The Ministry of Economy signs an agreement to su

The University plans to launch a 120-ECTS Masters program within the Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine and is committed to further developing the national HPC Competence Center (EuroCC) and attracting world-class researchers. Subject to the approval of the university management, the planned new master’s course will be integrated into the first pilot HPC master’s that is being set up at European level by a university consortium coordinated by the University of Luxembourg.

At a press conference on September 23, 2022, the details of the European Master in High Performance Computing, Big Data Analysis and Artificial Intelligence were presented in the presence of Economics Minister Franz Fayot, Minister of Education and Research Claude Meisch, and the Rector of the University, Stéphane Pallage, the dean of the Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine, Prof. Jean-Marc Schlenker, and the director of the new Masters within the university, Prof. Pascal Bouvry.

The planned master aims to meet the needs of Luxembourg in its digital transformation and to allow close collaboration with local industry players to develop the economic and scientific activity related to the data economy.

The planned Master in HPC/HPDA/AI will be part of the EUMaster4HPC consortium, led by the University of Luxembourg and composed of 60 universities (including eight graduate universities), research centres, supercomputers, industrial partners and SMEs and other contributing partners. It supports the development of HPC competences, education and basic training for European science and industry. The first courses of this European pilot master’s program will be offered at several of the consortium’s universities from September 2022. The first courses of the planned new master’s degree at the University of Luxembourg are to be offered from September 2023.

Economics Minister Franz Fayot: “High Performance Computing is a key technology to tackle today’s major challenges such as climate change, energy efficiency, personalized medicine and digital transformation in industry. This is why the Economics Ministry directly decided to set up this European Master’s program in High Performance Computing, Big Data Analysis and Artificial Intelligence.”

Claude Meisch, Minister for Higher Education and Research, stressed: “Skills are at least as important as technologies. And with this new degree, the University of Luxembourg is making a significant and timely contribution to closing the HPC skills gap. An approach that consists of covering the entire innovation chain from teaching to basic research to applied research, ultimately leading to practical and economic benefits, is, I believe, essential if we can do this for all stakeholders, including and especially for SMEs and Start-ups want to get on board with HPC in the medium term.”

“Supporting the country’s digital transformation is one of the pillars of the university’s strategic framework and HPC is an integral part of it,” said Professor Stéphane Pallage, Rector of the University of Luxembourg. “The university is grateful to the Ministry of Economy for its support in the implementation of this ambitious program. Through this master’s degree and with the support of the EUMaster4HPC consortium, we can help attract and retain the best talent in Luxembourg.”

“Educating students from the beginning of the next academic year on how to design, deploy and harness the current and future power of HPC will educate a new generation of experts and closely connect industry and the academic community,” said Professor Jens Kreisel, Vice-Rector for research.

Press release from the Ministry of the Economy, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the University of Luxembourg