Coenraad Bron Center

The University of Groningen has an increasing need for reliable data storage and high-quality computing power. The current Rekenhal computing space at Zernike Campus is seriously out of date and will therefore be replaced. The construction of the new High Performance Computing (HPC) data centre at the UG has started in September 2020 on the Grouwelerie road: the Coenraad Bron Center . Technical service provider ENGIE Services is the main contractor and carried out the building work together with construction contractor Bouwgroep Dijkstra Draisma. The Coenraad Bron Center opened its doors early 2022.

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‘The existing Rekenhal computing space, built in 1971 and located between the Mercator and Duisenberg buildings, lacks space, cooling systems and energy supplies, and is not very energy efficient,’ comments Anke Breeuwsma, CTO of the University’s Center for Information Technology (CIT). At the same time, there is a strongly increasing demand for reliable and future-proof supercomputers. ‘By building this new centre, UG researchers and departments will be able to continue to use our cloud services and very high-quality computing power. In this way, CIT will remain an expert in research data. Such exceptionally strong infrastructure is important because it allows us to collaborate on major, ground-breaking research projects at an international level.’