University of Innsbruck
Doctoral School: Computational Interdisciplinary Modelling (FWF DK-plus)

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• Research Platform "Scientific Computing"
• FWF Austrian Science Fund
• Intranet

The Doctoral School “Computational Interdisciplinary Modelling” (CIM) provides an exceptional interdisciplinary teaching programme for PhD students in natural sciences. It is the first FWF doctoral school programme at the University of Innsbruck.

Its specific field is computational interdisciplinary modelling. Modelling is the topic of formulating a (physical) process in terms of abstract mathematics and computer science makes it amenable to simulations. For practical applications modelling has to be performed at multiple scales: Asymptotic analysis is to derive adequate equations from complex systems. Such simplified models are usually supported through practical experiments. Modelling of algorithms for solving and optimisation concerns the next level, while modelling of computer languages and heterogeneous computer systems is a further level.

Three important areas mark the field of computing, which are high performance computing (HPC), scientific computing, and scientific visualisation. HPC provides the tool for calculation, modelling and simulation of complex systems, generally requiring large amounts of computing power and / or data volume. Scientific computing combines numerical mathematics, computer science and application sciences, e.g. engineering or physics.

Further key features of the programme are:

Top Science

In the last few years, HPC has increasingly gained importance in all natural and technical sciences. Classically, research in applied areas is based on two main pillars: theory and experiment; scientific HPC is becoming the third main foundation. This is due to the fact that in many areas simulations provide significant advantages over classical experiments as they are often cheaper, allow probing inaccessible scales or that experiments are simply unfeasible. Moreover, theory sometimes is also limited and simulations provide the only option to significantly improve our insight into a problem or simply save tremendous amounts of financial resources. However, to exploit the advantages of simulations and to make proper use of the “virtual laboratory” it is essential to acquire knowledge in efficient development of models, numerics, parallel programming, data analysis and visualisation. It is the aim of this doctoral programme by combining ten leading scientists from various natural sciences, from application and theory, including mathematicians and computer scientists to educate tomorrow’s researches in this particular field.

Interdisciplinarity

Yet, the increasing significance of HPC is still not reflected in the teaching programme of most universities. This is due to the difficulties involved in integrating such a multi-facetted interdisciplinary subject into a curriculum. Up until now, individual faculties in Innsbruck have tried to solve problems related to integrated modelling all by themselves, without taking advantage of the knowledge of related institutions. However, only by integrating applications and methods can we successfully try and gain a deeper understanding of many yet not well understood questions. Thus, this doctoral programme combines scientists both from application and method oriented research areas including computational engineering, astro-, particle, plasma, and molecular physics on one hand and mathematics and computer science on the other hand.

Teaching

It is the aim of the doctoral programme CIM to strengthen research oriented teaching and to promote young scientists. Doctoral students participating in this programme will be able to choose courses from a large portfolio spanning lectures from all contributing faculties. That teaching is an important aspect in the programme is also shown by the fact that several of the members have taken over specific tasks: A. Ostermann is head of the curriculum commission of the faculty for mathematics, computer science and physics; S. Schindler is director of studies for physics; G. Hofstetter has been director of studies for civil engineering for several years. Moreover, CIM introduces novel means of teaching including:

• DK-seminar: a seminar where all students of the doctoral school participate. The students are to introduce others to their field of research and report on progresses the make over the course of their studies in particular with attention to synergies with other students.
• Lecture cycle: all faculty members of the doctoral programme provide a brief introduction into their fields. The students will gain insights into all subjects involved in the programme.
• Teaching class: the students prepare and present a full lecture themselves under supervision of the respective faculty members. Thus, they will learn how to teach their fellow colleagues in a broad context. They will get direct feedback from both the supervisors and the other students.
• Dual lectures: in contrast to standard lectures held by a single faculty member, most of the programme’s lectures are held by at least two faculty members from different fields. Thus, the interdisciplinary nature of the project is also well reflected in the teaching.
• Soft skills: apart from scientific topics, students will obtain the possibility to participate in courses on soft skills, which are highly sought after in particular in careers in industry.

Internationality

The success of a modern career in both science and industry depends strongly on international experience. Thus, the Doctoral School CIM provides contacts to many attractive international partner institutions (e.g. AlbaNova universitetscentrum, Stockholm, Denmark; Angström Laboratory, Uppsala, Sweden; Comenius University Bratislava, Slovakia; Cyfronet, Krakow, Poland; Czech Technical University, Prague, Czech Republic; ESO, Garching, Germany; Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany; Foundations for Research and Technology Hellas, Greece; Ghent University, Belgium; Hungarian Academy of Science, Budapest, Hungary; Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, USA; Imperial College, London, UK; Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand; Kazan Technological University, Russia; Louisiana State University, USA; Max-Planck-Institute for Plasmaphysics, Garching, Germany; Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany; Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany; Northwestern University, USA; Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur, Nice, France; Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA; Royal Observatory of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium; Ruhr University Bochum, Germany; Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia; Stanford University, USA; Technical University Munich, Germany; Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), Spain; Technical University of Denmark, Risø-DTU, Denmark; Technical University, BerlinGermany; Universidad Autonoma Barcelona; Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina; Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain; Université Bordeaux, France; Université Paris 13, Institut Galilée, Villetaneuse, France; University of Cyprus, Cyprus; University of Durham, USA; University of Düsseldorf, Germany; University of Edinburgh, UK; University of Leeds, UK; University of Lund, Sweden; University of Manchester, UK; University of Maryland, USA; University of Novi Sad, Serbia; University of Oregon, Eugene, USA; University of Oxford, UK; University of Palermo, Italy; University of Sassari, Italy; University of Tübingen, Germany). In the curriculum of the programme it is foreseen that every student should spend at least a full semester abroad. Moreover, the programme aims at recruiting a high fraction of international students, thus providing a stimulating work environment.

Career perspectives

The students will enormously profit from the interdisciplinary approach of the doctoral school and reach a high level of maturity not only in practical and theoretical skills, but also conceptual reasoning, with insights into multiple subjects. They will acquire a high level of interdisciplinary awareness of related research fields and will be able to communicate with professionals from other areas as well. This will allow them to contribute to a wide range of technical and scientific applications and teach them how to approach new problems in an unsurpassed manner. As a result, they will be highly sought after in particular in science as well as in industry, both on a national and international level.

Examples for careers in industry are software companies, the European Centre for weather forecast, the computing centre of a bank, enterprises for engineering construction, technology-oriented consulting and engineering firms, and the patent office. Several students were able to obtain scientific positions at Max-Planck-Institutes (Germany), the National Research Center Los Alamos (USA), and universities in Austria, Sweden, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Spain, both in physics and computer science departments.