Services & Support

With NHR4CES as a national center, WestAI as an AI service center and HPC.NRW as a service provider in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, high-performance computing at RWTH Aachen University offers a wide range of support for the successful use of our systems and services. A distinction is made between technical support, methodological advice and scientific exchange.

Technical support

Technical support is provided by the IT-ServiceDesk as the central point of contact for all IT Center services. The team will help you if you need support in setting up access to our systems or assistance in using systems and software.

Support for Admins

Administrators benefit from nationwide exchanges, such as at the HPC Admin Day, practical help in the HPC Wiki, and an active network for operation, security, and software integration.


Apply for Computing Time

Scientists at German universities can apply for free access to our supercomputer for research purposes as part of NHR4CES. Researchers from North Rhine-Westphalia also benefit from HPC.NRW, which also offers free access to our computer. Members of RWTH Aachen University and engineering scientists from North Rhine-Westphalia also have simplified access options.
The following guides should help you to find the right way to apply for access. The support team at the IT-ServiceDesks will also be happy to help you.

First Steps for the Use of High-Performance Computing

Services & Advice

Methodical Consulting & Analysis

Increase efficiency. Understand performance. Unlock potential.

Our methodical consulting services are aimed at all HPC users who want to better understand their applications, use resources more efficiently, or optimize their code. The support is practical, individualized, and based on years of research expertise.

Performance Analysis
Together with you, we analyze how your application behaves on CLAIX — from runtime profiling and scaling effects to identifying performance bottlenecks. The goal is to uncover weaknesses in the code and address them effectively.

Performance Assessment
Based on defined metrics (e.g., from the EU project POP), we assess the performance of your application. This allows for objective evaluation and documentation of improvements across different versions or systems.

Correctness Analysis
Parallel programs can contain complex errors — such as race conditions or deadlocks. Our correctness tools help identify these issues reliably.

Code Optimization Consulting
Our experts support you in optimizing your programs — for example, through vectorization, more efficient I/O usage, or the application of modern programming models like OpenMP, MPI, or CUDA.

Support from Cross-Sectional Groups (CSGs)
Whether you're dealing with performance, visualization, or data-intensive applications – our methodical consulting helps you unlock the full potential of HPC.

CSG Parallelism & Performance
Support with code optimization, scalability, and correctness analysis.
Contact: E-Mail

CSG Visualization
Development and use of advanced 2D/3D and VR visualization techniques.
Contact: E-Mail

​Simulation and Data Labs (SDLs)
Domain-specific consulting in the areas of energy, fluids, materials, and digital medicine.
More information available on the NHR4CES website

HPC Consultation Hour

We offer an open HPC consultation hour at regular intervals.
This always takes place online on the 3rd Thursday, 2 to 3 pm per month.
We give you the opportunity to ask all HPC-related questions, e.g. about:

  • Cluster usage
  • Parallel programming
  • Performance analysis and optimization of self-written code
  • Workflow optimization (e.g. job management and data processing)
  • Efficient use of systems and software
  • Software installation and use
  • Use for computing time on larger systems (Tier 2 and 1)

Dates & participation

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