WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced the next phase of its academic computational science program that will focus on the goal of "predictive science."

On May 16 and 17, NNSA's Office of Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) will present information on the Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program (PSAAP) to interested parties. They will focus on the science areas and application domains of particular interests to NNSA. The competition is expected to culminate with awards in place by the beginning of fiscal year 2008.

"Since the 1992 moratorium on underground nuclear testing, large-scale computational science has provided an essential methodology to the scientific discovery and understanding of physical and engineering phenomena," said Tom D'Agostino, deputy administrator for defense programs. "ASC's academic alliances have played an important role in developing these technologies. They have also provided valuable training opportunities for graduate students and post doctoral candidates for future employment in laboratory, academic and industrial settings."

"Predictive science" is the application of verified and validated computational simulations to predict reactions within complex systems where routine experimental tests are not feasible. While the potential set of applications is very broad, PSAAP will focus on unclassified applications of interest to the NNSA and its laboratories - Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia.

"Today's supercomputers provide us with a scale of simulation that exceeds the expertise of single disciplines," stated Dr. Dimitri Kusnezov, director of the NNSA ASC program. "The success of our centers at Caltech, Stanford, University of Chicago, University of Illinois and University of Utah are examples of what such focused efforts can deliver. Through the PSAAP, we welcome the participation of our academic partners to help us develop the necessary, unclassified science and engineering applications and uncertainty quantification methodologies that will further establish viability of predictive science in multi-scale simulations."

For further details on the May 2006 event and the PSAAP program, please visit: www.llnl.gov/asci/alliances/psaap.

Media contact(s):
NNSA Public Affairs (202) 586-7371