UPPMAX contributions against the COVID-19 pandemic
While the main function of UPPMAX is to provide a world-class digital research environment, as a tax-funded resource we can and should keep public welfare in mind. In the current crisis, HPC resources can play a crucial role in contributing to the understanding of the virus itself as well as mitigation strategies and their impact.
Research groups are currently using UPPMAX and other SNIC centra to run an epidemiological simulation that accurately models Sweden. This can give both researchers and policy makers a more detailed perspective of what may be happening beyond what is captured by the current testing scheme. Sveriges Radio has a mention of this project, as does Computer Sweden. Here is a longer article by SVT.
Additionally, UPPMAX staff have started a project that lets COVID-19-related protein folding simulations consume otherwise unused compute time on Rackham and Snowy. These simulations are run using Folding@home and Rosetta@home, and will lead to an improved knowledge of the virus surface proteins. With a better understanding of the the virus surface proteins, better simulations can be performed to find possible candidates for drugs that can treat infected patients.
If you have any COVID-19-related project that you would like to have prioritised, reach out to UPPMAX support and we will gladly assist in any way we can.