For more than 20 years, Advanced Clustering Technologies has been helping researchers, PIs, department heads and others prepare their grant proposals. In particular, we help you prepare for your proposal submission to the National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation grant program as this is the source of many HPC grant awards.

Ask for our help now and we will do everything we can to assist with the grant proposal process, including:

I do not know exactly what I need based on who will be using this system. 

We can consult with you to help determine the best configuration to meet your needs. Defining the ideal system now will save you countless headaches later. Imagine not getting the system that meets all user needs. Or having to re-issue an RFP because the system you described is not, as it turns out, what you need. Or missing out on the optimal technologies, often with options that will save you time, space and budget.

I am unfamiliar with the latest available technologies and components.

Advanced Clustering Technologies is partnered with all of the major providers of high performance computing equipment, from processors and motherboards to GPUs and networking. We are knowledgeable about the latest technologies and can advise you as to the best configuration to meet your current and future needs (because scalability always matters). Our conversation would also include details about the kinds of discounts we can offer based on relationships we bring to bear with our partners.

I need help writing my grant proposal. 

Advanced Clustering has published a white paper to guide you through the grant writing process. The white paper is based on interviews with customers who have written MRI grant proposals that resulted in NSF funding for HPC equipment. There is a lot to learn from their experiences. 

I would like to get a sense of how far my budget would go. 

We have also published an extensive HPC Pricing Guide that demonstrates the kind of HPC system you could get within a few budget ranges ($150,000, $250,000 or $500,000). The pricing guide was recently updated to our new systems based on the latest generation processors from AMD and Intel. You can request our HPC Pricing Guide here. 

Any conversation we have would culiminate is us providing a complete quote detailing all aspects of the system options we recommend for your consideration. Our quotes include physical details of the system such as power and cooling requirements.