Science at NERSC
NERSC is all about enabling discovery in a wide range of scientific fields. Although it's difficult to choose from the nearly 1,500 publications that NERSC users generate each year, below you can find a sample of research highlights. The complete list of science articles is at Science News and science presentations can be found at Science Highlights Presentations.
Accelerator Science
Particle accelerators are among the largest, most complex, and most important scientific instruments in the world. Extreme scale computing technologies such as those at NERSC are needed for their design, optimization, commissioning, and operation. Read More »
Astrophysics
Numerical simulation is now the dominant mechanism of discovery in theoretical astrophysics and cosmology, which encompasses what may be the most fundamental problem in all of physics: the nature of dark energy and matter. Read More »
Chemistry & Materials Science
Simulation plays an indispensable role in efforts to understand, predict, and ultimately control matter and energy at the electronic, atomic, and molecular levels. The goal is to provide new or improved materials for use in a wide variety of applications. Read More »
Climate & Earth Science
By developing computational tools to effectively model Earth's climate and helping to understand, predict and mitigate the impacts of environmental contamination, scientists are ensuring that society can successfully adapt to a changing world. Read More »
Energy Science
Be it better photovoltaic efficiency, finding deep-sea oil and gas reservoirs, or better understanding of chemical catalysts, energy research demands extreme-scale computing resources. Read More »
Engineering Science
Researchers in this area develop and apply a variety of advanced computational methodologies for solving large-scale complex fluid flow problems. These can arise in Department of Energy (DOE) mission areas related to energy, environmental, and industrial technology. Read More »
Environmental Science
NERSC users advance fundamental science to understand, predict and mitigate the impact of environmental contamination. This is especially important for remediation of contaminated areas where hazardous materials might become widely dispersed by groundwater flow. Read More »
Fusion Science
If humans could harness nuclear fusion, the process that powers stars like our Sun, the world could have an inexhaustible energy source. Read More »
Life Science
Better knowledge of biomolecules and the processes they undergo is vital for achieving a predictive, systems-level understanding of complex systems that have potential use in bioenergy, carbon cycling, biosequestration, and biogeochemistry. Read More »
Math & Computer Science
Modeling and simulation requires a concerted effort to couple advances in algorithms, programming models, operating systems, filesystems, I/O environments, and data analysis tools. Read More »
Nuclear Science
NERSC supports both experimental and theoretical nuclear research that leads us on a journey of discovery into the nucleus of the atom - the very heart of matter. The goal is a roadmap that will help unlock the secrets of how the universe is put together. Read More »
HPC Requirements for Science
A series of workshops NERSC hosts with ASCR to determine science requirements for computational research supported by the Office of Science Read More »