PERUN Supercomputer Reaches 125th Place in the Global Top500 Ranking of the World’s Most Powerful Systems
The PERUN supercomputer, procured by the Centre of Operations of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (CO SAS) thanks to funding from the Slovak Recovery and Resilience Plan, has placed 125th in the global TOP500 ranking following its initial performance tests. This is the best result ever achieved by a Slovak supercomputer in this prestigious evaluation and a significant milestone for the development of high-performance computing (HPC) in Slovakia.
The TOP500 list is the international standard for ranking the world’s most powerful HPC systems and is compiled twice a year. PERUN’s placement in the top quarter of the ranking confirms that Slovakia now possesses infrastructure comparable to leading European research centres and is ready to support the most demanding scientific and industrial computations.
“PERUN’s placement in the top quarter of the TOP500 list demonstrates that Slovakia is capable of building world-class infrastructure. This achievement commits us to continue developing services and support for the scientific community and industry partners. Once operational, Slovak users will gain access to technology that will significantly expand the possibilities for research and innovation,” said Nikola Kovaničová, Director General of CO SAS.
The results on which PERUN’s 125th-place ranking is based come from preliminary performance tests carried out at the manufacturing facility, prior to physical installation in Slovakia. After delivery, integration, and subsequent system optimization, PERUN is expected to reach even higher performance parameters.
“We also expect that in the next edition of the ranking, the system will place among the leading entries of the Green500, a TOP500 sub-category evaluating the energy efficiency of supercomputers. Energy efficiency is a key indicator of technological sophistication and sustainable operation for modern HPC systems,” said Martin Sůra, CEO of Eviden Slovakia, the system’s supplier.
PERUN will be made available to users in March 2026, after installation, testing, and acceptance procedures are completed. The system will provide Slovak researchers, universities, innovative companies, and the public sector with significantly increased computational capacity for fields such as materials modelling, climate and environmental simulations, drug development, and advanced artificial intelligence methods.
The PERUN project is one of the key pillars in building a modern national HPC and AI ecosystem. CO SAS is the project’s beneficiary within the Recovery and Resilience Plan and, in addition to the infrastructure itself, ensures expert support, service development, and the preparation of application tools that will be available to users from the moment the system is launched.
PERUN represents one of the most significant investments in scientific infrastructure in Slovakia in recent years and marks an important step toward strengthening the country’s competitiveness within the European research area.
Edited by Monika Tináková
Foto: canva.com