Congratulations to the Winners of the NERSC Science as Art Competition

With 70-plus eye-popping entries, we couldn't pick just one. » Read More

David Baker Wins Nobel Prize for Chemistry

A computational biologist and prolific user of NERSC systems, David Baker has been awarded a Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work in computational protein design. » Read More

Quantum Computing Partnership Extended

After a successful first year punctuated by strong scientific results, NERSC’s partnership with QuEra Computing has been extended. » Read More

Magnifying Deep Space Through the 'Carousel Lens'

Using the Perlmutter supercomputer, DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys, and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, researchers identified a rare and revealing gravitational lens. » Read More

Tropical Cyclones Intensify Due to Warming Atmosphere

Tropical cyclones have grown more intense near global coastal regions. A new study found that hotter air interacting with humidity and wind shear is likely the culprit. » Read More

National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center

NERSC is the mission scientific computing facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, the nation’s single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences.

Computing at NERSC

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Now Computing

Some of the science now being computed at NERSC

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Project	System	Nodes
Calibrated and Systematic Characterization Attribution and Detection of Extremes Biological & Environmental Research PI: Mark Risser, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory	perlmutter	512
Reducing Uncertainties in Biogeochemical Interactions through Synthesis and Computation (RUBISCO) Biological & Environmental Research PI: Forrest Hoffman, Oak Ridge National Laboratory	perlmutter	432
Relativistic quantum dynamics in the non-equilibrium regime Basic Energy Sciences PI: Albert De Prince, Florida State University	perlmutter	80
Electronic structure calculations and simulations of chemical and biological systems Basic Energy Sciences PI: Martin Head-Gordon, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory	perlmutter	64
Continuing studies of plasma based accelerators High Energy Physics PI: Frank Tsung, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)	perlmutter	54
Understanding Cloud Feedback and Climate Sensitivity in E3SMv1 and CMIP6 Models: Roles of Cloud Microphysics and Aerosol-Cloud Interactions Biological & Environmental Research PI: Xiaohong Liu, Texas A&M University	perlmutter	43

Did You Know?

When Did NERSC Start Naming Systems in Honor of Scientists?

This Cray T3E 900 was the first in a long line of scientific supercomputers named for scientists.

Since NERSC moved to Berkeley Lab in 1996, the Department of Energy’s primary scientific computing facility has named all of its supercomputers after scientists.

The naming tradition started in the late 1990s with NERSC’s flagship Cray T3E system. It was called “MCurie” in honor of Marie Curie, the French-Polish physicist and chemist known for her pioneering research on radioactivity. In November 1997, MCurie was the fifth most powerful supercomputer in the world. The system had 512 processors and a theoretical peak speed of 461 billion calculations per second (461 Gigaflops). At the time, it was the nation's biggest supercomputer for unclassified research.