Arab-Arab-German Computer Cluster Network

Digital Networking Project

This AGYA project expands the Moroccan-German research network on nanomaterials that has been established in recent years by AGYA alumna Lalla Btissam Drissi (Mohammed V University Rabat) and AGYA alumnus Samir Lounis (Jülich Forschungszentrum). It will be lifted up on a shared computer cluster platform in Morocco and opened to other Arab researchers, too.

As soon as the high-performance computer cluster is installed at Mohammed V University in Rabat (Morocco), more German research centres and several institutions from North African countries (e.g., Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia) will be integrated into the network on the highly competitive field of low dimensional nanomaterials. In 2016, the stage for this sustainable partnership has been set. Since then, the network has been constantly expanded and is now being raised to a digital level. An increase of knowledge exchange and scientific cooperation between the members of the established network are expected.

Moreover, the Moroccan research team benefits from the new computing cluster devoted to high performance modelling and simulations. The numerical calculations ran on the computer cluster are performed by Arab researchers in exchange with experts from German research institutes. This exchange is only possible through the digitalization of the network, which speeds up the advancement of this long-term collaborative research project. Additionally, these collaborations result in: (a) scientific research and result in at least three PhD projects co-supervised by German and Arab professors; (b) training of PhD students and young postdocs; (c) transfer of knowledge on two new and very sophisticated codes of simulations; and (d) scientific publications in high impact journals.

The present project highlights the strong interest for joint research projects between German and Arab young researchers, and the advancement of collaboration and cooperative initiatives from different areas of scientific research. It also enhances the North-South-South research network in the field of nanoscience – one of the advanced topics in interdisciplinary sciences. Furthermore, the support of academic exchange provides help for early-career scientists to accelerate and boost their research activities and grow their collaborative networks.