CSCS-USI Summer University 2025 on Effective High-Performance Computing and Data Analytics

COURSE STRUCTURE

Extensive lab sessions will help to clarify and consolidate the theoretical material. The in-person training, which will be available live on zoom for remote participants, will be composed of lectures and interactive sessions for hands-on exercises, 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. On the last day of the course (July 25) students from both groups will have the possibility to take an exam in order to obtain 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.

Please note that the exam will take place exclusively in-person (additional details are available in the section below).

Group 1: in-person participation

The Summer University 2025 program has been designed for in-person participants. It aims at offering engaging and interactive sessions, to create collaborations, and to share some entertaining moments together surrounded by nature. The event will include a keynote presentation from an invited speaker and various hands-on exercises supported by mentors on HPC and Data Analytics, with a particular focus on GPU programming. On Wednesday afternoon we are planning an excursion in the area, and on Friday afternoon a visit to the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS).

Group 2: remote participation

Remote participants will follow lectures live via zoom and participate live in hands-on exercises. If students’ time zone does not allow them to attend the live sessions, they may also elect to follow the classes as recorded sessions. Note that, since the program has been designed for in-person participation, the lecturer will be moving inside the room. Remote participants will be able to see the slides and listen to the trainer at all times, but the streaming might not be able to capture all interactions with the audience. Students will be able to ask for assistance from lecturers as needed (preferably using the dedicated Slack channel). Live classes will take place every day from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 13:30 to 16:00, with the exception of Wednesday and Friday, when classes will be held only in the morning. Each day, we will reserve a 30-min. slot from 16:00 to 16:30 CEST (except Wednesday and Friday), when lecturers will be available to answer questions coming from students of this group via ZOOM.

EXAM

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 exam) from the Faculty of Informatics at Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) in Lugano, Switzerland.

The examination method will be a quiz on the last day of the summer school program - Friday, July 25, at 11:00 CEST (Central European Summer Time). The quiz will be done in person and covers all objectives and content of the course. It will include multi-choice questions and open-ended questions which will be assessed by the lecturers and professors. Students will be notified about the result of the examination by Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Students who successfully pass the exam will receive a "confirmation of participation and exam certificate" for this course.

Please note that the exam will take place exclusively in-person. Students of group 1 (in-person participants) will take the exam at Hotel Serpiano, where the program is being held. Students of group 2 (remote participants) wishing to take part in the exam should plan to do so either at Università della Svizzera italiana or at ETH Zurich (exam rooms will be communicated closer to the Summer University program dates).There will be no alternative dates for taking the exam.

LOCATION and TRAVELS (in-person section)

The program will take place from July 19 to 25, 2025, 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 Saturday, July 19,  with a welcome dinner at Hotel Serpiano,  and it ends on Friday, July 25, at 16:00 at CSCS, in Lugano.

The hotel cannot be reached by public transportation. Students will be responsible for getting to Mendrisio train station on Saturday afternoon. We will organize a bus to Hotel Serpiano with departure from Mendrisio train station around 17:00  (further details will be provided to the selected applicants closer to the event date). Students will be responsible for their return travels from CSCS (Via Trevano 131, 6900 Lugano) on the last day after 16:00.

For those traveling by private transportation directions are available on the hotel website.

PARTICIPATION FEE

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

The rate for the 6-day in-person portion of the program is CHF 550. It includes overnight stay (6 nights in a double-occupancy room with another student), food and beverage, mentoring throughout the course, an excursion in the area, and a visit to CSCS. We can accept a maximum of 30 students for the in-person program.

TARGET AUDIENCE

The target audience is intermediate graduate students, which includes 3rd year Bachelor's students, Master’s students, Ph.D. students, and early stage Postdocs.

REQUIREMENTS

Applicants have to meet the following requirements:

• Good knowledge of C/C++ and basic knowledge of Python
• Basic understanding of MPI
• Familiarity with the UNIX/Linux OS and the basic programming environment tools (terminals, editors, compilers)
• Require HPC skills for their work or research

Only applicants who satisfy all requirements will be considered. Participants will work on their own laptop for practical sessions. Credentials for accessing the machines will be provided to selected students, who will have to confirm their consent to the policy of temporary use of the supercomputer resources and will be asked to provide a document that verifies their identity (the document will be deleted after identity verification).

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applications for this program will open before Christmas.

USI master and PhD students  interested in attending the Summer University are also required to register for this program on the USI exam platform GESTU and all course registration platforms, if they intend to take the master program exams during the first 6 weeks of the semester.

Applications must be submitted by Friday, April 11, 2025. You will be notified about acceptance or rejection of your application by Wednesday, May 14, 2025.

Those candidates whose application successfully passes the selection process will receive further information regarding registration.

INQUIRIES

Inquiries may be addressed to summeruniversity@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