Construction of 'world-changing' national supercomputer begins at Edinburgh University
The new national supercomputer is expected to lead to breakthroughs in medicine, engineering and other fields
Construction has started on the UK’s next national supercomputer, claimed to be 50 times more powerful than the country’s current model, ARCHER2.
Owned by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and hosted at the University of Edinburgh, the system is being built with the help of a £750 million investment from the UK government.
According to the university, the supercomputer will empower "world-changing" discoveries in fields such as aircraft engineering, extreme weather events, and drug discovery for cancer.
"This supercomputer has the potential to help UK researchers accelerate frontiers, unlock new paradigms, and develop solutions to challenges that were previously impossible," said Professor Liz Baggs, vice-principal for research and innovation and chair of food and environmental security at the University of Edinburgh.
"This includes creating the next generation of medicines, revealing untold stories about our planet, and, most excitingly, leading to discoveries that we can’t even imagine yet.”
The new machine is expected to be able to deliver at least a billion billion calculations per second, a marked increase compared to the 20 million billion delivered by ARCHER2.
This means the system will be able to carry out incredibly complex calculations in hours rather than days, and solve much larger problems than ever before.
Notably, the supercomputer will be more efficient than existing models, with surplus heat generated being used to warm university buildings. Developers also plan to assess whether it could also be used to warm local homes by warming water in disused mines.
To reduce the environmental impact, site demolition has been kept to a minimum, and there's a range of sustainability projects planned, including tree planting, protecting ancient trees, and conservation projects for local wildlife.
Construction work on the building, which is roughly the size of a supermarket, is being carried out by Robertson Construction Central East.
“You would never guess from this ordinary-looking building site just how vitally important it will be for the UK and how its contents could impact on all of our lives positively," said Professor Mark Parsons, director of the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre (EPCC) at the University of Edinburgh.
Building on ARCHER2’s success
ARCHER2 – also housed at the University of Edinburgh – played a big part in Covid-19 drug discovery, helped Rolls Royce to improve aircraft engine efficiency and sustainability, and enabled engineers to make wind farms more efficient.
The ageing supercomputer has generated £8 per £1 invested, enabling more than £4.2 billion in benefits for the UK economy, according to an independent report by London Economics.
The new supercomputer nearly didn’t happen, having been shelved by Labour when it came into power, and then reinstated a year later.
“The commencement of construction in Edinburgh marks a pivotal moment for the UK’s scientific infrastructure. We are providing the UK’s brightest minds with the 'industrial-scale' tools required to solve society’s most complex challenges, from decoding the next generation of life-saving medicines to engineering a net-zero future," said AI minister Kanishka Narayan.
"This £750 million investment isn't just about speed; it’s about economic growth, and ensuring the UK remains the premier destination for global innovation."
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