The ISC High Performance 2025 conference in Hamburg once again proved to be a crucible for transformative ideas and emerging trends in supercomputing—and the NHR South-West Center, represented by Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU Mainz) and Goethe University Frankfurt (GU Frankfurt), was right at the heart of the action.
Spotlight on JGU Mainz: Thought Leadership Across the Board
JGU Mainz delivered a commanding presence throughout the conference, with Prof. Dr. Sarah Neuwirth taking center stage in multiple high-profile roles. As one of the invited panelists in the popular Birds of a Feather (BoF) session “Super(computing)heroes”, Neuwirth joined fellow pioneers in an engaging discussion that celebrated diverse leadership in HPC and spotlighted challenges still ahead.
The momentum continued at the BoF “IO500 ISC25 List Reveal & Community Discussion”, where JGU’s contribution to scalable storage performance and I/O benchmarking signaled its growing influence in this critical domain. Neuwirth’s technical insights and future-facing perspectives sparked substantive discussions around next-generation data architectures.
At the NHR Booth J10, JGU Mainz curated a Sofa Talk titled “Toward Explainable I/O in HPC Systems.” This informal yet intellectually rich session bridged the gap between technical nuance and practical innovation—an embodiment of NHR’s mission to make advanced computing accessible and understandable.
In a clear recognition of her impact, Neuwirth also served as Keynote Speaker at MODA25, the 6th International Workshop on Monitoring & Operational Data Analytics, with her address “Redefining HPC Observability: Integrating Monitoring, Modeling, and Meaning” challenging the community to think more holistically about operational intelligence in HPC environments.
Capping off a week of deep engagement, Neuwirth’s role as Workshop Chair underscored JGU’s strategic commitment to shaping the global HPC discourse—not just participating in it.
GU Frankfurt: Quantum Ambition and Collaborative Momentum
Meanwhile, GU Frankfurt’s Modular Supercomputing and Quantum Computing (MSQC) team brought their signature dynamism to ISC 2025. From technical workshops to impromptu strategy sessions, their collaborative presence underscored a steadfast commitment to bridging classical and quantum computing through continuous knowledge exchange.
One of the conference’s defining moments was the unveiling of the TOP500 list, where the JUPITER Booster system—a milestone project of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking—made an extraordinary debut at #4 globally, delivering 793.4 petaflops in Linpack performance. The system’s twin, JEDI, stole the show on the sustainability front, taking #1 on the Green500 as the world’s most energy-efficient supercomputer. With Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Lippert (FZ Jülich) closely connected to these efforts, the achievement resonated strongly across both the HPC and quantum communities.
A Forward Trajectory
As the dust settles on ISC 2025, one thing is clear: NHR South-West is not just keeping pace with the evolving HPC landscape—it’s actively shaping it. From observability and explainability in traditional systems to the frontier of quantum integration, the contributions of JGU Mainz and GU Frankfurt serve as a blueprint for how regional excellence can drive global impact.