Humanity’s greatest challenges are centred around global environmental change and the pursuit of sustainable solutions. Exascale computing has the potential to be a breakthrough tool in confronting these challenges. ExaGEO’s mission is to harness this potential by linking complex, non-linear, and coupled models of Earth system processes, spanning the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, and solid Earth processes, while also incorporating human elements. Human behaviour, manifested through economic and political decisions, introduces large-scale perturbations to Earth systems, requiring not only exascale computing but also theoretical developments across the physical, ecologic, and social sciences.  

ExaGEO, a groundbreaking initiative, will address these challenges by training ~80 PhD students in the use of exascale computing. ExaGEO focuses on developing expertise in advanced areas such as GPU-accelerated environmental modelling and large-scale Earth observation data analysis. By equipping researchers with cutting-edge computational skills, the PhD programme aims to advance scientific understanding and provide innovative solutions to pressing global environmental issues. ExaGEO focuses not only on exascale computing model development and data analysis, but also on multidisciplinary training of students in Earth system processes and applications.

Supported by funding from UK Research and Innovation’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the programme brings together a consortium of three institutions — the University of Glasgow, the EPCC at the University of Edinburgh, and CEEDS at Lancaster University — alongside over 200 experts from academia and industry.