[hpc-announce] OPRECOMP SUMMER OF CODE 2020 – CALL FOR PROPOSALS

[Giuseppe Tagliavini]

The Open Transprecision Computing project OPRECOMP supported by the European Union’s H2020-EU.1.2.2. – FET Proactive research and innovation
 programme under grant agreement #732631 is looking to support enthusiasts, researchers and students from EU member and associated
 countries of the H2020 programme working on OPEN SOURCE PROJECTS ON TRANPRECISION COMPUTING

Submit your project proposals until April 3rd, 2020 through the OPRECOMP summer of Code Website. Your proposals will be evaluated by a jury and ten highest-ranked projects will be supported with (up to) €6000 per accepted project.

Accepted proposals will be announced on May 1st, 2020. Participants will be expected to attend the OPRECOMP Summer School in Cagliari (Italy) on July 7-10, 2020 to kick off their projects.  The results of the projects will be presented at a final OPRECOMP workshop in February 2021 (details will follow).


*** WHAT IS TRANSPRECISION COMPUTING?
We use this term to refer to computing systems that have the flexibility to allow to use the most suitable numerical representation during calculations, thereby allowing to save energy without sacrificing numerical accuracy.


*** WHAT KIND OF PROJECTS ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

Our goal is to raise awareness and provide examples for transprecision principles which show an improvement of efficiency without significant degradation in the quality to a wider community.

In Annex A of this call, we propose several project themes closely related to the activities of OPRECOMP partners. Choosing a project from these will allow you the opportunity to work directly in close collaboration with one or more partners of OPRECOMP. Of course it is also possible to propose independent proposals. In orderto ensure tight collaboration between students applying to the OPRECOMP summer of code and the OPRECOMP partners, we will propose several project themes related to the activities carried on by the partners in OPRECOMP, summarized in Annex A of this call.

Projects can include (but are not limited to):
- Software, kernels, and algorithms implementations using existing hardware systems (CPUs, GPGPUs, Microcontrollers)
- Applications ported to platforms developed by OPRECOMP members. In OPRECOMP we are working on transprecision systems covering a wide range of application domains from IoT to HPC. Proposals that plan to develop applications on these platforms are welcome. We will try to accommodate requests to help with obtaining these platforms to the best of our ability.
- Novel HW architectures implemented on FPGAs or ASICs to better support transprecision computing


*** WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
As the support is coming from the EC, only students and researchers belonging to EU universities and associated countries of the H2020 programme are eligible to receive funding. You are still very welcome to submit your project requests and participate in the events mentioned as well as be eligible to receive donations of material such as development/FPGA boards that can be used in the project if this is not the case. People affiliated with OPRECOMP consortium members are not eligible for funding through this call Projects can be proposed by individuals or groups. Your proposals will be evaluated by a jury and ten highest-ranked projects will receive financial support from € 3.000 up to € 6.000 (gross amounts) per accepted project.


*** ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA
Applications will be evaluated by an independent jury of 10 experts, 3 of which will be members of the OPRECOMP consortium.
The evaluation will be based on:
- Relevance (1/4) to the call topics: The goal of the projects is to demonstrate transprecision concepts, while we encourage independent submissions, project ensuring tight collaboration between the students and OPRECOMP partners, including all project themes proposed by the OPRECOMP consortium, will be well evaluated.
- Significance (1/4) of the objectives: the proposed projects should have clear and well-detailed objectives that should lead to a significant demonstration of transprecision computing concepts.
- Impact (1/6) on the project results showing how transprecision computing could be energy-wise beneficial in the specific application field. In addition, projects with a well-defined exploitation path are clearly well evaluated.
- Requirements (Budget) (1/6) special licenses, material, hardware requirements for developing the project.
- Qualification of the candidate (1/6) based on a short CV provided by the candidate as accompanying material.


*** WHAT WILL OPRECOMP PROVIDE?
Accepted projects that are eligible for funding will be supported at from € 3.000 up to € 6.000 (gross amounts).
All supported projects will be assigned a contact person from the OPRECOMP project to act as a tutor throughout the development.
OPRECOMP will set up a mailing list for discussions between members of the OPRECOMP and project participants.
Participants can plan an internship period with an OPRECOMP member. This must be discussed in advance with the member, and the costs for travel and accommodation must be included in the budget section of the project proposal.
OPRECOMP will set up a mailing list for discussions between members of the OPRECOMP and project participants.


*** REQUIREMENTS FOR THE WINNERS
All winners will be requested to attend the OPRECOMP Summer School to kick-off the project.
All winners will be requested to present their results at the OPRECOMP Workshop at the beginning of February 2021 (details will follow).
All accepted projects will have to be made widely available using an open-source licensing model.


*** HOW TO SIGN UP
Send your short proposals (total including CV not more than 5 pages) to open-source at oprecomp.euuntil April 3rd, 2020. Your proposal should include:
- Short summary (abstract).
- Description of the project.
- Workplan with tasks.
- Measurable success criteria.
- The infrastructure (HW/SW) you need to realize this project.
- Explain which open source licensing model you intend to use and how you intend to make your project available (i.e. through GitHub).
As well as:
- A short CV (max 1 page).
- Certificate of residence in EU or other H2020 eligible countries.
- Personal Data Form.
- Claim for the refund, exemption or application of the reduced tax rate on income paid to non-residents (optional). Requires the article of the convention for the avoidance of double taxation and stamp of the fiscal agency.


VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://oprecomp.eu/open-source/