The Research Services Office in the Office of Information Systems Management supports NIST’s research IT environment, including laboratory automation, research data management and exchange, high performance scientific computing systems, and NIST’s scientific software portfolio. The Office performs this work in service to NIST’s Laboratory Programs collectively supporting NIST’s mission: “To promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.”

In 2023 the Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC)[1] released a “Deep Dive” of NIST’s research computing environment[2]; this study looked at NIST’s existing research computing environment along with several sample mission efforts across NIST’s Laboratories and how the existing research computing environment supports those efforts (or doesn’t). Included in that report are recommendations for improving NIST’s access to external High Performance Computing (HPC) capabilities. Though NIST maintains multiple HPC systems of varying capacities on its campuses, the capacity of those on-premise systems is insufficient to satisfy all computational requirements.

NIST is seeking sources that are capable of meeting (or exceeding) the series of requirement defined in the attached documents.