Slovenia successful in application for EU supercomputer funding

The Slovenian project has achieved the best result among all applicants in the call for applications, having scored 82 out of the possible 100 points.

As Digital Transformation Minister Ksenija Klampfer announced in a press statement on Tuesday, the European Commission is expected to announce the full results of the call by the end of the week.

The final amount of the EU contribution as part of EuroHPC, the joint initiative between the EU, member states and private partners to develop a world-class supercomputing ecosystem, will be known in the coming weeks.

The cost of the project is estimated at EUR 150 million, half of which is to be contributed by the EU, and given the number of points scored, Slovenia expects to receive the entire amount.

This is the "result of hard work, Slovenian knowledge and vision," Klampfer said, noting that the procedure required a lot of coordination, successfully connecting the largest organisations and experts in the field.

The supercomputer will act as a central platform for advanced research and applications and will support both business and academic partners.

Prime Minister Robert Golob said that "Slovenia has once again proven that it is a country of knowledge, ambition and top scientific achievements."

He added that the success in the call for applications is not merely technical, but also a clear sign that "we are competitive at the highest level in the global innovation arena."

"This project is not just an investment in technology, but in the future of young people and in Slovenia's position as a technological and scientific centre in Europe," the prime minister's office quoted him.

The application was prepared by the Institute of Information Science (IZUM), which has operated a supercomputer in Maribor, named Vega, since April 2021, with the support of the Digital Transformation Ministry.

The consortium includes the Jožef Stefan Institute, the ARNES research network, the universities of Ljubljana, Maribor, Nova Gorica and Primorska, the Faculty of Information Studies in Novo Mesto, the Ljubljana Technology Park, and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS).

IZUM director Aleš Bošnjak said that the success in the call should also be attributed to the fact that Slovenia established a supercomputer in 2021 as the first out of eight applicants.

The new supercomputer will be approximately 16 times more powerful than Vega, and will be fully adapted to AI services and solutions.

It will build on the existing capabilities of Vega and will enable complex research and the development of advanced solutions in AI, big data analysis, biotechnology and environmental sciences.

Of the EUR 150 million, EUR 10 million will go for the AI factory, while the total amount also includes EUR 5 million that Slovenia will contribute to the Bologna-based supercomputer centre Cineca HPC.

The supercomputer will focus on three areas: the green transition, biomedicine and the digital society, and will be used to develop different applications and AI models for these areas.

The second phase of the project, which will cost EUR 25 million, includes upgrade of the hardware with the most advanced graphics processors, two years after the supercomputer and artificial intelligence factory start operating.

This is expected to extend the lifespan and competitiveness of the new supercomputer, which will be strategically located in an ARNES-operated data centre near the Mariborski Otok hydropower plant because it will consume a lot of electricity.

The data centre is expected to start trial operation in June 2026, with the building permit having already been issued.

The supercomputer will be managed, maintained and administered by IZUM with the assistance of ARNES and the Jožef Stefan Institute.