SAV Launches Perun Supercomputer to Advance Science and State Governance

Bratislava, 2 May (TASR) - Slovakia has joined the ranks of countries with their own state-of-the-art computing infrastructure after the Perun national supercomputer was officially inaugurated at the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) campus in Bratislava, TASR reported earlier this week. In combination with an already operational workplace in Kosice, this integrated system represents a fundamental milestone for Slovak science and is expected to significantly bolster scientific research, innovation and the state's ability to make qualified decisions. During the ceremonial launch of the Perun supercomputer, SAV chair Martin Venhart highlighted its wide-ranging applications across various sectors. "Beyond scientific research across all areas of science covered by SAV, it has enormous potential for technology companies and also for the Slovak government. Complex processes within the state can be moved into virtual space to model their impacts on the population," he stated. The supercomputer is part of one of Slovakia's most significant digital modernisation projects. The Bratislava component, located at the SAV Centre of Operations, complements the system installed at the Technical University in Kosice, with both components functioning as unified infrastructure with interconnected data and shared user management. With its performance of up to 14.5 PFLOPs, the supercomputer in Bratislava is one the most powerful computing systems in the region. Together with Kosice, the system's total performance is approximately 25 PFLOPs. The national supercomputer project was funded from the Recovery and Resilience Plan, with €36.3 million allocated for SAV in Bratislava and €20.9 million for the Technical University in Kosice. Investment, Regional Development and Informatisation Minister Samuel Migal (Independent) described the project as important and useful for Slovakia. "It will truly have incredible performance, which bodes well for our ability to deliver high-quality and professional results from SAV and other research facilities in Slovakia," he stated. The Perun supercomputer will serve a wide range of users across diverse research areas, ranging from materials science, drug development and climatology to simulations in chemistry and multiphysics modelling. Its architecture also supports the processing of extensive data and the training of large artificial intelligence models. jrg/df/mf