National Computational Infrastructure

Providing Australian researchers with world-class high-end computing services

Facilities and Services

National Facility

Support Team

The National Facility is supported by an expert team of technical and research specialists within NCI/ANU Supercomputing Facility team (http://nf.nci.org.au/anusf_staff/index_photos.php). The NCI budget provides for 16 effective full-time positions.

Past reviews of APAC have noted the very high quality of the support service and the excellence of the support team, with the report of the final review of APAC in 2006 noting that users of the National Facility regularly commented that the National Facility was “world class” and a “resource we must be sure we are able to maintain.”

The user survey conducted in September 2010 showed a very high "overall customer satisfaction" of 4.7/5, reflecting the high standard of support provided by the National Facility support team. The Net Promoter Score, which reflects the proportion of users who would recommend the service to others was similarly very high - a world-leading 88% according to the market research company which conducted the survey for NCI. In particular, users commented favourably on the expertise and helpfulness of the support team, and the timely nature of their responses.

The user comments collected by this survey also highlight the importance and impact of the NCI National Facility:

  • "My entire research has been dependent on the NCI."
  • "I have been able to do three-dimensional simulations which would not have been possible five years ago and without the NCI."
  • "I could not have done any of my projects for our success...I would have had to move to the USA if the NCI was not available to me."
  • "No other system in Australia can run our models - it's the only place we can use."
  • "It's enabled me to perform research at the same level as others internationally. I'm able to compete at the highest levels. It's totally important to me."
  • "It's been critical in getting ARC grants and maintaining a high level of journal publications with a high ERA rating."
  • "It's allowed us to develop the next generation of climate models. With the increased power, we can do a lot more experiments."

Contact:

Dr Ben Evans
Manager, NCI National Facility
Email: Ben.Evans “at” anu.edu.au
Phone: +61 2 6125 4967

NCI, an initiative of the Australian Government, is hosted by The Australian National University and is jointly funded by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research under its NCRIS program, CSIRO and ANU.