[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 19, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79346-79350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-32250]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Notice 01-07: 
SciDAC--Integrated Software Infrastructure Centers

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice inviting research grant applications.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (OASCR) 
of the Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), hereby 
announces its interest in receiving

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applications for projects in the Integrated Software Infrastructure 
Centers (ISIC) component of the Scientific Discovery through Advanced 
Computing (SciDAC) research program. The software infrastructure vision 
of SciDAC is for a comprehensive, portable, and fully integrated suite 
of systems software and tools for the effective management and 
utilization of terascale computational resources by SciDAC 
applications. This infrastructure will provide maximum performance, 
robustness, portability and ease of use to application developers, end 
users, and system administrators. Successful ISIC activities must 
establish and maintain close interactions with other ISIC activities 
and SciDAC efforts, and it is essential that they address the complete 
software lifecycle including transition of successful research software 
to robust production software and appropriate mechanisms for long term 
software support and evolution. Partnerships among universities, 
national laboratories, and industry are encouraged. The full text of 
Program Notice 01-07 is available via the Internet using the following 
web site address: http://www.science.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html.

DATES: Preapplications referencing Program Notice 01-07 should be 
received by January 31, 2001.
    Formal applications in response to this notice should be received 
by 4:30 p.m., E.S.T., March 15, 2001, to be accepted for merit review 
and funding in FY 2001.

ADDRESSES: Preapplications referencing Program Notice 01-07 should be 
sent via e-mail using the following address: 
[email protected].
    Formal applications referencing Program Notice 01-07, should be 
forwarded to: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Grants and 
Contracts Division, SC-64, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-
1290, ATTN: Program Notice 01-07. This address must be used when 
submitting applications by U.S. Postal Service Express Mail or any 
commercial mail delivery service, or when hand-carried by the 
applicant.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Frederick C. Johnson, Office of 
Science, U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, 
MD 20874-1290, telephone: (301) 903-5800, E-mail: [email protected], 
fax: (301) 903-7774.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Scientific Discovery Through Advanced Computing

    Advanced scientific computing will be a key contributor to 
scientific research in the 21st Century. Within the Office of Science 
(SC), scientific computing programs and facilities are already 
essential to progress in many areas of research critical to the nation. 
Major scientific challenges exist in all SC research programs that can 
best be addressed through advances in scientific supercomputing, e.g., 
designing materials with selected properties, elucidating the structure 
and function of proteins, understanding and controlling plasma 
turbulence, and designing new particle accelerators. To help ensure its 
missions are met, SC is bringing together advanced scientific computing 
and scientific research in an integrated program entitled ``Scientific 
Discovery Through Advanced Computing.''

The Opportunity and the Challenge

    Extraordinary advances in computing technology in the past decade 
have set the stage for a major advance in scientific computing. Within 
the next five to ten years, computers 1,000 times faster than today's 
computers will become available. These advances herald a new era in 
scientific computing. Using such computers, it will be possible to 
dramatically extend our exploration of the fundamental processes of 
nature (e.g., the structure of matter from the most elementary 
particles to the building blocks of life,) as well as advance our 
ability to predict the behavior of a broad range of complex natural and 
engineered systems (e.g., the earth's climate or an automobile engine).
    To exploit this opportunity, these computing advances must be 
translated into corresponding increases in the performance of the 
scientific codes used to model physical, chemical, and biological 
systems. This is a daunting problem. Current advances in computing 
technology are being driven by market forces in the commercial sector, 
not by scientific computing. Harnessing commercial computing technology 
for scientific research poses problems unlike those encountered in 
previous supercomputers, in magnitude as well as in kind. As noted in 
the 1998 report \1\ from the NSF/DOE ``National Workshop on Advanced 
Scientific Computing'' and the 1999 report \2\ from the President's 
Information Technology Advisory Committee, this problem will only be 
solved by increased investments in computer software--in research and 
development on scientific simulation codes as well as on the 
mathematical and computing systems software that underlie these codes.
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    \1\ This workshop was sponsored by the National Science 
Foundation and the Department of Energy and hosted by the National 
Academy of Sciences on July 30-31, 1998. Copies of the report may be 
obtained from:
    \2\ Copies of the PITAC report may be obtained from: http://www.ccic.gov/ac/report/.
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Investment Plan of the Office of Science

