About KONWIHR

The Competence Network for Scientific High Performance Computing in Bavaria (KONWIHR) is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts.

Main objectives

The main objective of KONWIHR is to provide technical support for the use of high-performance computers and to expand their deployment potential through research and development projects. Close cooperation between disciplines, users, and participating computer centers as well as efficient transfer and fast application of the results are important.

The Leibniz Computer Centre (LRZ) in Garching and the Erlangen National High Performance Computing Center (NHR@FAU) provide researchers in Bavaria with state-of-the-art HPC systems of all performance classes. The efficient use of such highly parallel systems requires the continuous adaptation of existing programs as well as the development of new, scalable programs for simulation, optimization, and data analysis. To make this work efficient and sustainable, modern principles of software engineering, algorithm engineering, and performance engineering must be applied. Close cooperation between HPC application sciences, HPC method sciences, and HPC experts in data centers is, therefore, the fundamental prerequisite for internationally competitive, highly parallel, and hardware-efficient software. The aim of the funding program is to support scientists in Bavaria in adapting and developing their numerical applications or other data- or computation-intensive codes for modern (highly) parallel computer architectures. Efficient executability and scalability on modern manycore architectures shall be ensured. Project funding includes the provision of personnel resources and access to the proven HPC competence of the participating computer centers.

Previous funding periods

Between 2000 and 2004, a total of EUR 4.6 million in funding was available under KONWIHR-I. It was assumed that an appropriate share of the costs, three quarters to half depending on the type of project, would be provided from own or third-party funds.

From 2005 onwards, a small number of projects continued to receive funding each year through bridging funds.

Starting in 2008, a new funding line (KONWIHR-II) was announced by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts. A first application package was reviewed by the KONWIHR committees in June/July 2008. The corresponding funding decisions were sent out in August.

In 2009, the KONWIHR Multicore Software Initiative started to support small measures (up to 3 months) that have proven to be very effective.

Within the framework of the funding line KONWIHR-III from 2012 to 2018, measures of the KONWIHR Multicore Software Initiative were again funded for up to 3 or 12 months as well as a few lighthouse projects (2 or 3 years).