Category: General

Standard access to high-performance computing resources is open to all areas of science and research, especially for larger-scale projects. These projects should demonstrate excellence in the respective fields and a clear potential to bring innovative solutions to current social and technological challenges. In the application, it is necessary to demonstrate the efficiency and scalability of the proposed calculation strategies and methods in the HPC environment. The necessary data on the performance and parameters of the considered algorithms and applications can be obtained within the Testing Access.

Allocations are awarded for one (1) year with the option to apply for extension, if necessary. Access is free of charge, provided that all requirements defined in the Terms of reference  are met. Submitted projects are evaluated from a technical point of view by the internal team of CC SAS and SK NSCC, and the quality of the scientific and research part is always evaluated by two independent external reviewers.

Call opening date: 6.10.2023
Call closing date: 31.10. 2023, 17:00 CET
Communication of allocation decision: Within 2 weeks of project submission.
Začiatok doby alokácie: najneskôr 16. 11. 2023

Eligible Researchers Scientists and researchers from Slovak public universities and the Slovak Academy of Sciences, as well as from public and state administration organizations and private enterprises registered in the Slovak Republic, can apply for standard access to HPC. Access is provided exclusively for civil and non-commercial open-science research and development. Interested parties from private companies should first contact the National Competence Centre for HPC.

Allocation period: 1 year

Overall allocation offered in the Call: 26 M CPU core-hours and 92k GPU-hours

Available systems: Devana supercomputer  universal CPU and accelerated GPU module

Expected project outcomes:

• Final report within 2 months from the end of the project.
• Peer-review and other publications in domestic and foreign scientific periodicals with acknowledgments in the pre-defined wording, reported through the user portal.
• Active participation in the Slovak HPC conference organized by the coordinator of this call (poster, other contribution).
• Participation in dissemination activities of the coordinator (interview, article in the HPC magazine, etc.).

Hub for the most important cybersecurity news

Qubit Conference® Košice offers a rich program full of panel discussions covering a wide range of topics, from innovative security approaches, to agile team security and security tools and techniques in agile environments, to the latest AI news and its unconventional use. The program will conclude with new cyber education styles and the main challenges and problems in OT security.

Expert workshops

A unique aspect of Qubit Conference® is its commitment to practical education. Workshops are an integral part of the event and allow participants to gain hands-on experience in various areas of cybersecurity. At the autumn format of the conference, participants can look forward to up to 3 full-day practical workshops..

The "From Audit to Incident Response Plan" workshop is focused on all areas of cybersecurity that organizations should not neglect. It will go through the entire process, from assessing the current state of security, through modern cyber threats, to preparing for potential attacks.

The second workshop focuses on the challenges of hardening and ways to control data collection activities. The third workshop provides a comprehensive overview of the use of artificial intelligence in various areas. After completing any workshop, participants can apply for continuing education credits in the form of CPE and ECE credits.

A special feature of the autumn format of the conference is a training course for small and medium-sized businesses.

The conference is opening its doors to small and medium-sized businesses for the first time in the form of a full-day practical cybersecurity training course Prepare for the CYBER ERA.

The training will cover the legal implications of NIS2 and the Cybersecurity Act, which are already mandatory for some sectors and will become mandatory for others after legislative changes in the National Council of the Slovak Republic (NRSR) soon. It will reveal what you really need to invest in to avoid wasting money on ineffective security solutions, as well as how to optimize the use of social media today so that you don't leave unwanted traces in the digital space and prevent unwanted hacker attacks on your business.

Networking opportunity of the year

Everyone who has experienced Qubit Conference® knows that it is the cyber networking opportunity of the year.

The conference is an excellent platform that offers a unique space to connect with experts, share experiences, and collaborate within the cybersecurity community. Building relationships with experts can open doors to exciting career opportunities and collaborations that could otherwise remain hidden.

The latest Slovak supercomputer, Devana, has a total performance of 800 TFlop/s, making it the most powerful publicly accessible supercomputer in the country. In addition to a standard CPU section, Devana also offers an accelerated environment for AI and machine learning tasks. A professional HPC team is available to help companies transfer data and applications to Devana and train their employees on how to use it.

What are the potential benefits for a company that takes advantage of this opportunity?

• Get free access to a powerful supercomputer that can help you speed up and streamline even the most complex computing tasks.
• A web-based interface for HPC using Open OnDemand makes it easy for anyone to use, even if you're not familiar with Linux or the command line.
• Devana offers the opportunity to experiment with using multiple GPU accelerators in parallel to train large AI/ML models.
• Interaktívne počítanie – Jupyter Notebook, Devana Desktop.
• RStudio server for data processing.
• The Singularity containerization platform.
• Ansys software suite for multiphysics simulations.

By using this opportunity, companies will also provide valuable insights and feedback to our HPC service providers, NSCC and CC SAS. This information will help our national HPC center develop new tools and services that are tailored to the needs of businesses.

Getting free access to Devana is easy. Just contact the HPC team, send basic information about the company and its activities HERE Don't hesitate to take advantage of this unique opportunity to improve your products, streamline your processes, and accelerate your research and development projects.

Unfortunately, small and medium-sized businesses in Slovakia and the Czech Republic often do not address the risks associated with their online presence. This opens the door to hacker attacks, which can lead not only to damage to a company's reputation, but also to problems that can ultimately lead to the collapse of the business. And that's certainly something you don't want. Fortunately, there is also someone on the home front who can lend a helping hand.