    To meet the challenge posed by the new generation of terascale 
computers, SC will fund a set of coordinated investments as outlined in 
its long-range plan for scientific computing, Scientific Discovery 
through Advanced Computing,\3\ submitted to Congress on March 30, 2000. 
First, it will create a Scientific Computing Software Infrastructure 
that bridges the gap between the advanced computing technologies being 
developed by the computer industry and the scientific research programs 
sponsored by the Office of Science. Specifically, the SC effort 
proposes to:
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    \3\ Copies of the SC computing plan, Scientific Discovery 
through Advanced Computing, can be downloaded from SC website at: 
http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/octr/index.html.
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     Create a new generation of Scientific Simulation Codes 
that take full advantage of the extraordinary computing capabilities of 
terascale computers.
     Create the Mathematical and Computing Systems Software to 
enable the Scientific Simulation Codes to effectively and efficiently 
use terascale computers.
     Create a Collaboratory Software Environment to enable 
geographically-separated scientists to effectively work together as a 
team and to facilitate remote access to both facilities and data.
    These activities are supported by a Scientific Computing Hardware 
Infrastructure that will be tailored to meet the needs of its research 
programs. The Hardware Infrastructure is robust, to provide the stable 
computing resources needed by the scientific applications; agile, to 
respond to innovative advances in computer technology that impact 
scientific computing; and flexible, to allow the most appropriate and 
economical resources to be used to solve each class of problems. 
Specifically, the SC proposes to support:
     A Flagship Computing Facility, the National Energy 
Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), to provide the robust, 
high-end computing resources needed by a broad range of scientific 
research programs.

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     Topical Computing Facilities to provide computing 
resources tailored for specific scientific applications and to serve as 
the focal point for an application community as it strives to optimize 
its use of terascale computers.
     Experimental Computing Facilities to assess the promise of 
new computing technologies being developed by the computer industry for 
scientific applications.
    Both sets of investments will create exciting opportunities for 
teams of researchers from laboratories and universities to create new 
revolutionary computing capabilities for scientific discovery.

The Benefits

    The Scientific Computing Software Infrastructure, along with the 
upgrades to the hardware infrastructure, will enable laboratory and 
university researchers to solve the most challenging scientific 
problems faced by the Office of Science at a level of accuracy and 
detail never before achieved. These developments will have significant 
benefit to all of the government agencies who rely on high-performance 
scientific computing to achieve their mission goals as well as to the 
U.S. high-performance computing industry.

Background

Integrated Software Infrastructure Centers

    This solicitation addresses the Mathematical and Computing Systems 
Software Environment element of the SciDAC Scientific Computing 
Software Infrastructure. ISIC envisions a comprehensive, integrated, 
scalable, and robust high performance software infrastructure, which 
overcomes difficult technical challenges to enable the effective use of 
terascale systems by SciDAC applications. ISIC addresses needs for: New 
algorithms which scale to parallel systems having thousands of 
processors; methodology for achieving portability and interoperability 
of complex high performance scientific software packages; operating 
systems tools and support for the effective management of terascale and 
beyond systems; and effective tools for feature identification, data 
management and visualization of petabyte-scale scientific data sets. 
ISIC provides the essential computing and communications infrastructure 
for support of SciDAC applications. The ISIC effort encompasses a 
multi-discipline approach with activities in:
     Algorithms, methods, and libraries--Algorithms, methods 
and libraries that are fully scalable to many thousands of processors 
with full performance portability.
     Program development environments and tools--Component-
based, fully integrated, terascale program development and runtime 
tools, which scale effectively and provide maximum utility and ease-of-
use to developers and scientific end users.
     Operating system software and tools--Systems software that 
scales to tens of thousands of processors, supports high performance 
application-level communication and provides the highest levels of 
fault tolerance, reliability, manageability, and ease of use for system 
administrators, tool developers and end users.
     Visualization and data management systems--Scalable, 
intuitive systems fully supportive of SciDAC application requirements 
for moving, storing, analyzing, querying, manipulating and visualizing 
multi-petabytes of scientific data and objects.
    The complexity of these challenges and the strong emphasis on 
scalability, interoperability and portability requires novel approaches 
in the proposed technical research and the research management 
structure. ISIC emphasizes the formation of Enabling Technologies 
Centers (ETC) as an organizational basis for successful applications. 
An ETC is a virtual multi-institution, multi-disciplinary team which 
will:
     Create mathematical and/or computing systems software to 
enable scientific simulation codes to take full advantage of the 
extraordinary capabilities of terascale computers;
     Work closely with application teams and other SciDAC teams 
to ensure that the most critical computer science and applied 
mathematics issues are addressed in a timely and comprehensive fashion; 
and
     Address all aspects of the successful research software 
lifecycle including transition of a research code into a robust 
production code and long term software evolution and maintenance and 
end user support.

Solicitation Emphasis

    This notice is one of several that addresses the initial 
requirements of the SciDAC program. The focus is on four topics: (1) 
Algorithms, methods and libraries; (2) program development environments 
and tools; (3) operating systems software and tools; and (4) 
visualization and data management. Responses to this notice may propose 
work in one or more of these areas and may be single institution 
efforts or partnerships that involve many organizations. It is expected 
that most, if not all, of the proposed activities will be organized as 
ETCs. Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the 
following examples listed for each subtopic:
(1) Algorithms, Methods and Mathematical Libraries
    (a) Mesh generation and discretization technology. Tools to 
facilitate the generation and partitioning of all types of meshes 
(structured, unstructured, and chimera (overlapping)) designed for many 
thousands of processors.
    (b) Mathematical analysis and scalable numerical algorithms. 
Mathematical methods to help SciDAC applications achieve high 
performance on hierarchical memory terascale computers such as 
multiscale analysis, multilevel methods, and fast transforms capable of 
spanning multiple spatial and temporal scales. Resultant algorithms 
must be deployed in component-based mathematical software and made 
available to a broad range of DOE mission areas.
(2) Program Development Environment and Tools
    (a) High Performance Component Architectures. Component technology 
that builds upon and extends commercial component architectures to 
support high performance parallel components, low-latency, high 
bandwidth communication among components, and efficient data and work 
redistribution.
    (b) Code Design and Development Tools. Scaling methodology to 
deploy existing parallel code development environments on multi-
teraflops SciDAC systems. Support for multi-language applications 
including C, C++, UPC, Fortran, Co-Array Fortran, Python and Java; 
parallel programming libraries, such as MPI, OpenMP, thread libraries, 
the Global Array library; and multi-level hierarchical memory 
programming models.
    (c) Code Correctness and Validation. Debugging tools that implement 
emerging community standards in parallel debuggers and automated data 
dependency analysis. Relative debugging methodology for comparing at 
run time the execution of two versions of a code.
    (d) Performance Tools. Evaluation of existing research and 
commercial performance analysis tools, both tracefile-based and 
dynamic, for scalability and suitability for SciDAC applications. 
Performance metrics and benchmarks which enable reliable and credible 
performance predictions of application codes on terascale and

