CSCS
CSCS (Swiss National Supercomputing Centre), founded in 1991 and operated under ETH Zurich, provides national HPC infrastructure including the Alps supercomputer to academic researchers across climate, physics, life sciences, and AI disciplines via peer-reviewed allocation.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1991
- HeadquartersLugano, Switzerland
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What CSCS does
CSCS (Swiss National Supercomputing Centre) is a national high-performance computing facility founded in 1991 and operated in connection with ETH Zurich. Headquartered at Via Trevano 131 in Lugano, Switzerland, CSCS develops and operates the Alps supercomputer and provides scientific computing capabilities to domestic and international researchers across climate science, materials science, physics, life sciences, AI, and engineering disciplines. Access to computational resources is distributed through a transparent, peer-reviewed User Lab allocation process.
CSCS's core technical platform is the Alps supercomputer, a national-scale HPC infrastructure supporting GPU-accelerated computing, large-scale climate simulations, and AI/ML workloads. Additional offerings include cscs2go, a remote access client service, and structured training programs such as the annual CSCS-USI Summer School on Effective High-Performance Computing and Data Analytics (co-organized with USI and NVIDIA). The center maintains strategic partnerships with ETH Zurich, EPFL, Paul Scherrer Institute, CERN, NVIDIA, and ACM SIGHPC, and co-sponsors the international PASC Conference.
CSCS operates as a government-funded research infrastructure under Swiss academic governance, with primary funding from ETH Zurich and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Revenue is not commercially disclosed. The center supplements institutional funding through industry collaborations (e.g., with Swiss companies Glencore and Holcim on climate research) and modest training/event fees (e.g., CHF 550 for in-person summer school participation; free public events). The business model is non-commercial: compute access is allocated via peer review to academic researchers, with industry engagement focused on research partnerships rather than paid compute services.
CSCS firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- CSCS
- Legal name
- CSCS Swiss National Supercomputing Centre
- Website
- https://cscs.ch
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1991
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- CSCS (Swiss National Supercomputing Centre), founded in 1991 and operated under ETH Zurich, provides national HPC infrastructure including the Alps supercomputer to academic researchers across climate, physics, life sciences, and AI disciplines via peer-reviewed allocation.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
CSCS industry classification
Industry- Product category
- High-Performance Computing (HPC) Services
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Computer Training (611420), Educational Support Services (61171)
- SIC
- Electronic Computers (3571), Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374), Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- HPC Supercomputers & Turnkey Systems (HDACAOAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- GPU-Accelerated HPC Systems (HDACAOAC), Research Computing & High-Performance Computing (HPC) User Support (EDALAMAK)
Keywords
Where CSCS is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Lugano
- HQ country
- Switzerland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
CSCS business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Infrastructure, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Government Funding: As a national supercomputing center, CSCS is primarily funded through ETH Zurich and Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) allocations to provide supercomputing capabilities to Swiss and international researchers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | In-person Summer School (6-day program) |
| Freemium | Multi-year contract | Online/Virtual Summer School Participation |
| Freemium | Multi-year contract | CSCS User Lab Day 2026 |
| Freemium | Multi-year contract | Public Guided Tour of CSCS |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels10 records
CSCS product offering
Product offeringCore offering
CSCS develops and provides supercomputing capabilities for the scientific community through the Alps flagship supercomputer and the User Lab allocation system. The centre enables world-class research by granting domestic and international researchers access to GPU-accelerated HPC resources for climate modeling, AI, materials science, physics, life sciences, and engineering. Additional services include cscs2go remote access and HPC training via summer schools.
Product overview
CSCS (Swiss National Supercomputing Centre) provides supercomputing capabilities and HPC services to the scientific community. The core offerings include access to the Alps supercomputer and the User Lab, which provides a transparent peer-reviewed allocation process for computational resources. Additional services include cscs2go for remote access. CSCS collaborates with ETH Zurich and offers training programs including summer schools on HPC and data analytics.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Alps Supercomputer
Quantifiable outcome
- Climate simulations enabling attribution of heatwaves to 180 major carbon emitters
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use CSCS
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
CSCS technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
CSCS partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Università della Svizzera italiana (USI)coreCSCS and USI co-organize the annual Summer School on Effective High-Performance Computing and Data Analytics. The program includes hands-on GPU programming training and visits to the CSCS facility. USI provides 6 ECTS credit points for passing students.
