Category I: Bridges-3: Integrating AI, Data & HPC to Advance American Scientific Leadership

Bridges-3 is the continuation of PSC’s long standing role in providing production quality national cyberinfrastructure through the NSF Advanced Computing Systems & Services (ACSS) program. As the successor to Bridges 2, Bridges-3 carries forward the program’s core objective of delivering systems and services that adapt to rapid evolution in computing and data technologies while remaining reliable, accessible, and broadly usable by the U.S. research community. Bridges-3 offers a balanced, converged environment that integrates advanced GPU accelerated computing, high performance, large-memory CPUs, a hardened all flash parallel file system, and a high bandwidth InfiniBand fabric, providing a cohesive, scalable platform for simulation, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and complex high-performance computing workflows. The overall architecture is informed by science drivers drawn from the critical scientific domains listed in memorandum M-25-34/NSTM-2 from the Office of Science and Technology Policy, which outlines priorities for national investment and actions in Fiscal Year 2027, including artificial intelligence, quantum information science, materials and microelectronics, biomedical research, advanced manufacturing, and energy systems. Bridges-3 will continue to integrate with science gateways, classroom instruction, and community outreach programs to ensure that advanced computing remains accessible and useful across communities. These efforts align with national goals of supporting gold-standard science, building the science and technology (S&T) workforce of the future, expanding world-class research infrastructure, and strengthening America’s S&T ecosystem. Combined with seamless interoperability with national platforms and resources such as the Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support (ACCESS) capability, the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR), and the Leadership-Class Computing Facility (LCCF), these elements ensure that Bridges-3 will provide stable and productive service to the U.S. research community while supporting the broad goals of the NSF strategic plan. -- This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. NSF Award ID: 2614022 | Program: 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT | Principal Investigator: Bruno Ricardi de Abreu | Institution: Carnegie Mellon University, PITTSBURGH, PA | Award Amount: $10,000,000 View on NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2614022 View on Research.gov: https://www.research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards/2614022.html