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larger systems. Tools which link hardware counters to meaningful 
terascale system performance characteristics and application 
performance.
(2) Operating System Software and Tools
    (a) Terascale System Resource Management. Modular infrastructure 
for resource management on terascale clusters including resource 
scheduling, meta-scheduling, node daemon support, comprehensive usage 
accounting and user interfaces that also emphasizes portability to 
terascale vendor operating systems.
    (b) Terascale System Support. Scalable checkpointing and improved 
runtime steering for early deployment. Methodology for analyzing 
tradeoffs between fault tolerance and peak performance. Support for 
robust runtime job management and I/O systems that are tolerant of 
component failure. Scalable tools for system administration including 
initial system boot, system updates, job launch and system utilities.
    (c) High Performance Communication. Operating system support for 
application level communication which scales to thousands of 
processors, provides minimum latency and maximum bandwidth between 
parallel application processes. Innovative approaches to terascale 
operating system architectures including non-uniform kernel support for 
computational, service, interactive and i/o nodes.
(4) Visualization and Data Management
    (a) Data Management Systems. Data exchange methods and 
standardizations that facilitate collaborative applications. Innovative 
Database Management Systems (DBMS) approaches for high throughput 
parallel I/O and complex queries of large scientific databases. 
Hierarchical data storage systems involving tertiary storage media that 
are sequential. Agent methodology for feature extraction and complex 
query operations. Tools for user-driven and automatic clustering, 
reclustering or replication of objects to maximize retrieval 
efficiency. Collaborations with the DBMS and tertiary storage vendor 
industry are encouraged.
    (b) Visualization. Vector/tensor field visualization in 3-D. Modes 
of visualization for interpretation and understanding of large 
datasets. Remote and collaborative visualization methods. 
Characterization of simulation, experimental and visualization errors/
uncertainties. Adaptive, multiresolution, parallel and scalable 
visualization algorithms. Innovative techniques for exploring multi-
dimensional, multi-discipline data sets.
    Collaborations with the high performance hardware and software 
vendor industry are encouraged wherever appropriate.

Integration of Software Components and Tools

    Responses to this notice should cover the full range of activities 
from basic research to development of software that can be deployed to 
the SciDAC applications communities. It is critical that these 
submissions demonstrate effective strategies for coupling with 
requirements from applications researchers and ensuring that software 
developed will interoperate with software developed by other ISIC 
activities and be effectively deployed to SciDAC computing facilities 
and applications groups.
    ISIC envisions a fully integrated software environment that 
provides both robustness and ease of use to the end user application 
scientist. Implementation of this vision will be coordinated through a 
participatory management process with input from ISIC teams and other 
key participants of SciDAC. As component and tool implementations 
mature, each team will be expected to develop the necessary technology 
to fully and smoothly incorporate their software tools into the ISIC 
environment.
    ISIC activities play a critical cross-cutting role in the SciDAC. 
ISIC goals require significant interactions, ranging from the joint 
development and deployment of tools and technologies into the 
applications community, to the incorporation of needed capabilities 
into new products and systems. ISIC researchers will need to interact 
closely with diverse groups including: applications scientists, vendor 
providers, the DOE ASCI program, and other federal agency programs 
addressing complementary goals. To support and facilitate the maximum 
impact of the SciDAC Scientific Computing Software Infrastructure, high 
emphasis will be placed on ensuring that source code is fully and 
freely available for use and modification throughout the scientific 
computing community.
    This solicitation is focused on larger ETC efforts in support of 
the SciDAC program. Applications to the OASCR base program through the 
Continuing Solicitation for all Office of Science Programs Notice 01-
01, found at http://www.science.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html, 
which may have the potential for contributing to the ISIC software 
infrastructure, should so indicate.

Collaboration

    Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with researchers in other 
institutions, such as: universities, industry, non-profit 
organizations, federal laboratories and Federally Funded Research and 
Development Centers (FFRDCs), including the DOE National Laboratories, 
where appropriate, and to include cost sharing wherever feasible. 
Additional information on collaboration is available in the Application 
Guide for the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program that is 
available via the Internet at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/Colab.html.

Program Funding

    It is anticipated that up to $7 million annually will be available 
for multiple awards for these components of the ISIC program. Initial 
awards will be made in FY 2001 in the categories described above, and 
applications may request project support for up to five years. All 
awards are contingent on the availability of funds, research progress, 
and programmatic needs. Annual budgets for successful ISIC projects are 
expected to range from $2,000,000 to $4,000,000 per project. Annual 
budgets may increase in the out-years but should remain within the 
overall annual maximum guidance. Any proposed effort that exceeds the 
annual maximum in the out-years should be separately identified for 
potential award increases if additional funds become available.

