As part of the Digital Transformation course, representatives of the National Competence Centre for High-Performance Computing – NCC Montenegro, Ms. Sanja Nikolić and Dr Luka Filipović, delivered a guest lecture to final-year BSc students of the Faculty for Information Systems and Technologies (FIST) and the Faculty of Applied Sciences at the University of Donja Gorica. The session highlighted the growing strategic importance of High-Performance Computing (HPC) in research, innovation and business competitiveness.
HPC and Bussiness Opportunities for Digitial Transformation
Students were introduced to how HPC powers today’s AI systems, large-scale simulations, and data-intensive applications, and how this technological convergence opens new career and entrepreneurial opportunities. The lecture also showcased how HPC and AI are becoming critical enablers for SMEs and start-ups, transforming traditional industries and supporting advanced digital solutions in agriculture, energy, finance, and healthcare.
Ms Sanja Nikolic and Dr Luka Filipovic gave a lecture to final year students
The presenters also provided an overview of NCC Montenegro’s activities under the EuroCC/EuroCC4SEE initiative – including training opportunities, access to European supercomputers, SME onboarding support, and student involvement through research, master’s projects, and innovation-oriented proof-of-concepts. The lecture concluded with an open invitation for students to engage in upcoming NCC HPC/AI programs, internships, and applied research initiatives.
The Deep Learning with High Performance Computing (HPC) course provides a comprehensive introduction to both the fundamental and advanced concepts of Deep Learning, with a special focus on applications in High Performance Computing environments.
Participants will explore neural networks, loss optimization, convolutional and transformer architectures, as well as unsupervised and generative models. Through a combination of lectures and practical sessions, attendees will gain both theoretical understanding and hands-on experience in efficiently training and deploying deep learning models on HPC systems.
The course is intended for students and researchers with prior knowledge of machine learning concepts, programming in any language, and a basic understanding of mathematics (functions, derivatives, linear algebra, and statistics). The course is organized within the EuroCC project at the University of Donja Gorica, in collaboration with the Center for High Performance Computing and the Artificial Intelligence research team. All classes will be organized at the University of Donja Gorica, starting from 31st October, 2025, from 17:15h, in classroom S33 or S23 (3 floor).
This focused short course introduces the core concepts of computer vision (CV) and modern convolutional neural networks (CNNs), then applies them in practice. Participants will understand how images become features, how CNNs learn robust representations, and how to train/evaluate models for real-world tasks. Designed for students, researchers, and professionals with basic Python knowledge, the course blends a clear theoretical framework with a hands-on lab that delivers a working image classifier and practical tips for improving accuracy and robustness. Participants will have an opportunity to run their experiments on the HPC cluster at NCC Montenegro.
The University of Donja Gorica and NCC Montenegro are organizing a course on Parallel Computing. This course emphasizes the importance of parallel computing in addressing complex numerical problems that cannot be efficiently solved by sequential programs.
Participants, including students and industry partners, will be introduced to the fundamentals of distributed and parallel computing, as well as key performance indicators of parallel programs.
In the second part of the training, participants will learn the basics of parallel programming on multicore HPC systems, utilizing both shared-memory and distributed-memory architectures through OpenMP and MPI. After mastering the essentials, the course will cover the complete process of decomposing a serial program, transforming it into a parallel version, and identifying potential challenges related to parallelization and communication.
In the final part of the course, participants will be introduced to the fundamental concepts of GPU programming, exploring how graphics processing units can be used to accelerate computation.
The course is designed to last six weeks, with weekly 90-minute sessions held in the afternoon.
Course start : 30.10.2025, 17.15, Location : University of Donja Gorica, S43 (4th floor), More info : mnencc@udg.edu.me
In collaboration with NVIDIA and the OpenACC organization, a group of National Competence Centers from Austria, Czechia, Germany, Montenegro, Poland, Slovenia, and Sweden organized several Bootcamps for the European HPC and AI user community.
Students, researchers from UDG and UoM, enthusiasts, and industry experts in the fields of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, together with hundreds of participants from across Europe, attended courses on parallel programming (N-Ways-GPU and Multi-GPU) and AI (AI for Science and AI Profiling). Researchers from Montenegro also contributed as teaching assistants.
As one of the events of this collaboration, we are pleased to announce the OpenAI Hackathon, which will take place from October 14 to 23, 2025. The event is led by NVIDIA and the OpenACC, together with the EuroCC National Competence Centres of Austria, Germany, and Poland. Open AI Hackathons are multi-day, intensive hands-on events designed to help AI and ML engineers and data scientists accelerate, optimize, and scale their real-world projects leveraging the latest technologies. The event pairs participating teams with dedicated expert mentors to enhance the performance, efficiency, and scalability of their applications using state-of-the-art programming models, libraries, and tools. Whether you’re working on deep learning, data analytics, or model optimization, this hackathon provides a unique opportunity to push the boundaries of innovation using an advanced AI and ML infrastructure.
