HPC training from global experts

Supercomputers solve complex problems and fuel cutting-edge research and breakthroughs in a range of disciplines – from aerodynamics and climate modelling to medical treatments and national security.

EPCC is the UK’s first National Supercomputing Centre and home to world-leading experts in high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI) and data science. Its teams are renowned globally for innovation, research and collaboration. A priority is sharing knowledge, such as providing HPC training.

Dr Julien Sindt, EPCC Commercial Manager, said: “Since 2020 we’ve run more than 150 training courses on various computational topics, from how to programme and use an HPC system to much more advanced subjects like how to write complicated software that will run efficiently on state-of-the- art compute hardware.

“With computing, being told how to do something is not as useful as trying to do it yourself, so all our courses combine lectures with practical exercises where you can put into practice what you have learned.

“The real advantage of our courses is the access they give to world-leading experts, who are not only teaching but can also answer questions about your specific project or challenges and provide advice.”

Success story

EPCC also provides bespoke training. This has included a hugely successful course created for the Indonesian government agency for meteorology, climatology and geophysics, the Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika (BMKG).

After implementing HPC infrastructure to enable its teams to run models that will predict rare and extreme weather, BMKG needed to develop the programming knowledge and skills of its researchers and analysts.

EPCC was approached thanks to its global reputation for innovation and excellence and following successful past collaborations, explained Adityawarman, Head of the Centre for Human Resource Development in Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics at BMKG.

He added: “Everyone who attended this training is now sharing their knowledge.” BMKG researcher Wido Hanggoro added: “We needed people who could run and manage the HPC. EPCC is a world leader in computing so we approached them about training, including Python, C++ and Fortran.”

Rezky Yunita was one of 20 people from BMKG who attended the three-week course in Edinburgh. She said: “The course was very comprehensive and we can apply that knowledge to our daily work at BMKG. I learned a lot from it and it was very beneficial.”

Demand

Dr Sindt explained that one of the major challenges of creating the course for BMKG was that “they wanted in three weeks what we usually teach our MSc students in four months”. But EPCC was happy to accommodate and embrace the challenge.

Dr Sindt said: “We created a super-distilled programme that was very intensive, with a lot of advanced topics for them to learn.

“We aim to keep the lecturing side of our courses to a maximum of 50% of the content, with the rest of the time spent on practical exercises. “Mostly our courses are two to three days long, with two world-leading experts instructing a maximum of 20 people.

“An increasing number of companies from different sectors are approaching us for training – and we’re keen to grow that number even more.”

EPCC is also running AI training to support its role as the UK AI Factory Antenna, which was announced in October 2025. The initiative is to help organisations embrace AI and increase knowledge about the technology and its use.

Dr Sindt said: “This is part of an EU project to help increase the uptake of AI within UK-based companies and to make sure large- and small-scale AI development isn’t just restricted to the large tech companies, ensuring there is grassroots support for smaller companies, including training for AI novices.”

He added: “Through DDI support, we’ve been able to fund cloud infrastructure and give UK companies access to a cloud facility, which is available for training purposes and to support research and development.”

For more information, visit epcc.ed.ac.uk/training-courses or email training@epcc.ed.ac.uk