- ETH ZurichcoreCSCS is operationally connected to ETH Zurich as its parent institution. ETH Zurich students use CSCS resources and mentor teams for competitions like the ISC Student Cluster Competition.
- Swiss Universities ConsortiumcorePartnership with Swiss universities including University of Basel, University of Bern, University of Zurich, EPFL, PSI, and others for access to national HPC infrastructure.
- CERNminorEuropean Organization for Nuclear Research - listed as an affiliation option for CSCS User Lab Day registration.
- Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI)minorSwiss research institute listed as an affiliation option for CSCS User Lab Day registration.
- NVIDIAcoreNVIDIA provides mentorship and learning materials for the CSCS-USI Summer School on HPC and Data Analytics, supporting GPU programming education.
- University of BernminorHost institution for PASC26 Conference, with shared campus at University of Bern and PH Bern.
- ACM SIGHPCcoreACM Special Interest Group on HPC - co-sponsor of PASC Conference with full papers published in ACM Digital Library.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
CSCS competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- CINECA: Italy's national supercomputing consortium, operating the Leonardo pre-exascale system and serving Italian and European academic researchers via peer-reviewed allocation. Operates under similar national-mandate, government-funded model as CSCS.
- Forschungszentrum Jülich: Germany's largest national research center, operating JUWELS and other supercomputers as part of the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing. Comparable to CSCS in mission, governance, and European HPC ecosystem role.
- Pawsey Supercomputing Centre: Australia's national supercomputing center, providing HPC resources to Australian researchers with a peer-reviewed allocation model similar to CSCS. Comparable in scale and mission as a national research infrastructure facility.
- IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center: Czech Republic's national supercomputing center, part of the European EuroHPC federation, operating Karolina and LUMI systems. Provides peer-reviewed HPC access similar to CSCS, with a focus on academic and industrial users.
- Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC): Spain's national supercomputing center, operating the MareNostrum supercomputer and providing peer-reviewed HPC access to academic and industrial researchers. BSC is the closest direct European counterpart to CSCS in mandate, scale, and governance model.
Regional players
- National Computational Infrastructure (NCI Australia): Australia's other major HPC facility, supported by ANU and government funding. Provides peer-reviewed HPC access to Australian researchers, similar to CSCS's national facility model but serving a different geography.
- National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore: Singapore's national HPC facility providing high-performance computing resources to academic and industry users. Similar national-mandate mission to CSCS but operating in the Asia-Pacific region.
Broad incumbents
- NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research): US federally funded research center operating supercomputing facilities dedicated primarily to climate, weather, and atmospheric science. Highly comparable to CSCS's climate research mandate and supported by the US National Science Foundation.
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (OLCF): US Department of Energy facility operating the Frontier exascale supercomputer. While at much larger scale and broader DOE mission, OLCF is a global leader in open-science HPC allocation and a benchmark for systems like Alps.
- RIKEN Center for Computational Science: Japan's premier national supercomputing research center, operating the Fugaku supercomputer. Comparable in its national mandate for open scientific HPC access and its close ties to flagship universities (University of Tokyo), mirroring CSCS's ETH Zurich relationship.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
CSCS social profiles
Digital presenceCSCS financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
CSCS leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
CSCS funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
CSCS M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about CSCS
What does CSCS do?
CSCS develops and provides supercomputing capabilities for the scientific community through the Alps flagship supercomputer and the User Lab allocation system. The centre enables world-class research by granting domestic and international researchers access to GPU-accelerated HPC resources for climate modeling, AI, materials science, physics, life sciences, and engineering. Additional services include cscs2go remote access and HPC training via summer schools.
Is CSCS a public or private company?
CSCS is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was CSCS founded?
CSCS was founded in 1991. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is CSCS based?
CSCS is headquartered in Lugano, Switzerland, in the Europe region.
How does CSCS make money?
One revenue line is on record: government Funding.
Who are CSCS's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are CINECA, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center and Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC). Regional players are National Computational Infrastructure (NCI Australia) and National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore. Broad incumbents are NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (OLCF) and RIKEN Center for Computational Science.
Does CSCS have an API?
No public API is recorded for CSCS.
What industry is CSCS in?
CSCS's product category is High-Performance Computing (HPC) Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDACAOAA, HPC Supercomputers & Turnkey Systems, with a secondary code of HDACAOAC, GPU-Accelerated HPC Systems. Its NAICS code is 54151 and its SIC code is 3571.