Master Thesis Defense: HPC and AI for Education Enhancement

Ms. Enisa Trubljanin successfully defended her master’s thesis titled “Deep Learning with Application in Education” at the Faculty of Information Systems and Technologies, University of Donja Gorica. The development and testing of these solutions were supported by high-performance computing (HPC) resources provided through the EuroCC initiative in Montenegro.

Ms. Enisa Trubljanin

ABSTRACT – This master’s thesis explores the potential application of deep learning in education through the development and evaluation of two concrete solutions: an intelligent chatbot for solving matrix problems and a model for detecting cheating during online exams by analyzing eye movement. The first part of the thesis provides a theoretical foundation of deep learning, with a focus on neural networks, their architectures, transfer learning, and evaluation metrics. The practical part presents the development of a chatbot based on advanced language and mathematical models, implemented using high-performance computing cluster resources, enabling students to engage in interactive mathematics learning. Additionally, a model for detecting cheating through gaze analysis was developed, trained on the Columbia Gaze Dataset, and integrated into an online exam proctoring system. Evaluation results demonstrate a high level of accuracy and user satisfaction for both solutions. Beyond the technical aspects, the thesis also addresses ethical issues and privacy concerns related to the use of artificial intelligence in educational settings. Based on the findings, the study highlights the broad range of potential applications of deep learning in modern educational systems.

There was three great candidates on the same day!

NCC Montenegro Presents HPC to Startups and Innovators at Science and Technology Park

As part of its mission to promote awareness and adoption of advanced HPC and AI technologies, the NCC Montenegro held an industry workshop at the Science and Technology Park (STP) Podgorica, Montenegro’s flagship innovation hub that empowers innovative companies and startups by offering incubation, training, mentorship, and access to collaborative networks.

The event brought together representatives of the local startup ecosystem and tech-oriented SMEs to explore how data-driven technologies can accelerate business development, supported by EuroCC2/EuroCC4SEE project objectives and NCC Montenegro’s service and training portfolio. Participants were introduced to practical examples of HPC and AI applications across various industry and research domains, including Success Stories from Montenegro. The workshop featured a demonstration of the HPC4SME assessment tool, and offered practical guidance on how interested companies can receive technical consultations, apply for access to top-tier European supercomputers through EuroHPC Calls, and engage in HPC-related funded projects, such as FFplus for Business Experiment Calls.

The event concluded with active Q&A session and follow-up discussions, reinforcing that innovation-driven companies in Montenegro have both the creativity and ambition to thrive in the high-tech arena—and that they value the NCC Montenegro’s opportunities to access powerful digital infrastructure and expertise.

More info : https://ntpark.me/en/news/superracunari-za-pametnije-biznise/

HPC and AI Innovations in Finance: NCC Montenegro Highlights at EuroCC Workshop

On June 23, 2025, representatives of NCC Montenegro participated in the fourth “Industry Sector of the Month” workshop, dedicated to the Finance & Insurance sector, together with colleagues from NCC Germany, France, and Slovakia. Luka Filipovic presented success stories from the sector, highlighting collaboration with innovative Montenegrin SMEs PAID, Uhura, and Fleka, showcasing use cases aligned with finance. The workshop provided best practice stories from the finance sector regarding the use of HPC and AI within the EuroCC network.

4th Industry Sector of the Month, Finance and Insurance

Technical support to ITAS in preparation of application for Development call

ITAS is in the implementation phase of the project “AI system for pathological analysis of adenocarcinoma (PathAI)”, co-financed by the Innovation Fund of Montenegro, when processing the collected images requires GPU resources that exceed locally available resources, so the application to the EuroHPC JU Development call was recognized as the optimal solution. To this end, the Director of ITAS, Ivan Bošković, requested assistance from the NCC Montenegro team in preparing the application.

Prof. Enis Kočan, a member of the NCC Montenegro team, visited ITAS on Tuesday, June 24, and provided all the information and technical details necessary for preparing the application to the EuroHPC JU Development call. ITAS will apply for the necessary GPU resources to the Development call by the end of June.

prof. Enis Kocan (UCG) and mr Ivan Boscovic (ITAS)

In addition, during the meeting, other projects that ITAS is currently working on were discussed, as well as possibilities for cooperation with the NCC Montenegro team. Prof. Enis Kočan presented to Director Bošković the second open Fortissimo plus call for Business Experiments, intended for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Two Montenegrin SMEs Secure EuroHPC Access for AI-Powered HR

We are pleased to announce that two Montenegrin SMEs, Recrewty and DigitalSmart, have been awarded access to the Leonardo Booster at CINECA, one of Europe’s most powerful high-performance computing (HPC) systems. The access is granted under the EuroHPC JU Development Call, providing 12 months of HPC resources to support advanced AI development and innovation.

