Supercomputing in Europe

This episode’s guest is Bastian Koller who is the Managing Director at the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS) as well as the coordinator of the EuroCC 2 project, among others.
The conversation explores the role of the EuroCC national competence centre in the increasingly diverse European HPC and AI ecosystem answering questions like: what is a national competence centre (NCC)? How does it differ from a Centre of excellence (CoE), AI Factory, or European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH)? What is the role of the NCC going forward?
Interview: Sally Kiebdaj (SIDE, CEEC, HLRS)
Editing: Sally Kiebdaj (SIDE, CEEC, HLRS) and Apostolos Vasileiadis (RISE, ENCCS)
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The Supercomputing in Europe podcast is made possible with funding from the European Commission and specifically from https://eurohpc-ju.europa.eu/, the joint initiative between the EU, European countries and private partners to develop a World Class Supercomputing Ecosystem in Europe.
The podcast is sustained by the EuroCC project and the Centres of Excellence network that provide supercomputing training and support for industry, academia and public administration for free. You can find more information on https://hpc-portal.eu/.

Today's guest is Panagiotis Barkoutsos, Senior Staff Quantum solutions at IonQ. He works with developing quantum algorithms for quantum computing systems. The interview is performed during the ENCCS Quantum Autumn School 2025 in Stockholm.

Interview/mixing: Apostolos Vasileiadis (RISE, Mimer AI Factory, ENCCS)
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This episode was brought to you by ENCCS, the EuroCC National Competence Centre in Sweden. ENCCS gives supercomputing training and support to businesses, academia and public administration. Get free supercomputing access, training and support at .
The Supercomputing in Europe podcast is made possible with funding from , the joint initiative between the EU, European countries and private partners to develop a World Class Supercomputing Ecosystem in Europe, including Quantum Computers and AI Factories.
The podcast is sustained by the EuroCC project, the Centres of Excellence network and the AI Factories. All provide HPC and AI training and support for industry, academia and public administration for free.

In this episode, we speak with Matthias Christandl, Professor and Center Leader in Quantum Computing at Copenhagen University.He leads research on how quantum mechanics shapes information processing and what this means for the future of computing.

Interview/mixing: Apostolos Vasileiadis (RISE, ENCCS, Mimer AI Factory)
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This episode was brought to you by ENCCS, the EuroCC National Competence Centre in Sweden. ENCCS gives supercomputing training and support to businesses, academia and public administration. Get free supercomputing access, training and support at .
The Supercomputing in Europe podcast is made possible with funding from , the joint initiative between the EU, European countries and private partners to develop a World Class Supercomputing Ecosystem in Europe, including Quantum Computers and AI Factories.
The podcast is sustained by the EuroCC project, the Centres of Excellence network and the AI Factories. All provide HPC and AI training and support for industry, academia and public administration for free.

In this episode, Roger Kvam from EuroCC Norway discusses with Digifarm's CEO Nils Helset about the use of new technologies like AI and using satellite data to help farmers understand with decision making.
Interview: Roger Kvam (EuroCC Norway, Sigma2)
Mixing: Apostolos Vasileiadis (ENCCS, RISE)
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The Supercomputing in Europe podcast is made possible with funding from the European Commission and specifically from [⁠EuroHPC JU⁠](https://eurohpc-ju.europa.eu/), the joint initiative between the EU, European countries and private partners to develop a World Class Supercomputing Ecosystem in Europe.
The podcast is sustained by the EuroCC project and the Centres of Excellence network that provide supercomputing training and support for industry, academia and public administration for free. You can find more information on [⁠https://hpc-portal.eu/⁠](https://hpc-portal.eu/)

Host Marta Schulze from EuroCC Denmark speaks with Ulrik de Lichtenberg, Director of Scientific Projects at the DCAI, the Danish Centre for AI Innovation, about his path into large‑scale AI infrastructure and the vision behind the Gefion AI supercomputer. 
The episode touches on what makes Gefion unique, why it has quickly become known as “Denmark’s powerhouse designed to accelerate research, innovation, and the responsible development of AI technologies, how DCAI builds bridges between academia, industry, and the public sector, and where future collaborations with EuroCC or EuroHPC might emerge. 

Interview/Recording: Marta Schulze
Editing/Mixing: Apostolos Vasileiadis
Technical support: Thorkild Jensen & Emil Jørgensen Njor