Supercomputing facility to stay in Victoria after $6.65m grant

The Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative (VLSCI) can continue its supercomputing research in the state after a $6.65 million injection of funds from the Victorian government.

VLSCI has centres located at the University of Melbourne, Monash University and LaTrobe University.

According to Victorian Minister for Technology, Gordon Rich-Phillips, the grant was important to the ongoing development of the life sciences industry in the state.

He said the grant means the VLSCI facility can continue to generate “commercial opportunities and produce outcomes to grow Victoria’s health and biotechnology industry.”

For example, the IBM Research Collaboratory, which has been co-located with the VLSCI since 2010, has enabled collaboration between Victoria’s life sciences and medical researchers and IBM’s computational biology experts, said Rich-Phillips.

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Rich-Phillips added that the University of Melbourne has committed to continue operating its Centre for Energy-Efficient Telecommunications (CEET) until June 2016.

“CEET was established in partnership between the university, Victorian government and Alcatel-Lucent in 2010. The centre has established itself as a leader in research supporting global efforts to improve the energy efficiency of telco networks and the Internet,” he said.

Follow Hamish Barwick on Twitter: @HamishBarwick

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