We welcome new applicants to the Natural Environment Research Council’s (NERC) high performance computing (HPC) facilities.
Before you apply for funding
In your funding application, you must state that you need research council facilities in the ‘Facilities’ section. If you don’t do this, NERC cannot guarantee access to HPC.
You don’t need to add costs for NERC HPC services.
See NERC policy on access to high performance computing for full guidance.
If you are a Doctoral Training Partnership student
Submit one application per institution where possible, especially if you share a supervisor.
Include your DTP reference number in your application.
JASMIN
JASMIN is the NERC facility for environmental data analysis. JASMIN provides data storage that enables data sharing within projects, CPU and GPU compute clusters, and cloud computing services, with high performance data transfer from both ARCHER2 and Monsoon.
Most NERC projects can use JASMIN free at the point of use. However, access charges may apply to projects with particularly large storage requirements.
When you need to contact JASMIN
You do not normally need to contact the JASMIN team before submitting your funding application. However, applicants with particularly large JASMIN storage requirements should raise these at the proposal stage to ensure that requirements can be met in a timely manner.
For requirements that exceed 30 terabytes (TB) but are under 100TB data storage, contact the relevant JASMIN consortium manager.
For requirements that exceed 100TB data storage, contact the JASMIN team.
This is for capacity planning only. It is not part of the peer review process.
After you receive funding
Create a JASMIN account through the JASMIN Accounts Portal.
Once you’ve created an account, you can request JASMIN resources through the JASMIN Projects Portal.
Monsoon2
Monsoon2 is the joint NERC-Met Office supercomputing service.
You do not need to provide any costs or units of use.
After you receive funding
Follow the Monsoon application procedure to request access.
ARCHER2 service
The current advertised service end date for ARCHER2 is November 2026 and access to ARCHER2 cannot be guaranteed after 21 November 2026. Where you require HPC provision after November 2026, alternative provisions, such as other UKRI HPC provisions or commercial HPC services, can be explored.
Current UKRI HPC provisions and any updates on this period of transition will be published on NERC facilities and resources.
Before submitting your application, you can email hpc@nerc.ukri.org to discuss options or explore use of other UKRI or commercial service provisions, noting these may be different in remit and access process.
Any use of commercial HPC services will require inclusion of full access costs within your application.
Computationally intensive research continues to be of strategic importance to NERC and we strongly encourage applicants to submit proposals requiring HPC access.
NERC will ensure proposals requiring HPC will not be disadvantaged through peer review during this period of change.
Contact a consortium leader
Before submitting your funding application, you must contact the relevant ARCHER2 consortium leader to discuss requirements.
Atmospheric and Polar Sciences Consortium
Dr Grenville Lister
Email: grenville.lister@ncas.ac.uk
Mineral and Geophysics Consortium
Professor John Brodholt
Email: j.brodholt@ucl.ac.uk
Oceanography and Shelf Seas Consortium
Dr Andrew Coward
Email: acc@noc.ac.uk
If you are unsure which of the three consortia is most appropriate for your application, contact Dr Andrew Coward in the first instance.
After you receive funding
Once your application has been approved for funding, and following receipt of your award letter, you will need to submit an ARCHER2 HPC application through the HPC application portal.
In your ARCHER2 application:
- include an estimate of your total HPC use in allocation units
- confirm you have discussed your application with a consortium leader
Information about embedded CSE support is available on the ARCHER2 website.
ARCHER2 HPC application deadline
28 February: for HPC use between 1 April and 21 November 2026
There will be no September 2026 deadline because of the service end date.
Projects funded after 28 February that need urgent access will be considered case by case.
Allocations are agreed each spring (usually March) and start in April.
Current UKRI HPC Provisions
Tier two HPC services
UKRI-funded researchers can use the following tier two supercomputing facilities:
- Isambard 3 (details on the service are available from Bristol Centre for Supercomputing)
- Baskerville
- Bede
- Cirrus
- CSD3
- Jade
- NI-HPC
- Sulis
Access is managed through the regular access to HPC facilities funding opportunity. It is currently closed. The page will be updated when it’s open for applications.
Euro HPC Supercomputers
UK researchers can apply to use the supercomputers on Euro HPC Supercomputers.
Artificial Intelligence Research Resource
UK researchers undertaking research related to artificial intelligence (AI) can access the Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (AIRR) managed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
The AIRR compute clusters include:
- Isambard-AI (University of Bristol)
- Dawn (University of Cambridge)
AIRR is not listed in the UKRI Funding Service facilities list. Apply for AIRR through the Gateway route, which is open all year.
Ask about HPC services
General NERC HPC enquiries
Rebecca Scott
Email: hpc@nerc.ukri.org
Service enquiries
ARCHER2 helpdesk
Email: support@archer2.ac.uk
Telephone: 0131 650 5000
Last updated: 22 December 2025