The plan proposed by the Information Technology Center of Hokkaido University, "(ii) Initiatives to improve the efficiency of sharing existing computing resources," has been selected for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's public offering project "Strategic Enhancement of Computing Resources Essential for AI for Science."

This project aims to establish Japan as a leading country in AI for Science by supporting Japanese universities and research institutions that share computing resources through HPCI to promote innovation in scientific research through the advancement of AI for Science. This support will include efforts to enhance the available computing resources and increase the shared computing resources necessary for their efficiency, and will be integrated with various initiatives, including the "Program for Scientific Research Innovation through AI for Science."

In this project, the center will utilize the facilities of "Grand Chariot 2," a supercomputer system that forms the core of the interdisciplinary large-scale computing system that has been in operation since April 2025, to enhance its high-end GPUs for AI.

Furthermore, in order for the four selected centers to collaborate in promoting AI for Science, a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the promotion of "AI for Science" was signed on June 8, 2026, between Hokkaido University, University of Tsukuba, University of Tokyo, and Kyushu University.

For more details, please click here. *This link will take you to the Hokkaido University Information Technology Center website.