Seven collaborative international research projects run on LUMI come to an end

Seven collaborative projects conducting data-intensive research on the LUMI supercomputer, involving researchers from Finland and Colorado and from Finland and Japan, finished in September 2025. In addition to the scientific results of each project, they have paved the way for a sustainable funding mechanism supporting international collaboration in HPC, fostered new collaborations with partners in the US and Japan, and boosted the impact and use of the LUMI supercomputer.

Funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Finland and coordinated by CSC, the seven projects were established to promote the internationalization of Finnish research while utilizing the LUMI supercomputer as a platform for collaboration, leveraging the major national investments in HPC resources and existing Memoranda of Understanding to deepen international collaboration with strategic areas, the US and Japan. The projects were selected via two Open Calls for Expressions of Interest, organized in 2022.

Now, after three years, the projects have come to an end, showcasing great advances in both scientific progress and the use of LUMI.

Collaboration in data-intensive research requires commitment and top-tier tools

Science is by nature international, since many of the problems it addresses are global. Thus, it is of utmost importance to work together with the best experts to be able to solve these challenges. However, collaboration also requires the necessary human, structural and technological resources to make it viable. This perspective was also highlighted in an event on 23 September 2025, which showcased the results of the seven collaborative projects and discussed the future policy frameworks and funding mechanisms supporting these engagements.

Image from the event’s panel discussion on 23 September. Image: Mikael Kanerva, CSC

– Data-intensive research demands powerful supercomputing platforms. Being able to share these frontier computing environments with research teams in collaborating countries is vital for scientific discovery. CSC is excited to have been able to facilitate joint research between Finnish, US and Japanese scientists through these projects, reflected Mari Walls, Director of Strategic Collaboration and Partnerships at CSC, after the event.

However, global developments concerning the security of research and the threats towards academic freedom increase the need for support to overcome these challenges and facilitate the internationalization of research. This requires commitment from everyone involved:

– Science is an international language. We all – researchers, research funders and civil servants – are needed to safeguard the prerequisites of maintaining its integrity, stated Erja Heikkinen, Director from the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture.

In Finland, this effort is very visible. The vast investments into the development of world-leading computing ecosystems, first through the LUMI supercomputer and later the LUMI AI Factory, show the national-level commitment to equip Finnish researchers and their international collaborators with the best infrastructures to conduct research. Moreover, the global projects introduced above paved the way for a sustained funding mechanism, the special funding call for international collaboration in high-performance computing, organized in a regular cycle by the Research Council of Finland.

Read more about the projects here.