New bursary fund to support up to 300 graduates and professionals across Wales

A new bursary fund has been announced to help businesses across Wales enhance their computational skills.
The fund, made available by High Performance Computing (HPC) Wales, will boost the skills and experience of graduates and professionals, while providing expert computing support to businesses.
The new bursary scheme will enable business professionals in North, West Wales and the Valleys - otherwise known as Convergence areas in Wales - who wish to build skills in the area of advanced computation, to benefit from up to four weeks’ training.
It will also part-fund 10-week work placements with additional training, some in conjunction with Go Wales. These placements will enable businesses to select graduates to suit their business needs and benefit from specialist knowledge, while graduates work towards obtaining a professional qualification, gaining valuable business skills and experience.
Typical training includes an introduction to supercomputing, OpenMP (a standard for writing parallel codes using threads) and MPI (another standard for parallel programming using message passing), as well as practical supercomputing experience. Trainees may also achieve Level 4+ post-graduate qualifications, boosting the skills of Welsh business employees and the employment prospects of graduates.
Up to 300 professionals and graduates could benefit from the funding, which is expected to help businesses in Wales grow and expand.
Part-funded by £24 million through the Welsh Government, including support from the European Regional Development Fund, HPC Wales is committed to boosting the Welsh economy by providing academic researchers and businesses with access to some of the most advanced computing technology in the world.
The Chief Executive of HPC Wales, David Craddock, said:
“We’re delighted to announce our new bursary scheme, designed to boost the knowledge and skills of businesses and learners across Wales.
“Many businesses across Wales are unaware of the benefits that supercomputing can deliver for them. By providing access to IT specialists and state-of-the-art equipment, businesses have the opportunity to power innovation on a scale that was previously impossible.”
“With access to good quality work experience becoming more and more difficult for graduates and students alike, we are pleased to offer skilled individuals the opportunity to showcase their ability through our funded work placement schemes.
Businesses interested in finding out how they can benefit from the funding should contact Charlie Godfrey or James Osborne on info@hpcwales.co.uk