JSC Hosts 12th NIC Symposium
Biannual review event brings together JSC users and staff for a multi-day interactive conference of presentations and discussions
The John von Neumann Institute for Computing (NIC) supports research projects across a wide range of scientific disciplines, including physics, chemistry, life sciences, environmental sciences, AI and computer science, and applied mathematics.
On March 6-7, 2025, computational scientists presented their research results at the 12th NIC Symposium in Jülich. Originally held every two years, the event was postponed from 2022 to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed in 2025. Now, the symposium is back on its biennial schedule. About 25 years after the first NIC Symposium took place in December 2001, this series of biannual meetings has established a valued tradition, showcasing some of the most advanced computational science at NIC. This year, the symposium reached a record attendance with over 220 participants, surpassing previous years.
Prof. Laurens Kuipers, better known as Kobus Kuipers, has been a new member of the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich since March 2025 and welcomed all symposium participants at the beginning of the event. In his address, Prof. Kuipers emphasized NIC’s long tradition of supporting computational science in Germany.
Following this, the Director of the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) and NIC Prof. Thomas Lippert highlighted the enormous importance of AI and the role of JUPITER, Europe’s first exascale supercomputer, in this context. JUPITER is scheduled to go online for production runs this summer.
Researchers from across the scientific spectrum presented their results and findings in numerous detailed talks throughout the event, as well as through an impressive 140 posters. The poster session not only served as a fertile ground for discussions among researchers but also provided an important platform for young scientists to present their work, gain visibility, and engage with experienced experts. It offered ample time and space to exchange ideas and experiences on JSC resources in an interdisciplinary setting.
As per tradition, researchers’ recent activities and results were compiled in the NIC proceedings. The symposium and proceedings aimed at both computational scientists and practitioners, as well as the general public interested in the advancement of computational science and its applications in diverse contemporary research fields.
All accompanying materials, including the program, talks, posters, proceedings, and photographs, are available at:
https://www.john-von-neumann-institut.de/en/news/nic-symposium/nic-symposium-2025
