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The work within this case study was brought together to publicise the different types of work that was done on the University’s high performance computer called BlueBEAR2 and on the many systems that help researchers. This computer system is part of the University of Birmingham’s environment for aca...
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The work within this case study was brought together to publicise the different types of work that was done on the University’s high performance computer called BlueBEAR2 and on the many systems that help researchers. This computer system is part of the University of Birmingham’s environment for academic research (BEAR), which helps staff and students of the University delve deeper into their research than has been done before. Traditional research has always been to experiment or theorise, BlueBEAR is used to deliver a third option, computer based modeling. Computer based modeling is used to underpin the physical and theoretical research. Sometimes computer based modeling is the only way (e.g. colliding galaxies, nuclear explosions), where safety and cost is prohibitive. This is a small set of case studies taken from the vast research that is being done on BlueBEAR2 and generally around the University. BlueBEAR2 is the next generation of hardware from BlueBEAR and includes large memory, GPGPU, database and data mining services.

This collection of case studies was brought together to showcase the extent and diversity of research that is supported by the University of Birmingham’s Environment for Academic Research (BEAR). BEAR is a collection of contemporary IT resources designed to help research. The following case studies ...
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This collection of case studies was brought together to showcase the extent and diversity of research that is supported by the University of Birmingham’s Environment for Academic Research (BEAR). BEAR is a collection of contemporary IT resources designed to help research. The following case studies demonstrate how BEAR services such as the Research Data Store (RDS), BEAR software and the University supercomputer BlueBEAR are integral to the progression of important research across disciplines. BlueBEAR is a key component of BEAR, providing compute power and specialist applications free to enable staff and students to delve deeper into their research. Upgraded in 2023, the cluster includes many large memory nodes and a GPU service alongside standard compute nodes. Alongside BlueBEAR, the RDS is a popular choice amongst researchers to securely store their working research data. As of publication, more than 5000 researchers across all five colleges were actively using BlueBEAR and/or the RDS. In this volume, we showcase case studies representing diverse research from every college. From estimating snow coverage to modelling second language acquisition, we show how BEAR services are enabling exciting and important research across the university.