Parallelization with MPI

On clusters and distributed memory architectures, parallel programming with the Message Passing Interface (MPI) is the dominating programming model. This 4 half-days course teaches parallel programming with MPI starting from a beginners level. Hands-on sessions (in C, Fortran, and Python) allow to immediately test and understand the basic constructs of the Message Passing Interface (MPI).

Agenda & Content

See Agenda & Content in the left menu for a detailed timetable and course content.

Content level

Content level: Basic = 8:00h (50%) + Intermediate = 6:00h (37%) + Advanced = 2:00h (13%)

Entry level & prerequisites

Basic/beginner – no prior MPI knowledge is required, in the course we'll take you from 0–100%.

Being able to program in either C/C++ or Fortran or Python.

Know how to work on the Linux command line – if hands-on labs are done on one of the ASC systems.

Target audience

Course for academia, industry, and public administration.

See further below for eligibility and prices.

Course format

This course will be delivered in HYBRID format, i.e., you can choose either in-person attendance at TU Wien, Austria or online participation via Zoom.

However, in-person participation is recommended for a better learning experience as it will allow you to get the most of the course, to interact closely with the lecturer during the lectures and hands-on labs – simply to learn more!

Hands-on labs

All participants will get a temporary user account on one of the ASC systems to do the hands-on labs.

Please bring your laptop (with a properly configured eduroam for the in-person participants) to connect to ASC for the hands-on labs. You will use your own laptop or workstation to connect conveniently from your browser to the ASC Jupyterhub and do the hands-on exercises on a suitable CPU or GPU partition of the ASC.

Alternatively, it is possible to do the hands-on labs on your own laptop or on any system you have access to that provides a C/C++ or Fortran compiler, or Python+numpy+mpi4py, and a recent MPI library.

Accepted participants will be contacted a few days before the course and asked to do a short pre-assignment that has to be completed before the course starts.

Lecturers

Claudia Blaas-Schenner (lecturer, ASC Research Center, TU Wien)
​Dr. Claudia Blaas-Schenner is passionate about supercomputing / High-Performance computing (HPC) and has been at the forefront of the field for over 30 years. She founded and directs the training program at Austrian Scientific Computing (ASC), the Austrian national supercomputing center, and is recognized for her expertise in parallel computing and the Message-Passing Interface (MPI), serving as a chapter chair for Terms and Convention in the MPI Forum, which standardizes MPI. Her academic background is in Computational Materials Science and she holds a PhD in Technical Physics from TU Wien. Claudia is deeply engaged in various large-scale European projects that advance HPC and AI, with a particular focus on addressing current needs in training and education.

Victoria Döller (teaching assistant, ASC Research Center, TU Wien)

Ivan Vialov (teaching assistant, ASC Research Center, TU Wien)

Language

English

Date, time, and location

23.–26.11.2026, 09:00 – 13:30 (CET), TU Wien, Austria & ONLINE (Hybrid format)

In-person: Seminar room Operngasse 11/01 (1st floor; go along the corridor to the right of the elevator and take the stairs), TU Wien, Operngasse 11, 1040 Wien, Austria, map
Online: Zoom

In-person participation is strongly encouraged for a better learning experience.

Prices and eligibility

Registrations for this course are handled with priority rules (see below) and different course fees apply:

ASC users: 0 € (free of charge)
Students and members of Austrian universities and public research institutes: 0 € (free of charge)
Students and members of other universities and public research institutes: 180 €
Others (*): 600 €

If a course fee applies for you:

• We will send you an invoice that has to be paid by bank transfer before the course starts.
• Please inform us about any changes in your registration data (especially concerning your invoice address) via email (training@asc.ac.at).
• Cancelation policy: Cancelations by email until 8 days before the course are free of charge (we will refund your fee if you already paid). With cancelations from 7 days before the course onwards the full participation fee has to be paid (but you can designate a substitute participant).
• Certificates of attendance will be provided on request if you attended at least 80% of the course.

(*) Austrian SMEs can get a funding of 80% of the course fee via the FFG Skills Schecks Initiative.

Registration

Registration is required, the registration form can be found on top of this page in the menu on the left.

Please register with your official institutional email address to prove your affiliation.

You will get an automatic confirmation via email (subject starting with "[Indico] Registration"), please check your Spam/Junk folders.

Following your successful registration, you will receive further information a few days before the course.

Priority rules apply until Sunday, November 1, 2026. Final acceptance (or rejection) will be approved on November 2, 2026. As long as seats are available there will be an extended registration period without priority rules.

Priority for acceptance: first - active users of the ASC systems, second - students and members of Austrian universities and public research institutes, third - other applicants.

Please do not hesitate to contact us at training@asc.ac.at if you have any questions.

Waitinglist

After the number of registrations has reached its maximum or the registration form has been closed, you may want to send us an email (training@asc.ac.at) stating that you are interested to be put on the waiting list (vacancies may occur due to cancelations, etc.).

To be able to do the hands-on labs on the ASC systems please provide your full international mobile-phone number for the two-factor authentication required to login to the ASC systems.

Modification, withdrawal & no-show policy

Your registration is binding. Please only register for the course if you are really going to attend.

You can update your registration data or withdraw your registration anytime before the registration form has been closed via the link "Manage my registration" which you can find at the bottom of your automatic email confirmation (subject starting with "[Indico] Registration").

Alternatively, or after the registration form has been closed, please inform us about your cancelation or any change in your registration data (especially your mobile-phone number) via email (training@asc.ac.at).

No-show policy: If you do not cancel and do not show up at the course you will be blacklisted and excluded from future training events.

Organizers

This course is organized by Austrian Scientific Computing ASC (aka ASC Research Center, TU Wien).

The course material has been originally developed by Rolf Rabenseifner from the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS) and therefore the course is organized in cooperation with HLRS.