NERSC AI for Science CFP 2025

NERSC invites proposals for projects that will leverage our supercomputer Perlmutter to push the state of the art in AI for science and produce novel science outcomes. We specifically seek teams with expertise using deep learning for science, a deep understanding of the scientific domain, and demonstrated proof of concepts. NERSC staff assistance will be available for consulting on running effectively at NERSC, but not generally for model development.

Initially, up to 10,000 Perlmutter GPU node hours will be available for each project (each Perlmutter GPU node contains four A100 GPUs) with associated storage quotas on NERSC’s file systems. Additional computer time and data storage may be available for projects that can demonstrate their ability to utilize them effectively.

We also encourage applications that can use Perlmutter’s CPU-only nodes to generate AI-ready datasets, with the expectation that these datasets will be publicly available. Up to 20,000 CPU Node Hours per project will initially be available, possibly more based on resource availability.

Guidelines

Interested teams are invited to submit a proposal using the application form that includes:

A well-defined project scope that includes relevant scientific background, objectives, methodology, and impact on the scientific community
Computational resource requirements and utilization plan
Team expertise, experience, as well as clear and specific deliverables along with an expected timeline

Criteria

Projects will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Scientific significance and innovation
Degree of relevance to the missions of NERSC, Berkeley Lab, and the DOE Office of Science
Technical feasibility of the proposed project
Potential and readiness for effectively leveraging NERSC’s large computational resources at scale
Clarity in scope, timeline, objectives, and track record of the research team

Awards are for the NERSC 2025 Allocation Year, which runs through January 20, 2026. Awardees will be required to report progress and summarize achievements to NERSC.

Apply

Please fill out the application form for consideration. Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Submissions made by April 15, 2025, will be given full consideration.

Contact Shashank Subramanian or Wahid Bhimji for further information.

About NERSC and Berkeley Lab
The National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility that serves as the primary high performance computing center for scientific research sponsored by the Office of Science. Located at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, NERSC serves almost 10,000 scientists at national laboratories and universities researching a wide range of problems in climate, fusion energy, materials science, physics, chemistry, computational biology, and other disciplines. Berkeley Lab is a DOE national laboratory located in Berkeley, California. It conducts unclassified scientific research and is managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy. »Learn more about computing sciences at Berkeley Lab.