In our top-rated Department of Computer Science, we offer an unparallel support and opportunities for our students to excel in the world of complex computing.
Student Cluster Competitions (SCC) are playful team competitions that allow students to enter the world of high-performance computing (HPC).
They foster team spirit, practical skills in performance optimisation and system administration as well as experience with latest supercomputing technologies.
SCCs enable students to gain new knowledge in a highly motivating and exciting environment together with like-minded peers.
Team ClusDur is Durham University’s SCC team. The team consists of students from different years and courses at the Departments of Computer Science, Engineering, Physics and Mathematics.
The team is coached by Laura Morgenstern and Professor Tobias Weinzierl from the Department of Computer Science and has access to training material and courses offered by ARC and DiRAC.
In 2022, ClusDur won the national SCC in the UK, which takes place annually at the Computing Insight UK conference.
The student teams were requested to solve six real-world challenges from different problem domains such as machine learning, protein folding, sustainable computing, and cloud provisioning, all created by companies based on real business cases.
SCCs have proven to be a catalyst for internship and career opportunities in industry and academia, where the acquired skills are in high demand.
Two of ClusDur’s current members have taken up high-profile internships in FinTec over the summer, while two former members are now pursuing a PhD in HPC.
Due to the success of our team and the high demand of these skills in industry and academia, the Department of Computer Science has started to embed key skills required for SCCs into its core curriculum.
At undergraduate level, our Parallel Scientific Computing modules convey an in-depth understanding of scientific simulations on distributed systems.
In the academic year 2023/24, we will furthermore introduce system administration and GPU computing into our undergraduate curriculum via the Advanced Computer Systems module.
At postgraduate level, our MSc in Scientific Computing and Data Analysis (MISCADA) provides an excellent knowledge base in this context. All MISCADA students receive methodological and practical training in scientific computing and machine learning.
Our Department of Computer Science is growing, with ambitious plans for the future and an inclusive, vibrant and international community at its heart. Ranked as a UK Top 10 Department (Complete University Guide 2023), our students develop knowledge and gain essential and transferable skills through high quality teaching, delivered by a passionate team of leading academics.
Feeling inspired? Visit our Computer Science webpages to learn more about our postgraduate and undergraduate programmes.
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