ANNUAL REVIEW 2025
2015 - 2019
Local presence, natIonal Influence
2015
Officially confirmed as one of Australia’s two Tier 1 research supercomputing facilities, the new Pawsey centre began to make its mark.
A quarter of the centre’s supercomputing capability was devoted to the radio astronomy sector, in support of Australia’s commitment to the SKA project, while a further 25% was allocated to research supporting Western Australia’s key sectors of resources, energy and minerals.
But alongside its strong support for Western Australian science, Pawsey’s advanced capacity was being accessed across Australia.
Researchers across the nation were able to access an additional 15% of the centre’s capacity through the national merit allocation scheme, 30% was committed to the centre’s partners and the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre Executive Director’s share allowed a final 5% to be allocated based on project merit.
With the early success of Pawsey’s upgraded infrastructure, new funding was also secured from both the State and Federal Government, supported by ongoing investment by Pawsey’s partners.
In 2015, the WA Government announced $21.6m over five years, to allow Pawsey to support research in fields including radio astronomy, mining and energy, medicine and health.
This support allowed Zeus (commodity cluster) to be upgraded, increasing mid-range computing capacity.
And while the speed and capacity of Magnus continued to support a growing number of Australian researchers, the centre had already begun to look to the future.
Years Active: 2013 - present 2022
Details: Commodity Cluster, 150 nodes
Compute Power: 2576 cores
Zeus
As high-performance computational hardware has a lifespan of 3-5 years, a pair of facilities allows one to operate at peak global level while the other is re-tooling and acquiring new hardware. These roles are then traded back and forth to ensure Australia maintains sustained coverage and does not spend time utilising sub-optimal equipment.
Pawsey Annual Report 2014 - 15
2018
With the appointment of Executive Director Mark Stickells in 2018, Pawsey began to prepare for the next stage in supercomputing.
The Australian Government awarded the centre $70m for a major supercomputing upgrade and planning and procurement began.
2000
2010
2015
2020
2025
25 years powered by pawsey
If you have any feedback about our new interactive report, or if you or your organisation would like support from Pawsey to help you reach new frontiers, get in touch!
General / Administration
P +61 8 6436 8830
F +61 8 6436 8555
Pawsey Supercomputing
Research Centre
1 Bryce Avenue
Kensington WA 6151
Australia
Enquiries
Media Enquiries
P +61 8 6436 8920
pr@pawsey.org.au
The Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre is supported by the Australian Government through a $70 million grant made under the Industry Research and Development Act and administered by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. Pawsey is also supported by the Australian Government under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) through the Department of Education. The Centre would also like to acknowledge the support provided by the Western Australian Government and its Partner organisations.
We are grateful for the support of our core partners.
Website by Purple.
ANNUAL REVIEW 2025
2015 - 2019
Local presence, natIonal Influence
Cathy Foley
Hear the story
2015
Officially confirmed as one of Australia’s two Tier 1 research supercomputing facilities, the new Pawsey centre began to make its mark.
John Langoulant
Hear the story
A quarter of the centre’s supercomputing capability was devoted to the radio astronomy sector, in support of Australia’s commitment to the SKA project, while a further 25% was allocated to research supporting Western Australia’s key sectors of resources, energy and minerals.
But alongside its strong support for Western Australian science, Pawsey’s advanced capacity was being accessed across Australia.
Cathy Foley
A former Chief Scientist of Australia, as well as Chief Scientist at CSIRO, Cathy Foley was instrumental in supporting the development of the Australian quantum industry and helping articulate the transformative potential of supercomputing. Here, she considers the importance of Pawsey in demonstrating the link between these emerging technologies.
Click to play, click again to stop
5%
allocated based on project merit
Researchers across the nation were able to access an additional 15% of the centre’s capacity through the national merit allocation scheme, 30% was committed to the centre’s partners and the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre Executive Director’s share allowed a final 5% to be allocated based on project merit.
15%
accessed through the national merit allocation scheme
25%
allocated to radio astronomy
25%
allocated to resources, energy and minerals
committed to the centre's partners
30%
With the early success of Pawsey’s upgraded infrastructure, new funding was also secured from both the State and Federal Government, supported by ongoing investment by Pawsey’s partners.
In 2015, the WA Government announced $21.6m over five years, to allow Pawsey to support research in fields including radio astronomy, mining and energy, medicine and health.
This support allowed Zeus (commodity cluster) to be upgraded, increasing mid-range computing capacity.
And while the speed and capacity of Magnus continued to support a growing number of Australian researchers, the centre had already begun to look to the future.
Years Active: 2013 - present 2022
Details: Commodity Cluster, 150 nodes
Compute Power: 2576 cores
Zeus
As high-performance computational hardware has a lifespan of 3-5 years, a pair of facilities allows one to operate at peak global level while the other is re-tooling and acquiring new hardware. These roles are then traded back and forth to ensure Australia maintains sustained coverage and does not spend time utilising sub-optimal equipment.
Pawsey Annual Report 2014 - 15
2018
With the appointment of Executive Director Mark Stickells in 2018, Pawsey began to prepare for the next stage in supercomputing.
The Australian Government awarded the centre $70m for a major supercomputing upgrade and planning and procurement began.
2000
2010
2015
2020
2025
Website by Purple.
If you have any feedback about our new interactive report, or if you or your organisation would like support from Pawsey to help you reach new frontiers, get in touch!
25 years powered by pawsey
General / Administration
P +61 8 6436 8830
F +61 8 6436 8555
Pawsey Supercomputing
Research Centre
1 Bryce Avenue
Kensington WA 6151
Australia
Enquiries
Media Enquiries
P +61 8 6436 8920
pr@pawsey.org.au
The Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre is supported by the Australian Government through a $70 million grant made under the Industry Research and Development Act and administered by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. Pawsey is also supported by the Australian Government under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) through the Department of Education. The Centre would also like to acknowledge the support provided by the Western Australian Government and its Partner organisations.
We are grateful for the support of our core partners.