The PC Grid is an important component of the computational infrastructure provided by the Biozentrum of the University of Basel. It consists primarily of desktop workstations throughout the institute, complemented with classroom PCs, as well as a number of volunteer PCs.

By connecting a large number of regular desktop PCs into a compute grid, we can jointly create a “virtual supercomputer” capable of performing large quantities of scientific computations by splitting them into small chunks and using idle time of the connected PCs. This mode of distributing calculation  jobs across a loosely connected network of computers is referred to as grid computing.

What kind of work can my computer do?
The compute resources from the PC-Grid contribute to a number of scientific projects connected to life science research at the University of Basel. Please have a look at the projects page to see what is currently going on on the PC Grid.

How can I contribute?
If your computer is administrated by BioPhIT, you don't need to do anything, the necessary software is already installed on your workstation. If your PC is not centrally administrated but you would like to contribute, you can get the client software on the download page.

Want to join, but are not a member of the Biozentrum? Thank you, we feel honored! Before you install, please check with your administrator that you are allowed to install this software. Then, continue to the download page. If you want to install the client on a private machine at home: Please do so!

Who is behind this?

Overall grid activities are coordinated by Research IT. The PC-Grid was established by Michael Podvinec while working in the group of Torsten Schwede in Bioinformatics. First-line support for users on ADS PCs in the Biozentrum/Pharmazentrum is provided by the BioPhIT team.  The scientific projects are done in collaboration with a number of internal and external partners.
			Michael Podvinec is coordinating the PC-Grid activities.
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