STARC Meeting Summary June 2026
Key Discussion Topics:
STARC Charge and Scope, HPC expansion, Central oversight for HPC, Research data security options, and more
Meeting Summary:
This initial meeting focused on the establishment of the STARC (Strategic Administration of Research Computing Committee) to oversee research computing and High Performance Computing (HPC) resources at UC Davis following the provost’s response to recommendations from the START working group. The provost approved $2.43 million in annual ongoing support, including $1.33 million for staffing and $500,000 for equipment maintenance at the core facility, plus one-time funding of $800,000 for equipment expansion and hardware buyout. The committee’s charge includes evaluating existing HPC resources, making recommendations for efficient operation, advising on funding allocation, conducting user experience assessments, monitoring technology developments, and providing regular reports to the Chancellor and Provost.
Key discussions centered around
- broader IT and research computing governance needs beyond just HPC
- coordination between STARC committee and HPC Facility Advisory Committee
- research data security requirements including NIST 800-171 compliance
- challenges with consolidation across 14 separate clusters into a unified campus cluster (Hive)
- space and power constraints for HPC@UCD expansion
- policy requirements for retiring old hardware to access buyout funds for Hive / HPC@UCD
- issues with AI tool licensing, particularly with Anthropic Claude and OpenAI ChatGPT contracts
