VUB inaugurates new TIER-1 supercomputer at Zellik Research Park | VRT NWS: news
Flanders’ newest TIER-1 supercomputer, named Sofia, was unveiled on Thursday evening at the Zellik Research Park. Managed by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Sofia is now the most powerful computer in Flanders, marking a significant boost for the region’s high-performance computing (HPC) capabilities.
A rotating flagship for Flemish HPC
In Belgium’s HPC ecosystem, a TIER-1 supercomputer is installed roughly every six years at a different university. After Ghent University’s previous system, Hortense, the baton has now passed to VUB with Sofia. Thanks to rapid hardware and software advances, each successive TIER-1 system represents a major leap in performance and efficiency.
Built for AI—and for every discipline
The headline improvement with Sofia is its expanded capacity for artificial intelligence workloads. According to VUB, the system delivers the highest computing power available in Flanders and is designed to serve researchers across all scientific fields. Its broad utility spans both traditional simulation-heavy research and modern data-centric AI.
Illustrative use cases include:
- Training and refining climate models to improve forecasting and climate impact assessments.
- Simulating complex chemical reactions to accelerate materials discovery and process optimization.
- Developing and validating AI tools for medical research, from image analysis to personalized treatment support.
Open to academia and industry
Sofia is accessible to both academic researchers and industry users, reflecting a broader push to translate cutting-edge computing into real-world innovation. VUB aims to keep the system running at least 80% of the time, maximizing scientific output and enabling collaboration across sectors.
Part of a national HPC network
Sofia is one of two TIER-1 systems in Belgium; the other is located in Charleroi. Complementing these national flagships, each university also operates a TIER-2 computer with lower capacity, ensuring that researchers have a layered pathway to the compute resources they need—from local workloads to national-scale projects.
With Sofia now online at Zellik Research Park, Flanders gains a powerful platform to advance discovery, tackle data-intensive challenges, and support the next generation of AI-driven research.