Cybersecurity without stress – FREE webinar

Qubit Conference® is organizing a FREE webinar called Cybersecurity without stressin cooperation with Edenred Slovakia. The webinar will take place on September 13, 2023 at 2:00 PM. This online webinar is intended for small and medium-sized businesses that want to improve their cybersecurity standards, protect their businesses, and ensure their continuity in the years to come.

The webinar Cybersecurity without stress will provide up-to-date insights from the world of cybersecurity and present effective strategies that can protect businesses from hacker attacks, password breaches, and data leaks. Their subsequent implementation will lead to more efficient and secure business operations, as well as a significant improvement in the company's reputation.

The number of places is limited. So don't hesitate to register for the FREE webinar Cybersecurity without stress todays!

Small and medium-sized businesses are at risk

Až 43% of all cyberattacks are targeted at small and medium-sized businesses. Why are these businesses so vulnerable?

There are several reasons. Hackers target them primarily because they are vulnerable and exploit their cybersecurity ignorance. Such companies often do not have the resources – both financial and human – to pay enough attention to cybersecurity.

Many business owners, especially in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, do not even perceive the threats of cyberattacks. They do not see it as a problem and therefore carelessly neglect cybersecurity. Unfortunately, if a risk does occur, it is usually too late.

Cyberattacks on small and medium-sized businesses often have a fatal impact on their operations and in many cases such companies end up. The result is financial losses, laid-off employees, and in the worst cases even legal problems. However, this can be prevented when you invest time and energy into cybersecurity awareness.

Viruses, stolen passwords, and leaks of sensitive data

Neglecting cybersecurity opens the door to viruses, trojans, stolen passwords, and leaks of sensitive data. In many cases, there is nothing that can be done about it. For example, with ransomware, hackers will encrypt all of your files on your storage device and demand a ransom that often does not even help. This is how many companies have lost all of their data, especially if they did not back it up.

Stolen passwords and leaks of customer data are especially sensitive. These increase customer outrage, damage the company's reputation, and can even lead to legal consequences.

The truth is that the best defense is prevention. And the first step can be the online webinar . Cybersecurity without stressSo don't hesitate, register for FREE and protect your business.

Registration

On November 8-9, 2023 in Košice, interesting speakers and panel discussions, sharing of practical experience of professionals in the field of information and cyber security, interactive training and popular networking await you. Come and share valuable knowledge and experience in the area of development, current regulations and trends in IT security and digital transformation, taking into account the key ways of managing organizations.

Do not miss:

• Inspirational panel discussions and presentations by leading speakers.
• Training for small and medium enterprises.
• Networking events.

Tak part at the Qubit Conference® Košice 2023 and don't miss a unique opportunity for education, presentation of your company and establishing new partnership and professional relationships on the Slovak and Czech cybersec market.

Register your participation in the event today!

The mission of Qubit Conference is to build a professional community of experts in the cybersecurity industry through networking and partnerships through highly professional educational events characterized by a professional approach and a friendly atmosphere.

A comprehensible website with practical instructions and documentation is also available at userdocs.nscc.sk, where you can find information about logging in, projects, SSH keys, software and development equipment, and running computing tasks. Access to Devana is possible through a terminal with a command line, but also through a web interface with the possibility of interactive calculation.

Currently, it is possible to apply for access for testing and benchmarking within a continuously open call s možnosťou využitia získaných údajov (vhodnosť aplikácie, paralelizácia, škálovanie, potrebná veľkosť dátového úložiska a pod.) na podanie žiadosti v pripravovanej výzve pre štandardné projekty.

Scientists and researchers from Slovak public universities and the Slovak Academy of Sciences, as well as from public and state administration organizations and private enterprises registered in the Slovak Republic, can apply for access for testing and benchmarking. Access is provided exclusively for civil and non-commercial open-science research and development. Interested parties from private companies are advised to contact the National Competence Centre for HPC.

We believe that with our professional support, working with Devana will be a benefit for your research and that the new system will allow the realization of many high-quality projects.

You can find a detailed program and more information HERE.

Register now!

During this course, participants will focus on an introduction to natural language processing; text representation, word vectors, text classification and neural networks for natural language processing. Together with the lecturer, they will also discuss HuggingFace Transformers and their practical use. The course includes hands-on exercises. A prerequisite for the course is programming experience in the Python programming language. Experience with PyTorch or Tensorflow frameworks is an advantage.

Register now!

3 sessions were on the agenda, covering the topics of interaction with industry, training and communication. Participants worked in small groups, discussing specific points and sharing best practices within the topics, such as SME approach strategies, service portfolio and how to deal with the state aid issues, rules of engagement with a private company.

Training event formats were discussed, considering post-pandemic trends; experiences with NCC-CoE collaborations were highlighted and different strategies of attracting SME participants to training courses were shared.

The communication session focused on promotion and communication channels, build-up of an audience for different topics and organization of theme-specific webinar series. In each section, opportunities and invitations for collaboration were discussed, as well.

The event was a great opportunity for getting to know colleagues from neighboring NCCs, informal networking, fostering collaboration and finding new inspiration. Great thanks to the organizers and we are looking forward to the next working group meeting!