Partnerships

The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) supports research partnerships at the state, national, and international levels, promoting knowledge-sharing and mutually beneficial exchange of information in advanced computing techniques and technologies. By sharing our expertise and our resources, TACC seeks to foster a framework for technology innovation, and support economic development in the state of Texas and the nation.

Through a three-year partnership with the University of Texas System, researchers from the eight academic institutions and six health institutions that make up the System can access TACC’s advanced computing and visualization resources, training, and expertise. This collaboration has already produced interesting scientific results. Researchers from UT System institutions should apply for an allocation on Lonestar.

TACC is a key resource provider for the National Science Foundation’s TeraGrid. As the largest resource provider in the TeraGrid, TACC provides scientists across the nation with access to ~50 teraflops of advanced computing systems, visualization and storage resources, and technical assistance.

TACC is also leading efforts to build a computational grid across the state of Texas, known as the Texas Internet Grid for Research and Education (TIGRE). TIGRE integrates computing systems, storage systems and databases, visualization laboratories and displays, and even instruments and sensors, to enhance the computational capabilities for Texas researchers in academia, government, and industry.

TACC is a member of the Open Science Grid (OSG) Consortium, an alliance of universities, national laboratories, scientific collaborations, and software developers that contribute effort and resources to the OSG infrastructure and reap the benefits of a shared infrastructure that integrates computing and storage resources from more than 50 sites in the United States, Asia, and South America. The OSG is supported by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

Through the Science & Technology Affiliates for Research program (STAR), TACC is fostering collaborations with industrial users of high performance computing and visualization systems. The STAR program supports high-risk/high-gain research, developing new approaches to solving problems. Companies are exposed to high-end computing, visualization, storage, networking, and advanced software technologies; receive expert support and training in using these technologies; and are made aware of opportunities for joint academic/industrial research.

TACC is working to develop strategic international alliances among international academic computing centers, to build and strengthen global research and development activities, explore common themes and research areas, and promote educational collaborations in advanced computing.