The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) is a research center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. It combines advanced computing systems with expertise in software, data science, networking and visualization to support research across many fields. The official name uses the plural “Applications,” so “Supercomputer Applications” is a common misspelling of it.
What NCSA is
NCSA describes itself as a hub for transdisciplinary research and advanced cyberinfrastructure. Its official mission statement reads: “Bring people, computing and data together to benefit society.” Its About page also calls the center “a hub for transdisciplinary research aimed at pushing the boundaries of human understanding and making the world a better place.”
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NCSA is an institution, not the name of a single computer. It runs computing systems, but it also builds software, develops data and visualization methods, and collaborates with researchers nationally.
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NCSA’s official history says the National Science Foundation (NSF) established the center in 1985, and it opened for business in early 1986. NSF created it as part of its Supercomputer Centers Program, in response to a shortage of supercomputer access for U.S. academic researchers. NCSA says it is one of five facilities created under that program.
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The winning proposal came from University of Illinois astrophysicist Larry Smarr and seven Illinois colleagues. Smarr became NCSA’s first director. NCSA lists the state of Illinois, the University of Illinois, NSF and other federal agencies among its supporters.
What NCSA has done
Research software
NCSA’s history credits its Software Development Group with NCSA Telnet, HTTPd, HDF, Habanero and Portfolio. It describes these tools as enabling scientific research.
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Blue Waters
NSF approved a $208 million grant for the Blue Waters project on August 8, 2007, according to the official Blue Waters history. NCSA says the system operated continuously from 2013 through 2021 and delivered more than 39 billion core hours to scientists and engineers. Blue Waters is now a historical system.
Delta and DeltaAI
NCSA’s history describes Delta as a GPU-heavy cluster deployed in October 2022. Its current systems page presents Delta and DeltaAI as research resources, with DeltaAI expanding AI-focused computing capacity and access.
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National research infrastructure
NCSA’s history also records grants under NSF’s ACCESS program and a role as a primary partner in the NAIRR pilot. These are research-infrastructure programs, not consumer services.
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| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Official name | National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) |
| Host | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
| Established | 1985 by NSF; opened early 1986 |
| First director | Larry Smarr |
| Mission | Bring people, computing and data together to benefit society |
| Past flagship | Blue Waters, 2013–2021 |
| Current resources | Delta and DeltaAI |
Specifications, access eligibility and availability for Delta and DeltaAI change over time. Check NCSA’s systems documentation for current details before planning any use.
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