The University of Rhode Island is joining the Massachusetts Green High-Performance Computing Center, becoming the first academic institution outside of the Bay State to take part in the collaboration.
The center is a joint effort among the five major research universities in Massachusetts (Boston University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, and the University of Massachusetts system) and has a dedicated center in Holyoke that was built in 2012.
URI says the new partnership will give it and the state of Rhode Island new technology resources and will help enable collaboration between the university and its Massachusetts counterparts.
URI will host its own high-performance computing hardware at the center and operate it jointly with UMass Amherst’s research-computing systems, in addition to installing $1.5 million worth of new high-performance computing hardware.
"Scholarly work is increasingly dependent on technology,” said URI President Marc Parlange in a statement. “From the digital humanities through computationally intensive ocean modeling, our work often depends on data analytics, simulation, visualization, and many other digital domains. This investment supports our common goal of continuing to build on our regional, national, and international research profile. It will build on our strong track record of computing investments and position us to help address pressing global issues across the disciplines and colleges.”
Researchers at URI have already used the partnership to submit several joint proposals to the National Science Foundation, the university said.
The center's other activities include submitting collaborative grant proposals, running regional workshops, and maintaining a presence at international supercomputing conferences.
