09.04.2026

Eight million euros for science in Thuringia: Kickoff for high-performance AI computer in Ilmenau

Mehrere nebeneinander aufgebaut Großcomputer im Serverraum der TU IlmenauTU Ilmenau/Michael Reichel
The IT center for Thuringia's state universities is being equipped with state-of-the-art computer technology, which will enable them to conduct cutting-edge research

The IT center for Thuringia’s state universities is being equipped with state-of-the-art computer technology, which will enable them to conduct cutting-edge research. By 2028, a state-of-the-art computer platform for data- and computation-intensive AI applications and machine learning tasks will be established, which will then be available to all ten universities for research and teaching.

The project kick-off toke place on April 9, during which Thuringia’s Minister of Science, Christian Tischner, presented the TU Ilmenau with a grant notification for eight million euros. 

GPU/CPU clusters are the magic formula with which Thuringia’s state universities are shaping their digital future in research. The IT Center, with locations at the Technical University of Ilmenau and Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, which has been available to Thuringia’s ten universities for research and teaching since its founding in 2015 is thus responding to the rapidly growing demand for highly complex IT technology in research.

A quantum leap for Thuringia's research landscape

Großaufnahme eines Computers im Serverraum der TU IlmenauTU Ilmenau/Michael Reichel
The eight-million-euro grant will be used to build a state-of-the-art high-performance AI computer

The eight-million-euro grant will be used to build a state-of-the-art GPU/CPU cluster. Such a computer cluster functions like a giant supercomputer: it pools the computing power of hundreds of computer processors and high-performance graphics cards to solve tasks that would take conventional computers years to complete. To this end, the computer technology at the IT Center of Thuringia’s State Universities is being adapted to meet current scientific requirements.

The existing infrastructure, consisting of the MaPaCC cluster system in Ilmenau and the Draco cluster system in Jena, is operating at over 95 percent capacity but is reaching its technical limits: With the 40-gigabyte graphics memory of the currently used A100 generation from NVIDIA, complex simulations and the training of large language models are only possible to a limited extent. Now the next generation of technology is arriving: The new H200 GPUs feature 141 gigabytes of graphics memory. Compared to their predecessors, they enable up to nine times faster training and 30 times faster execution of AI models, a process experts refer to as inference. NVIDIA’s latest flagship product is also being procured: the B200 graphics processor. It offers twice the performance of the H200 while consuming significantly less energy. This expansion of the IT infrastructure is complemented by investments in optimized, high-speed data storage systems.

Synergien für alle Thüringer Hochschulen

Zwei Frauen mit Spezialbrillen in einem Forschungslabor der TU Ilmenau, umgeben von virtuellen BildernTU Ilmenau/Michael Reichel
The new high-performance AI computer enables computationally intensive research projects, for example on virtual and augmented reality technologies

The computer cluster will be available to all researchers at Thuringia’s ten state universities, who will be able to use it free of charge. It enables computationally intensive projects, such as those at TU Ilmenau focused on fluid dynamics research for weather and climate forecasting, molecular dynamics, a computer simulation method used to analyze the physical movements and interactions of atoms and molecules, or virtual and augmented reality technologies.

At the same time, the new technology ensures the success of future collaborative projects, such as the planned successor to the “Ilmenau School of Green Electronics” (ISGE), where sustainable, climate-neutral information technologies are being developed. And across the state, the IT infrastructure enhances Thuringia’s appeal as a hub for science and research for international talent, including both students and researchers.

Minister of Science Christian Tischner emphasizes the strategic importance of the investment for the state: “We are proud to set a milestone for Thuringia as a center of science with this massive expansion of the IT infrastructure at Thuringia’s universities. The new CPU/GPU cluster is far more than just a technical upgrade: for research in the Free State, it is the ticket to the international top league.”


Two IT centers – a model for success 

Thanks to the State of Thuringia’s commitment to the two-center model, with locations in Ilmenau and Jena, significant investments have already been made in the IT center. While the new facility in Ilmenau, with 250 square meters of data center space, went into operation as early as 2023, the location at Jena’s Inselplatz, with approximately 600 square meters, followed at the end of 2025. Thomas Schröder, director of the University Computer Center Ilmenau, is convinced that this infrastructure forms the foundation for strategically expanding the IT center into a central IT system house: “Our two-center model creates a unique synergy: We pool expertise and resources so efficiently that our researchers can work at speeds that need not fear competition anywhere in the world. With the help of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, Thuringian innovations will not only be able to keep pace, but will set new standards.”

 

Financing and Term

The €8 million project to support research-related infrastructure will run from late 2025 to late 2028. Funding consists of 60 percent EU funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), 30 percent from the state of Thuringia, and a 10 percent contribution from Thuringia’s universities.

 

For more information, see the press release from the Thuringian Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture

   

Contact

Thomas Schröder
Head of the University Computing Center
+49 3677 69-2640
thomas.schroeder@tu-ilmenau.de