- Carmen OLMOS ARAYE, IR CNRS Experte Infrastructures – Head
- Damien MATEO, IE CNRS Calcul scientifique
- Maxime ROSITO, IE CNRS Ingénierie logicielle
- Simona CELEBRINI, CR1 CNRS (Communication)
- Jean-Pierre JAFFREZOU, CR1 CNRS (Valorisation)
The S!C (Service Informatique et Communication) provides support and assistance for scientific projects as well as more general operational ta
The S!C (Service Informatique et Communication) provides support and assistance for scientific projects as well as more general operational tasks.
As part of its role in supporting and assisting scientific projects, the S!C provides close support to researchers.
It participates in the development of software solutions, and also provides training in the use of Matlab, Python and Shell. The S!C also offers specific training in the use of the HPC cluster to help users with their intensive calculations. The department also creates specific devices for experiments with signal measurement and control operations.
As far as general tasks are concerned, the S!C is responsible for setting up IT and network equipment, as well as ensuring that security policies are applied.
The department is responsible for administering data servers and application servers. As part of the RGPD, in conjunction with the CNRS legal department, the IT department has contributed to the drafting of a reference document (AIPD), guaranteeing the compliance of data processing in scientific projects involving the individual. The S!C also provides advice on the choice and use of individual IT equipment. It manages a heterogeneous IT infrastructure, including machines running Windows, MacOS and Linux. It is also responsible for managing the scientific bibliography in HAL, controlling the unit’s websites and administering the information screens used for internal communication. Finally, the department ensures the security of the information systems and sets up and manages VPN access for users.
In 2023, the growing role of AI in the scientific projects of the NeuroAI and SV3M teams has led the department to acquire a scalable HPC cluster. In-house training courses are organised for users to facilitate the parameterisation and optimisation of local GPU calculations, upstream of the processing carried out on regional and national computing centres such as Calmip and Jean Zay.
It is highly likely that AI work will continue to grow over the next few years, and more computing nodes will need to be added. In this context, the department will have to raise awareness and encourage users to use high-performance computing sparingly, by developing efficient algorithms and reducing data when it is redundant or obsolete.
In the same way as the other exploration techniques that the CerCo uses, the future MEG will very probably require the S!C to provide technical and IT support for the use of this new scientific equipment.
As the IT department and information systems are closely linked, the S!C is responsible for communicating and promoting the unit’s work.