The awarded project, HPC4HR – High-Performance Computing for Human Resources, aims to revolutionize recruitment processes in the Western Balkans through the integration of generative AI (GenAI) and HPC technologies. The project focuses on analyzing multimodal data—text, audio, and video—from candidate applications to enable efficient, unbiased, and culturally sensitive hiring processes. The HPC resources will be used in support to their joint FFPlus project GenAI-HPC4WB (link).

The GenAI-HPC4WB project combines GenAI, ML, and HPC to optimize hiring processes and enhance business culture in the Balkan region

To achieve this, the project will leverage cutting-edge AI models such as LLaMA 3.x, Mistral, Wav2Vec 2.x, Whisper, FaceNet, and DeepFace, all fine-tuned using HPC resources at CINECA. These models will be developed to evaluate resumes, analyze psychometric traits from audio recordings, and interpret emotional and behavioral cues from HR data. By utilizing HPC, the project ensures scalability and processing speed, enabling large datasets to be handled efficiently, significantly shortening recruitment cycles and improving candidate matching. In addition to enhancing operational efficiency, HPC4HR emphasizes ethical AI development, aiming to reduce biases in recruitment and promote diversity and inclusion. The expected outcomes include a set of adaptable, high-performance AI tools that set new standards for digital transformation in human resources, applicable across industries and geographies.

Leonardo Booster partition will be used in this project

The success of Recrewty and DigitalSmart reflects the growing impact of NCC Montenegro in strengthening the national HPC and AI ecosystem. By supporting companies in accessing leading European HPC infrastructure, NCC Montenegro continues to drive digital innovation, competitiveness, and technological excellence in the region.

FIST at UDG Wins EuroHPC JU Grant for HPC-Powered Research Development

The Faculty for Information Systems and Technologies (FIST) at the University of Donja Gorica (UDG) has been awarded a prestigious grant through the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking Open Call, marking a significant milestone for Montenegrin academic engagement with cutting-edge high-performance computing (HPC) resources.

As part of this grant, FIST has secured access to the Leonardo Booster partition at CINECA, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe. This will enable FIST researchers to perform large-scale experiments that are otherwise infeasible with standard computing infrastructure.

FIST at UDG gained access to Leonardo BOOSTER via EuroHPC JU open calls

The awarded project focuses on cross-lingual transfer learning in large language models (LLMs), aiming to systematically evaluate how model architecture and scale influence multilingual performance. By fine-tuning major LLM families (LLaMA, Mistral, DeepSeek) across model sizes from 1B to 70B parameters, the research will generate insights into optimal model selection under real-world resource constraints—critical for European institutions working with diverse languages and limited compute budgets. This is a development project with HPC resources available for 12 months.

The research focuses on cross-lingual transfer learning in large language models (LLMs)

This achievement underscores the growing capacity of UDG and FIST to contribute to frontier AI research, while reinforcing the mission of the National Competence Center in HPC (NCC Montenegro) to support HPC adoption across academia and industry in the region.

We congratulate the FIST team on this major success and look forward to sharing results from their HPC-powered investigations.

Deltahes Visits NCC Montenegro to Explore Collaboration Opportunities in HPC

Representatives of the company Deltahes recently visited the National Competence Centre Montenegro @UDGa, to explore potential or collaboration in the fields of digital transformation, industrial automation and high-performance computing. Deltahes is an innovation-driven startup founded in late 2022, specializing in digital transformation through cutting-edge solutions in industrial automation and IT. Their flagship platform, the Common Data Stack, enables seamless integration of production data and customized software systems—like MES, SCADA, and EMS—providing a centralized “cockpit” for efficient, data-driven industrial management.

Meeting with DeltaHes

Aleksandar Duković, founder of Deltahes was introduced to the EuroCC2/EuroCC4SEE project, NCC’s services portfolio, including training programs, technical support, and access pathways to EuroHPC resources for SMEs and innovative companies. Particular emphasis was placed on the opportunities for utilizing HPC infrastructure for industrial innovation, as well as the potential integration of HPC-based analytics within platforms like Deltahes’ Common Data Stack. Both sides expressed interest in further collaboration in applying for EuroHPC resources to accelerate the adoption of advanced technologies in Montenegro’s industrial/energy sector.