Researcher in Mathematics
University of Antwerp
Belgium

The University of Antwerp is a dynamic, forward-thinking, European university. We offer an innovative academic education to more than 23000 students, conduct pioneering scientific research and play an important service-providing role in society. We are one of the largest, most international and most innovative employers in the region. With nearly 7000 employees from 134 different countries, we are helping to build tomorrow's world every day. Through top scientific research, we push back boundaries and set a course for the future – a future that you can help to shape. 

The VSC (Flemish Supercomputer Centre) hub at the University of Antwerp is looking for half-time (50%) or full-time (100%) colleagues for VSC’s Tier-0 support team and the EuroHPC EPICURE project.

The VSC (Flemish Supercomputer Centre) supports the HPC (high performance computing) activities in all Flemish university associations (www.vscentrum.be) for more than 15 years. The VSC hub at the University of Antwerp (www.uantwerpen.be/hpc) is looking for enthusiastic colleagues.

One of the pan-European pre-exascale supercomputers, LUMI (www.lumi-supercomputer.eu), is located in Kajaani, Finland, and hosted by the LUMI consortium. Belgium is one of the ten LUMI consortium countries. Level-2 support for LUMI users is offered by the LUMI User Support Team, but the more advanced level-3 support should be offered by the consortium countries and is part of the VSC’s Tier-0 support team.

In the EuroHPC EPICURE project (epicure-hpc.eu) we focus on “application support”: efficiency of the installation, enabling, and porting of applications to the different EuroHPC supercomputer architectures, and improving of code scalability and performance, in collaboration with the support teams at the different EuroHPC sites.

Position

Together with your colleagues, you will support Tier-0 users on LUMI and other European Tier-0 machines offered by the EuroHPC JU (eurohpc-ju.europa.eu):

• You will participate in promotion efforts of the European infrastructure.
• You will participate in the organization of trainings.
• You will recruit users and support them in preparing proposals to get compute time.
• You participate in the level-3 support on Tier-0, e.g., advice and help with installing highly specialized software that is not part of the regular offering of Tier-0 sites, optimization of workflows to make them more suited to the characteristics of Tier-0 supercomputers, …
• You will work on improving codes (algorithms, implementation, use of data storage, scalability, performance, benchmarking) or porting to the different EuroHPC supercomputer architectures. The focus on code improvement will be on open programming models that maintain a high degree of portability between supercomputers from different CPU and accelerator vendors.
• You contribute to “Best practices” guidelines for using the EuroHPC supercomputers.

Depending on your experience, you will participate in one or more of the above tasks within the VSC’s Tier-0 support team or the EuroHPC EPICURE project.

Profile

• You hold a Master degree in sciences, applied sciences or other field and you have a clear feeling for scientific software.
• We also encourage international researchers to apply.
• Your research qualities are in line with the faculty and university research policies.
• You can work in a group as well as on your own initiative.
• You have good written and spoken communication skills. You can speak and write fluently in English.
• You act with attention to quality, integrity, creativity and cooperation.
• Minimal requirements:
  • Advanced user-level experience with Linux and its command line interface
  • Good knowledge of at least one major programming language for high-performance scientific computing: C, C++, or Fortran
  • A keen interest in and understanding of high-performance computing architectures
  • Knowledge of HPC batch workflow management and setup tools
  • Ability to interact and build strong relationships with external stakeholders and the team
  • A continuous learning attitude and willingness to attend courses, also abroad, to improve competences
  • Willingness to teach in user trainings
• The availability of some of the following will constitute preferential titles:
  • PhD in scientific disciplines or computational sciences
  • Experience in simulations, combined with AI
  • Good understanding of the main frameworks for Machine or Deep Learning, e.g., Tensorflow/Keras, PyTorch, Theano, and distributed computing for machine learning
  • Documented experiences of study or work, ability to work in a team and experience in project management
  • Knowledge of Julia
  • Documented professional experience in the use of scientific programming languages and in parallel programming models (MPI, OpenMP, OpenACC, CUDA/HIP, OpenCL, SYCL, frameworks such as Kokkos or Raja) or in general knowledge of programming techniques for GPU accelerators
  • Experience in porting and optimization of applications on UNIX systems and GPU architectures
  • Experience in Linux software installation (including compiling sources)
  • Experience in using source versioning systems (GitHub / GitLab) and software development in team
  • Experience of using highly parallel scientific libraries (ScaLAPACK, PETSc, ...)
  • Knowledge of schedulers on HPC systems
  • Skills and experiences in numerical and algorithmic fields

What we offer

• We offer a contract for a period of one year, renewable after a positive evaluation, and upon availability of funds.
• The planned start date is by mutual agreement with the head of the VSC hub at the University of Antwerp.
• Your gross monthly salary is calculated according to the pay scale for an assistant or principal research fellow in the Contract Research Staff category (Dutch: Bijzonder Academisch Personeel, BAP).
• You will receive ecocheques, Internet-connectivity allowance, a group insurance, an income protection insurance, and a bicycle allowance or a full reimbursement of public transport costs for commuting.
• You will do most of your work at Campus Middelheim in a dynamic and stimulating working environment.
• Find out more about working at the University of Antwerp here.

Want to apply?

• You can apply for this vacancy through the University of Antwerp’s online job application platform up to and including 10 March 2025 (by midnight Brussels time). Click on 'apply', complete the online application form and don’t forget to include the following document(s): (1) a motivation letter, (2) your CV and (3) two references.
• The selection committee will review all of the applications as soon as possible after the application deadline. As soon as a decision has been made, we will inform you about the next steps in the selection procedure.
• If you have any questions about the online application form, please check the frequently asked questions or send an email to jobs@uantwerpen.be. If you have any questions about the job itself, please contact Stefan Becuwe, VSC-UAntwerp coordinator, stefan.becuwe@uantwerpen.be, tel: +32 3 265 3860.

The University of Antwerp received the European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research Award for its HR policy. We are a sustainable, family-friendly organisation which invests in its employees’ growth. We encourage diversity and attach great importance to an inclusive working environment and equal opportunities, regardless of gender identity, disability, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or age. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds and with diverse characteristics to apply.