NERSCPowering Scientific Discovery for 50 Years

Exploring NERSC's Mission and Impact at APS

NERSC is featured in a video at this week’s American Physical Society annual meeting. » Read More

Getting a Peek Into Ice Giants

Scientists are using NERSC's Perlmutter supercomputer to study the interior chemistry of ice giant planets like our solar system's Neptune. » Read More

50 Years of NERSC Firsts

Get the highlights from our last half-century of scientific supercomputing. » Read More

Revealing the Reaction Behind Salt-Based Nuclear Reactors

Using computing resources at NERSC, researchers have revealed how electrons interact with ions of molten salts, providing insights into the processes that could occur inside salt-based nuclear reactors. » Read More

NERSC Turns 50 in 2024

Did you know NERSC got its start in fusion energy research? Learn more about our unique history and join us in celebrating half a century of energizing scientific enlightenment through computing. » Read More

Shining a Light on Microbial Dark Matter

NERSC collaborations help illuminate Earth’s biodiversity. » Read More

Perlmutter Supports Gravitational Lensing System Modeled on GPUs

A team of researchers has modeled a rare instance of strong gravitational lensing known as an Einstein Cross. It’s likely the first such model run on GPUs. » Read More

National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center

NERSC is the mission scientific computing facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, the nation’s single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences.

Computing at NERSC

Now Playing

Some Scientific Computing Now in Progress at NERSC

Project System Nodes Node Hours Used
Continuing studies of plasma based accelerators
 High Energy Physics
 PI: Frank Tsung, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
perlmutter 256
Wisconsin Turbulence Modeling for MCF
 Fusion Energy Sciences
 PI: Benjamin Faber, University of Wisconsin - Madison
perlmutter 128
Computational studies in plasma physics and fusion energy
 Fusion Energy Sciences
 PI: Abhay Ram, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
perlmutter 96
Large scale simulations of materials for quantum information science
 ASCR Leadership Computing Challenge
 PI: Giulia Galli, University of Chicago
perlmutter 64
The mechanisms, impacts, and predictability of extreme El Ni�o events in E3SM and other Earth system models: quantifying the role of westerly wind bursts
 Biological & Environmental Research
 PI: Alexey Fedorov, Yale University
perlmutter 58
Energy Exascale Earth System Modeling (E3SM)
 Biological & Environmental Research
 PI: Lai-Yung Ruby Leung, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
perlmutter 44

Did You Know?

'Bubbles' the Cray-2

Cray 2 cropped

In 1985, NERSC was the first to install the Cray-2, then the fastest computer in the world. Today, just about any mobile phone has more processing power. The Cray-2 was nicknamed "Bubbles" for its unique liquid cooling system.

 

Visit our interactive timeline to learn more about NERSC history.