Call for porting and optimization projects for LUMI-G and AMD GPUs

Apply for help to port and scale-up your software codes to multiple GPUs on LUMI! 

The aim of the call is to enable selected projects to benefit from multi-GPU acceleration on LUMI-G, powered by AMD GPUs. The selected projects that will receive porting & optimization help from the Center of Excellence for LUMI and the LUMI User Support Team. The deadline for applications is 15th May 2026.

Selected teams are invited to take part in the Start-up Hackathon, an on-site event, from 28 September to 2 October.

Who can apply?

This is an open call. Anyone who is a member of an organization, including companies, eligible to receive an allocation for LUMI compute resources is also welcome to apply to this program. In brief, this means that a research software developer affiliated with a research organization in the EuroHPC JU associated countries and/or countries part of the LUMI consortium can apply. A company, which has its headquarters in such countries, is also eligible. By partnering with European research groups and/or companies, a non-European applicant can also participate, but please note that the principal investigator of any project that apply will need to be based in the EU or a Joint Undertaking associated country. Ph.D. students and holders of postdoctoral fellowships are also eligible to apply, but we may ask for further letters of support in such cases.

For more information, please see:
• LUMI General Terms of Use
• EuroHPC JU Access Policy

What we are looking for?

This is for those who work with code. We are looking for research groups and companies interested in developing their scientific software, utilize modern AMD GPU-compute architecture in LUMI to the fullest, in collaboration with LUMI experts. Project proposals are expected to cover a team porting or optimization effort of existing software. The software projects with open source licenses are preferred. Otherwise the applicant must agree to grant access to the source code and any contributions to the code need to be made public. The scope should be limited so that the task can be accomplished in less than six months with a project team of ca. four people working part-time.

We expect that the software is already parallel. The project scope may cover (not exclusively):

• enable the use of AMD GPUs by porting and/or tuning existing kernels,
• enabling multi-GPU for existing OpenMP Offload or OpenACC based codes,
• improving GPU kernels performance by introducing specialized GPU libraries,
• teams may also receive advice on what to expect from newer GPU architectures than currently available on LUMI.

What we offer?

You gain from both system and vendor support. The uniqueness of the call is direct access to experts from the Center of Excellence for LUMI (performance engineering staff from HPE and AMD) as well as support staff from the LUMI User Support Team. Overall support effort amounts at two to six person-months. You are expected to contribute at least two person-months yourself. If the proposal is selected, a team will be formed consisting of the applicants, one or more staff from the LUMI Center of Excellence, and one member of the LUMI User Support Team. This team will work together on enabling the software on LUMI-G. Please note that this call is not an allocation scheme for compute time, e.g., to enable porting by the applicants.

How to apply?

Opening date: 15 April 2026
Closing date:  15 May 2026
Selection notice date: 31 May 2026
Project start: 28 September 2026

Proposals need to be provided using the template, which can be downloaded here. The completed proposals should be submitted as a PDF file using the LUMI support forms (please select the “General” category and put “LUMI Porting Program” in the subject).

The application form (4 pages) is structured as follows:

• Introduction/Background to the software and its use in the scientific field (ca 1 page).
• A scientific motivation (ca. 1 page) describing the potential impact of a successful porting project, e.g., what kinds of simulations could be made possible.
• A technical description of the software from a software development perspective (ca 1 page). The template provides guidance on the relevant information to provide.
• A brief project plan/description of how (parts of) the software could be ported to the GPU and the reason why (ca. 1 page).

How we will assess your application?

Assessment process

The project will be selected in a two-stage process. The proposals are first subject to scientific and technical review and then ranked. The scientific review is performed by the LUMI consortium and/or external evaluators. The technical review is performed by the LUMI User Support Team and members of the LUMI CoE. A shortlist is then made, and the top proposals are invited to an interview (done remotely, ca. 1 hour). Applicants will be provided with comments prior to the interview to provide them with the opportunity to add further details to their applications. The interview will only be focused on the technical feasibility and not on the scientific merit.

Assessment criteria

The scientific assessment is mainly done with respect to the potential impact in the specific field of science where the software will be used. Relatively less importance will be paid to the scientific track record of the applicant. Furthermore, the proposed software and/or implementation is evaluated relative to the state-of-the-art in the field, and if a successful porting project would fill a gap in the currently available software on LUMI.

The technical assessment is mainly done with respect to the technical feasibility of porting the software to AMD GPUs and subsequently running on the LUMI supercomputer. These include both:

• technical aspects of the software, such as programming language, the use of libraries and frameworks, and the internal data structures and algorithms, and
• the practical aspects, such as the project plan and the applicant’s ability to participate in the proposed project. In particular, the software development track record of the applicant (or applicants), and the balance of skills in the final project team, which will include staff from the LUMI CoE and the LUMI User Support Team, will be taken into account.

Projected software speed-ups or preliminary benchmarks are helpful in the evaluation but are not required.

Don’t hesitate to contact the LUMI User Support Team if you need any assistance.