Preapplications

    Preapplications are strongly encouraged but not required prior to 
submission of a full application. However, notification of a successful 
preapplication is not an indication that an award will be made in 
response to the formal application. The preapplication should identify 
on the cover sheet the institution, Principal Investigator name(s), 
address(s), telephone, and fax number(s) and E-mail address(es), title 
of the project, and the field of scientific research. A brief (one-
page) vitae should be provided for each Principal Investigator. The 
preapplication should consist of a two to three page narrative 
describing the research project objectives, the approach to be taken, 
and a description of any research partnerships. Preapplications will be 
reviewed by DOE relative to the scope and research needs of the ISIC 
program.

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Merit Review

    Applications will be subjected to scientific merit review (peer 
review) and will be evaluated against the following evaluation criteria 
listed in descending order of importance as codified at 10 CFR 
605.10(d):
    1. Scientific and/or Technical Merit of the Project,
    2. Appropriateness of the Proposed Method or Approach,
    3. Competency of Applicant's Personnel and Adequacy of Proposed 
Resources,
    4. Reasonableness and Appropriateness of the Proposed Budget.
    The evaluation of applications under item 1, Scientific and 
Technical Merit, will pay particular attention to:
    (a) The potential of the proposed project to make a significant 
impact in the effectiveness of SciDAC applications researchers;
    (b) The demonstrated capabilities of the applicants to perform 
basic research related to ISIC and transform these research results 
into software that can be widely deployed;
    (c) The likelihood that the algorithms, methods, mathematical 
libraries, and software components that result from this effort will 
have impact on science disciplines outside of the SciDAC applications 
projects;
    (d) Identification and approach to software integration and long 
term support issues, including component technology, documentation, 
test cases, tutorials, end user training, and quality maintenance and 
evolution.
    The evaluation under item 2, Appropriateness of the Proposed Method 
or Approach, will also consider the following elements related to 
Quality of Planning:
    (a) Quality of the plan for effective coupling to applications 
researchers;
    (b) Quality of plan for ensuring interoperability and integration 
with software produced by other ISIC and SciDAC efforts;
    (b) Viability of plan for deployment of software to SciDAC 
facilities and applications groups;
    (c) Knowledge of and coupling to other efforts in high performance 
scientific computing software such as the DOE ACTS program, the DOE 
ASCI program and the NSF ITR program;
    (d) Quality and clarity of proposed work schedule and deliverables.
    Note that external peer reviewers are selected with regard to both 
their scientific expertise and the absence of conflict-of-interest 
issues. Non-federal reviewers may be used, and submission of an 
application constitutes agreement that this is acceptable to the 
investigator(s) and the submitting institution. Reviewers will be 
selected to represent expertise in the technology areas proposed, 
applications groups that are potential users of the technology, and 
related programs in other Federal Agencies or parts of DOE, such as the 
Advanced Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) within DOE's National 
Nuclear Security Administration.
    Information about the development and submission of applications, 
eligibility, limitations, evaluation, selection process, and other 
policies and procedures including detailed procedures for submitting 
proposals from multi-institution partnerships may be found in 10 CFR 
part 605, and in the Application Guide for the Office of Science 
Financial Assistance Program. Electronic access to the Guide and 
required forms is made available via the World Wide Web at: http://www.science.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html. The Project 
Description must be 20 pages or less, including tables and figures, but 
exclusive of attachments. The application must contain an abstract or 
project summary, letters of intent from collaborators, and short vitae.

    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number for this 
program is 81.049, and the solicitation control number is ERFAP 10 
CFR part 605.

    Issued in Washington, D.C. on December 7, 2000.
John Rodney Clark,
Associate Director of Science for Resource Management.
[FR Doc. 00-32250 Filed 12-18-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-U