EuroCC 3 and CASTIEL 3 will further strengthen the EuroHPC ecosystem by supporting the development and services of the National Competence Centres (NCCs), national support hubs that promote and enable the use of supercomputing, and by coordinating cooperation across participating European countries to ensure a consistent skills and training base.
EuroCC3: National Competence Centres for High Performance Computing
Building on the achievements of the previous phases, the role of EuroCC 3 will continue focusing on consolidating and improving the network’s activities while broadening the uptake of HPC across Europe.
The project will continue acting as the coordinator of the 36 NCCs across the EuroHPC Participating States. The NCCs serve as a one-stop shop for HPC-related expertise, services, and training.
With a strong focus on SMEs and industry, the NCCs will support the adoption of HPC through tailored consulting, skills development, and facilitation of access to national and European resources.
In collaboration with CASTIEL 3, EuroCC 3 will ensure coherent network coordination, knowledge exchange and a unified external presence through the HPC in Europe Portal.
This coordination will create synergies between the NCCs and related initiatives, including the EuroHPC Virtual Training Academy, AI Factories, Centres of Excellence, and European Digital Innovation Hubs. These synergies will maximise the overall impact of the EuroHPC ecosystem in Europe.
CASTIEL 3: Networking and coordination of National HPC Competence Centres
Leveraging the work of CASTIEL 1 & 2, the newly launched CASTIEL 3 project aims at further strengthening Europe’s advance-computing capacity, by promoting interaction and exchange of expertise and competence across the NCCs network.
The networking and coordination of the NCCs at the European level is essential for ensuring effective collaboration, sharing of best practices, and the harmonisation of HPC services across Europe.
In this context, CASTIEL 3 provides a unified framework for networking, knowledge sharing, training, and service visibility, enhancing EuroHPC projects, digital skills, innovation, and SME competitiveness.
The project will ensure coherent development and visibility of HPC competencies, training and services across Europe and complement other key EuroHPC initiatives such as the Virtual Training Academy, AI Factories https://www.eurohpc-ju.europa.eu/ai-factory-antennas_en, the Centres of Excellences (CoEs) and the EC’s Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs).
CASTIEL 3 will also reinforce NCC support and visibility for SMEs and industry by coordinating service development, facilitating best-practice exchanges, and leveraging the HPC Service Hub.
With reference to training, CASTIEL 3 will ensure high-quality, harmonised HPC training and mentoring within the NCCs, aligned with the EuroHPC JU-funded projects EVITA and EUMaster4HPC.
With the launch of its new umbrella brand HPC in Europe, CASTIEL 3 is strengthening its focus on user-centred communication, cross-project collaboration, and a more integrated European presence.
To support this vision, CASTIEL 3 operates the HPC in Europe Portal as the central hub for HPC competences, services, and training, while integrating new countries into the NCC network and enhancing collaboration among NCCs and other key European partner initiatives.
More details
The projects were selected following the call DIGITAL-JU-EUROHPC-2025-NCC-01.
Starting on 1 April 2026, the project EuroCC3 will run for a 3-year period with a total budget of up to €19 926 915.57 EUR million, provided by the Digital Europe Programme and the EuroHPC Participating States.
CASTIEL 3 will also run for a 3-year period starting on 1 April 2026 and receive up to €1,999,883.5 million funding from the Digital Europe Programme.
EuroCC 3 and CASTIEL 3 follow on from EuroCC 2, EuroCC4SEE and CASTIEL 2, which started on 1 January 2023 and ran for three years.
The two projects will continue to be coordinated by the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS).
Background
The EuroHPC JU is a legal and funding entity that brings together the European Union and participating countries to coordinate efforts and pool resources with the objective of making Europe a world leader in supercomputing.
To equip Europe with a cutting-edge supercomputing infrastructure, the EuroHPC JU has already procured 12 supercomputers, distributed across Europe including JUPITER and Alice Recoque, Europe’s first exascale systems.
European scientists and users from the public sector and industry can benefit from EuroHPC supercomputers via the EuroHPC Access Calls no matter where in Europe they are located, to advance science and support the development of a wide range of applications with industrial, scientific and societal relevance for Europe.
Currently, the EuroHPC JU is also overseeing the implementation of 19 AI factories (AIF) across Europe, complemented by 13 AI Factory Antennas, to offer free, customised support to SMEs and startups.
Additionally, the EuroHPC JU is deploying a European Quantum Computing infrastructure, integrating diverse European quantum computing technologies with existing supercomputers.
The EuroHPC JU also funds research and innovation projects to develop a full European supercomputing supply chain, from processors and software to applications to be run on these supercomputers and know-how to develop strong European HPC expertise. HPC-TRAIN is part of this R&I strategy, where widening the use of HPC and developing related skills form a core part of the EuroHPC JU’s mission
With the recent adoption of Council Regulation (EU) 2026/150, the EuroHPC JU’s mandate has been expanded with new action pillars dedicated to the deployment of AI Gigafactories across Europe and the advancement of quantum technologies.
- Publication date
- 31 August 2026
- Author
- European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking