Published on 07.11.2024
Introducing HAICORE 3.0: Accelerating Foundation Model Research at MDC
HAICORE 3.0 computing resources at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) will be operational by the end of this year. This new expansion significantly enhances MDC’s computing capabilities, particularly for projects funded under the Helmholtz Foundation Model Initiative (HFMI).
With support from Helmholtz Imaging, the MDC has established the HAICORE resources at the Center. The MDC now hosts a robust set of GPUs, enabling researchers to perform complex computations of foundation models or large language models. This advancement opens up new opportunities for AI applications in a wide range of scientific fields.
Prioritizing HFMI Projects
Initially, HAICORE resources at MDC will prioritize HFMI-funded projects, enabling these initiatives to leverage up to 50,000 GPU hours per application. This will strengthen the foundation model ecosystem by offering resources essential for model development, refinement, and testing. Should additional capacity become available, other Helmholtz researchers working on foundation models may also apply.
Extending HAICORE Resources Across Helmholtz Centers
In addition to the launch at MDC, the HAICORE program at Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ) has also expanded, now supporting smaller projects with up to 5,000 GPU hours per project. This complementary capacity allows a wide range of Helmholtz researchers to engage with AI resources tailored on an ad-hoc basis.
Looking ahead, HAICORE will continue to evolve, with further resource expansions planned at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). The new resources at KIT will particularly target PhD students and postdocs, offering a simplified application process to access GPU time, enabling early-stage AI exploration and skill development in machine learning.