CASTIEL 3 builds on CASTIEL 2, continuing the Europe-wide support for NCCs and ensuring complementarity to further projects in HPC and AI in Europe, directly supporting the Digital Europe Programme goals: advancing skills, technological sovereignty and broad access to HPC and AI capabilities.
CASTIEL 2 coordinated and supported collaboration among the network of National Competence Centres for HPC and the HPC Centres of Excellence, promoting the development of HPC expertise and the adaption of HPC applications across Europe.
Since 2020, the CASTIEL coordination and support action has worked closely with the EuroCC network of National Competence Centres (NCCs) for High-Performance Computing (HPC) to identify and address differences in HPC expertise among the participating countries, and to find synergies that could enhance the development of pan-European HPC competences.
In its third project phase, CASTIEL 3 continues the original project’s mission and work with the National Competence Centre initiative and collaborates with projects via all its work packages, including cooperation regarding training with EVITA and EUMaster4HPC, connecting with industry (e.g., via the HPC Service Hub) and CoEs, and alignment with AIF(A)s.
CASTIEL 3 forms the backbone of the NCC network, uniting national HPC efforts within a European framework. It develops expertise in the NCCs through promoting collaboration within the NCC network and with other relevant European HPC initiatives. It links the NCC network to other European initiatives, maximising synergies and avoiding duplication. As such, CASTIEL 3 aligns with EVITA on certification and training standards to promote successful formats for high-quality training, while twinning and mentoring activities foster skills development within the NCCs. Promoting training, events, and services via the HPC in Europe Portal and the HPC Service Hub, and exchanging (e.g., on best practices) with other projects like EPICURE, MINERVA, or AIF(A), further positions NCCs as a central point of access for HPC (and AI) users.
Who are the NCCs?
Established under the EuroCC project and continued under EuroCC 2, EuroCC4SEE, and EuroCC3, the network of National Competence Centres (NCCs) now includes a total of 36 participating countries across Europe. The NCC network provides expertise and support for users from industry, academia, public administration, and society in the fields of High-Performance Computing (HPC,) High-Performance Data Analytics (HDPA), and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Find out more about the NCCs and their support here: National Competence Centres
CASTIEL 3 partners
- University of Stuttgart (USTUTT), Germany
- Scapos AG (SCAPOS), Germany
- Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional De Supercomputación (BSC), Spain
- TERATEC FRANCE (TERATEC), France
- Tartu Ülikool (UTARTU), Estonia
Runtime
01.04.2026 – 31.03.2029
Funding
CASTIEL 3 has received funding from the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (JU) under Grant Agreement No. 101306918. The JU receives support from the European Union‘s Digital Europe Programme and and Germany, Spain, France, and Estonia.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EuroHPC Joint Undertaking. Neither the European Union nor the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking can be held responsible for them.
Coordinator
University of Stuttgart, High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS)
Contact
Dr. Bastian Koller, pcmo@hlrs.de