Žabljak, Montenegro – NCC Montenegro, in collaboration with the 29th IT Conference, successfully hosted a dynamic two-day training event, “HPC and Industrial Cooperation – Opportunities and Perspectives,” on May 29th and 30th, 2025. Set against the stunning mountain ambiance and wild beauty of Žabljak, this initiative, implemented within the framework of the EuroCC2 and EuroCC4SEE projects, aimed to spotlight High-Performance Computing (HPC) as a pivotal instrument for advancing industrial operations. The agenda for the event is available at the following [link].
prof. Bozo Krstajic gave an introdduction the event and workshop at the openning social event
The core objective of the training was to introduce businesses to the transformative potential of HPC. The event saw enthusiastic participation from various industry representatives, including AI One, DigitalSmart, FiveG, Paid ME, Recrewty, Saga, and others. Through a series of presentations, practical examples, and interactive discussions, these participants explored avenues for implementing HPC within their respective companies. The event facilitated the identification of solvable challenges, an understanding of necessary resources, and the establishment of valuable B2B connections with members of NCC Montenegro.
prof. Sandra Tinaj gave an overview of the project, introduiced new opportunities such as Fortissimo calls
The training commenced with a warm welcome and registration, followed by an introductory session on HPC and its critical importance across various industrial sectors. Participants gained insights into the services and support NCC Montenegro offers to firms, under the banner “Count on HPC: Training and Applications.” A significant portion of the agenda was dedicated to showcasing concrete industrial use cases of HPC, demonstrating tangible benefits for businesses. The afternoons fostered engaging discussions on potential HPC applications within the attendees’ companies, alongside an exploration of the support, services, and infrastructure required for effective HPC implementation. The schedule also included valuable networking opportunities, including organized outdoor activities allowing attendees to soak in the natural splendor of Žabljak.
prof. Milutin Radonjic gave a presentation to high school students prof. Luka Filipovic presented NCC Montenegro activities and services
A commendable outreach initiative was the visit to the “SMŠ 17.septembar” high school in Žabljak. Representatives from NCC Montenegro delivered a presentation on HPC to students, aiming to spark their interest in STEM fields and showcase the opportunities arising from digital transformation and high-tech development. This activity also provided a platform for students to engage in discussions, thereby contributing to the local community through knowledge sharing and the application of modern technologies.
prof. Enis Kocan talked about succces stories, open calls for HPC resources
The training also focused on building bridges and planning future actions. Participants had the opportunity for individual B2B meetings and consultations with NCC Montenegro experts. A dedicated session on planning further steps helped outline future collaboration between NCC and industry, including the formation of working teams and implementation plans. The event culminated with participants presenting their preliminary ideas for HPC applications within their firms, followed by a final networking lunch and closing remarks that summarized key takeaways and recommendations for future endeavors.
Local SMEs shared their experiences with previous Fortissimo callsLocal SMEs shared experiences on the use of HPC resources through EuroHPC open calls
This event, enriched by the inspiring Montenegrin landscape, marks a significant step forward in integrating HPC into Montenegro’s industrial fabric. By fostering understanding, collaboration, and inspiring the next generation, NCC Montenegro is paving the way for a future driven by innovation and high-performance computing.
The main workshop took place in the local high schoolUnforgettable ambient of Montenegrin monitains near Zabljak
On May 27, 2025, the National Competence Center for HPC in Montenegro organized a one-day short course titled “Introduction to SLURM on Computing Cluster.” This training session was designed to introduce participants to the basics of SLURM, the most widely used workload manager for high-performance computing environments.
dr Luka Filipovic gave an introduction to UDG computiong cluster, SLURM comands
The course gathered 13 attendees, including postgraduate students, academic researchers, and a few representatives from industry. The participants had the opportunity to learn how to submit, manage, and monitor jobs on an HPC system using SLURM through a mix of theoretical overview and hands-on examples.
ms Enisa Trubljanin presented her research, activity of UDG AI Club
The short course started with a presentation from ms Enisa Trubljanin, where she discussed the use of AI and HPC in education. She was focused on developing prediction models for computer vision. Then, dr Luka Filipovic gave a presentation on SLURM with practical examples and demonstrations on UDG cluster. The course was wrapped up with presentation by mr Dejan Babic, who described Conda and demonstrated how it can be used for creation of virtual environments for different HPC experiments. Finally, Luka and Dejan discussed the Jupyter notbook setup on UDG cluster, its configuration and access.
mr Dejan Babic gave a presentation of Conda and its use on UDG cluster
With a focus on practical knowledge and real-world usage scenarios, the training aimed to support users in better utilizing HPC resources for data processing, simulations, and advanced research tasks.
The course gathered 13 attendees: students, academic researchers, and representatives from industry.
