To ensure our research computing platforms remain secure and stable, we are establishing a regular weekly maintenance and update window starting from Tuesday 3 November. Moving to a predictable schedule allows our systems team to apply essential patches regularly. This reduces the need for short-notice, emergency interventions. What is changing? An at-risk maintenance window will … Continue reading “Introducing a weekly maintenance and security update window”
Tag: HPC
BEAR infrastructure improvements in 2026
During 2026, there has been major work undertaken on the majority of the BEAR services provided by Advanced Research Computing, which has kept the Architecture, Infrastructure and Systems Group very busy! We understand the past year may have been a frustrating time for BEAR users due to more downtime than usual, but we hope you … Continue reading “BEAR infrastructure improvements in 2026”
From Everest Base Camp to Birmingham: can wearable sensors predict altitude sickness?
In this case study, we hear from Dr Kelsey Joyce, a Research Fellow in the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, who is working to understand whether wearable sensors can help predict acute mountain sickness in trekkers at high altitude. For thousands of trekkers every year, the journey to Everest Base Camp is the … Continue reading “From Everest Base Camp to Birmingham: can wearable sensors predict altitude sickness?”
Summer 2026 BEAR Newsletter
Birmingham Environment for Academic Research (BEAR) Newsletter This month’s Editor: Stephanie Thompson In Advanced Research Computing, we’ve been welcoming lots of new starters this month, some of whom will be supporting the Baskerville National Compute Resource, which was turned on for the first time last week! Find out how to be one of the first … Continue reading “Summer 2026 BEAR Newsletter”
Work experience in Advanced Research Computing – 2026 students
Update 29/09/26 Please note – due to popular demand, we have had to close applications for work experience for the 2026-27 school year. We will review availability again in 2027. Over the last few years, Advanced Research Computing (ARC) has hosted more than ten work experience students, ranging from year 10 pupils to undergraduate students. … Continue reading “Work experience in Advanced Research Computing – 2026 students”
Understanding recent BlueBEAR service disruptions – July 2026
Over the past few months, BlueBEAR users may have experienced periods of reduced service availability, planned maintenance, and interruptions to normal operations. We recognise that these disruptions can be frustrating, particularly when research projects depend on reliable access to High Performance Computing (HPC) resources. This blog post explains the factors behind recent outages and outlines … Continue reading “Understanding recent BlueBEAR service disruptions – July 2026”
Early access: Baskerville National Compute Resource
Baskerville Supercomputing Centre and the Institute for Data and AI (IDAI) are giving University of Birmingham users early access to the Baskerville National Compute Resource (NCR), from October 2026, as alpha and beta testers, before the machine is fully running from April 2027. The service is likely to be interrupted until final testing is complete. The technical specification of … Continue reading “Early access: Baskerville National Compute Resource”
June 2026 BEAR Newsletter
Birmingham Environment for Academic Research (BEAR) Newsletter This month’s Editor: Debbie Carter Last week we were excited to welcome 60 undergraduate and taught postgraduate students to BEAR Challenge 2026! Supported by many members of the ARC team, they experienced High Performance Computing (HPC) for the first time and heard about career opportunities in this field. The … Continue reading “June 2026 BEAR Newsletter”
Exploring the dynamics of alien solar systems with BlueBEAR
In this case study, we hear from Alix Freckelton, a PhD student in Physics and Astronomy, who is exploring transit timing variations (TTVs). My research focuses on transit timing variations (TTVs): these are tiny irregularities in the times that we see exoplanets transiting their host stars. TTVs are caused in multi-planet systems by the planets … Continue reading “Exploring the dynamics of alien solar systems with BlueBEAR”
AlphaFold protein structure prediction to study DNA replication
In this case study, we hear from Paolo Passaretti, a postdoc in Cancer and Genomic Sciences, who is investigating how cells copy and protect their genomes during DNA replication. I am a postdoctoral researcher in Prof Aga Gambus’ Laboratory, in the Department of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, where we study how cells copy and protect … Continue reading “AlphaFold protein structure prediction to study DNA replication”