitment to research excellence, the university it delighted to share that we have implemented a new, state-of-the-art new High-Performance Computing (HPC) system.

Aptly named “Ada”, a nod to Ada Lovelace, the gifted mathematician recognised for creating the first computer programme and foreseeing a digital future, the name is a fitting tribute to the female pioneer, who also had ancestral ties to Nottinghamshire.

Ada replaces our former HPC facility, Augusta, which was in place for fiive years. During this time, Augusta has been a cornerstone for research spanning much of science and engineering, and reaching well beyond those core users.

Professor Jonathan Hirst, Professor of Computational Chemistry at UoN comments “Technology continues to evolve at an extraordinary pace and it is crucial to ensure our HPC infrastructure can meet growing demand accordingly. Ada will be available for experimentation beyond larger, funded projects, leading to more ambitious research and enabling funding, more high-quality outputs and increased inter-disciplinary collaboration.”

Professor Phil Williams, Professor of Biophysics at UoN adds “The new facility will enhance research capabilities across a wide range of disciplines, fuelling innovation and growth in strategic areas of the University, such as quantum technologies, nanoscience, artificial intelligence, imaging, and bioinformatics. It’s a really exciting step forward for the University of Nottingham.”

What is a HPC facility?

The on-site High-Performance Computer (HPC) is available to any research student or member of academic staff, from any School or Faculty, who has the need for compute resource substantially greater than a standard PC.

It allows users to process, analyse and store increasingly large amounts of data and perform complex calculations at high speed to enable high quality and valuable research outputs in key research areas.

The new HPC service will be more widely accessible to support increasingly computationally intensive research performed in areas of the university that are not traditional users of HPC.

Strategic partner OCF was responsible for the design, development, and installation of the cutting-edge HPC facility.