Summer University 2022 on Effective High-Performance Computing and Data Analytics

Content of the digital program (July 11 – 21, 2022)

This summer school will focus on the effective exploitation of state-of-the-art hybrid High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems with a special focus on Data Analytics. The content of the course is tailored for intermediate graduate students (3rd year Bachelor's students, Master’s students, and Ph.D students) interested in both learning parallel programming models, and having hands-on experience using HPC systems. Starting from an introductory explanation of the available systems at CSCS, the course will progress to more applied topics such as parallel programming on accelerators, code optimization, scientific libraries, and deep learning software frameworks.

The following topics will be covered:

• GPU and ARM architectures
• GPU programming (CUDA and OpenACC)
• Performance optimization and scientific libraries (Kokkos)
• Interactive supercomputing (JupyterLab)
• Python HPC libraries (Numpy/SciPy/Dask/Numba)
• Introduction to Machine Learning and GPU optimized frameworks (Rapids)
• Deep Learning on HPC platforms

Lectures will be held by ETH Zurich / CSCS, USI, UNIL and NVIDIA.

COURSE STRUCTURE (online section)

Extensive lab sessions will help to clarify and consolidate the theoretical material. The virtual training will be composed of lectures and interactive sessions for hands-on, as well as Q&A. We are aiming at limiting the lectures to 50% so as to have enough time for hands-on; however, the mileage may vary depending on the topic.

An agenda of the online course is available here.

The course will last two weeks (weekends excluded) and will be held between 9:00 and 15:30 (/16:30 on the last day) CEST (Central European Summer Time). In case of a large number of high-quality applications, in order to support students in their learning process with the resources that are available, we will have to divide the selected applicants in two separate groups:

1- Group 1:  the first group will follow the lectures live and participate live in the hands-on exercises. As they are following live, they will be able to ask for assistance from lecturers as needed (via chat using a dedicated Slack channel or via ZOOM). Group 1 students are expected to attend all the live classes on the program (every day - 9:00 - 15:30). This group will have the possibility to take an exam on the last day of the course (July 21) and students are eligible to receive ECT credit points (6 ECTS for BSc and MSc students / 4 ECTS for PhD students) from Università della Svizzera italiana, provided that they pass the exam. In case of a large number of high-quality applications, priority to attend this program will be given to students in the CEST time-zone.

2- Group 2: the second group has the possibility to follow the lectures either via live streaming, or as recorded sessions; however, these students will have to wait until 16:00 CEST to ask their questions via ZOOM. Each day, we will reserve a one-hour slot (16:00-17:00 CEST) where lecturers will be available to answer questions coming from students of this group. All students (group 1 and group 2) will have the possibility to ask for clarifications on the presented materials via chat (using a dedicated Slack channel) throughout the course. We imagine that students living in a different time zone will benefit from this schedule. These students are also eligible to take the exam for earning the ECT credit points (6 ECTS for BSc and MSc students / 4 ECTS for PhD students) from Università della Svizzera italiana, provided that they pass the exam. The exam will be held on Thursday, July 21, at 13:30 CEST (Central European Summer Time).

EXAM (online section)

BSc and MSc students will be able to earn 6 ECTS credit points and PhD students will be able to earn 4 ECTS credit points for this course (subject to online exam) from the Faculty of informatics at Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) in Lugano, Switzerland: https://search.usi.ch/courses/35263643/effective-high-performance-computing-data-analytics

The examination method will be a quiz on the last day of the summer school program (digital section) - Thursday, July 21, at 13:30 CEST (Central European Summer Time). The quiz will be done on iCorsi and covers all objectives and content of the course. It will include closed-ended questions (which will then be assessed automatically by the system) and open-ended questions (which will be assessed by the lecturers and professors). Students will be notified about the result of the examination by Friday, July 29, 2022.

Students who successfully pass the exam will receive a "confirmation of participation and exam certificate" for this course.

Preliminary agenda for the in-person program (Hotel Serpiano, July 23 – 25, 2022)

July 23, 2022

12:00 – 13:30    Lunch
13:30 – 14:30    Keynote "Performance Engineering and Roofline Modeling," Georg Hager (FAU Erlangen National High-Performance Computing Center, Germany)
14:30 – 15:00    Introductions (one slide per student)
15:00 – 15:30    Coffee Break
15:30 – 17:30    Hands-on sessions
17:30 – 18:00    Break
18:00                 Outdoor activity & Welcome Dinner

July 24, 2022

09:00 – 13:00    Hands-on sessions (based on the materials presented during the digital program)
                           Permanent coffee break
13:00 – 14:00    Lunch
14:00 – 20:00    Excursion in the area
20:00                  BBQ dinner at Hotel Serpiano

July 25, 2022

09:00 – 11:30    Hands-on sessions (based on the materials presented during the digital program)
                           Permanent coffee break
11:30 – 12:30    Keynote "Omniverse: A platform for Digital Twins and collaborative visualization," Peter Messmer (NVIDIA Switzerland AG, Switzerland)
12:30 – 13:30    Lunch
14:00 – 15:00    Transfer to the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS)
15:00 – 16:00    Presentation of the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre and visit of the machine room
16:00                  Farewells

LOCATION and TRAVELS (in-person section)

The in-person portion of the program will take place from July 23 to 25, 2022, at Hotel Serpiano, located in the Italian speaking area of Switzerland. The hotel is positioned on Mount San Giorgio, UNESCO World Heritage site since 2003, wherefrom participants can enjoy an incredible view of Ceresio lake and its surroundings. Attendees will overnight in a double-room together with a fellow student.

The program starts on June 23 with lunch at Hotel Serpiano, and it ends at 16:00 at CSCS, in Lugano.

You will be responsible for getting to Hotel Serpiano (Via Serpiano, 6867 Serpiano, Switzerland) on the first day, and for your return travels from CSCS (Via Trevano 131, 6900 Lugano) on the last day. The hotel has a wide parking space. To reach the hotel by public transportation, you will need to travel by train to Mendrisio station, then by bus from Mendrisio to Hotel Serpiano (the bus stops right in front of the hotel). The train and bus timetable can be accessed here: http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html. Make sure you enter “Serpiano, Albergo” as your destination. Please note that in order to reach Hotel Serpiano by lunch time, you will have to depart by bus from “Mendrisio, Stazione” (Mendrision station) at 9:00.

Directions are available also on the hotel website.

PARTICIPATION FEE

Registration for the online program is free-of-charge. Mentors and learning materials are offered by CSCS, USI, UNIL and NVIDIA.

The rate for the 3-day in-person portion of the program offered as a supplementary option to participants in the digital program is CHF 250. It includes overnight stay (two nights in a double-occupancy room with another student), food and beverage, mentoring throughout the course, an excursion in the area, and a visit of CSCS. Note that this option is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

INQUIRIES

Inquiries may be addressed to summerschool2022@cscs.ch.

The summer school is supported by:

• The Advanced Computing Laboratory at the Institute of Computing which is located at the Faculty of informatics (www.inf.usi.ch) at Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) in Lugano, Switzerland.
• The Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (www.cscs.ch) in Lugano, Switzerland.