Computational Sciences

The research portfolio of CaSToRC refers to three distinct activities, across scientific and technological fields, namely:

  • Computational Physics, HPC and Quantum Computing
  • Computational Science & Engineering
  • Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence

Its transdisciplinary character has at its core two major horizontal connections, which involve practically all researchers of CaSToRC and aim towards developing:

  • Scalable codes and algorithms. In order for CaSToRC to maintain its regional leadership, it is imperative that it is involved in research activities at the forefront of HPC, especially in view of the forthcoming exascale era; this is pursued by researchers from both industry and academia. CaSToRC provides expertise in the development of scientific codes and algorithms for the exascale computing era, supporting scientists in a range of scientific and engineering fields.
  • Tools for processing of large data sets. “Data-intensive” computing has become important with the growing collection of datasets in research and in all areas of everyday life. It is thus crucial to be able to have tools in place to harness these data for extracting meaning and actionable insights, be they for scientific discovery or for business intelligence. Data-intensive computing has become increasingly important as the amount of data being collected continues to grow. These tools allow organizations to process and analyse large datasets in order to extract meaningful insights and make informed decisions. Whether for scientific discovery or business intelligence, having the right tools in place is crucial for harnessing the power of data and extracting actionable insights. These tools enable organizations to better understand and make sense of their data, and to take action based on the insights they uncover.

Capitalizing on the designated role of CaSToRC as the Cypriot NCC, through these horizontal competencies CaSToRC also fosters collaborations supporting scientists and industry across diverse domains. The sections below offer a brief overview of each area.

Other Scientific Areas

Besides the above main scientific & technological fields, research work in CaSToRC also concerns other areas, including among others:

  • Medical imaging. The current focus of the team's work is on developing algorithms for thermal tomography, a technique used to diagnose breast cancer through the analysis of thermal photos of the breast. The goal of this work is to develop a method for diagnosing the most common type of cancer in women without the use of ionizing radiation. The team is currently working on developing these algorithms, which are expected to have a significant impact due to their ability to provide high-quality medical images for the detection and monitoring of malignant tumours and other diseases such as cardiac and neurological conditions like Parkinson's disease. The team is also working with TIER, a spin-off company of CyI that utilizes advanced cyberinfrastructure and computational techniques to provide high-quality tomographic medical images.
  • Seismic imaging applications. These activities started in 2018 and are in collaboration with Prof. E Verschuur of TU Delft. TU Delft leads a consortium of major oil and gas companies and pursues the development of seismic imaging technologies for investigating the earth’s subsurface structures for oil & gas and geothermal reservoirs. The two principal research directions are: (i) develop algorithms for heterogeneous computing architectures; (ii) leverage AI technologies to alleviate the computationally demanding tasks of associated workflows. Three researchers are currently engaged, a post-doctoral researcher through the CoE RAISE and two PhD students (one funded solely by TU Delft; the other by ENGAGE).