Bridging the Gap Between Applications and Supercomputing: A New Master’s Program in Computational Science

Abstract

Modern applied science is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary, creating a priority demand for highly qualified scientists and engineers capable of generating new ideas and transferring advanced scientific developments to the industry. Often, breakthrough results arise at the interface of sciences as a result of the coordinated work of specialists from different subject areas. The training of scientists and engineers capable of such activities requires the development of new educational approaches. The article describes a new Master’s program in computational science that meets the challenge. The program bridges the gap between computational mathematics and cutting-edge supercomputing technologies, offering an appropriate range of general courses, as well as the set of electives with the possibility of building an individual educational trajectory. The article formulates the main ideas underlying the program, describes the structure of the curriculum, emphasizes the main disciplines, and summarizes the results of training over four years of the program implementation at the Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod.