The CSCS is the national centre for supercomputing and employs a staff of about 40, including 15 scientists. Supercomputing (High Performance Computing, HPC) is an area of computer-assisted scientific calculation requiring large calculating power to compute simulations or analyse complex data. The CSCS works in co-operation with ETH Zurich, other Swiss universities, the PSI (Paul Scherrer Institute), CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), MeteoSchweiz and other research institutions.

Mr. Baggiolini, what will you undertake first upon on entering office to bring the CSCS back on track?

First of all I will get to know my future colleagues, so I will meet each of them personally for a conversation. One reason for doing so is that the basis for collaboration is founded on trust, which is my aim of course. In my discussions with the staff, who raised serious accusations against the CSCS management a year ago, my main wish is to learn more about the motivation for their skirmish.

Could there even be redundancies?

I hope to be able to convince the people involved that pressure campaigns such as the one last spring harm the CSCS as an organisation. I am not thinking primarily of dismissals – that’s not my style. I want to see a constructive attitude on the part of all CSCS employees. It is entirely possible there will be tough arguments in order to improve the Centre and its performance in science and in providing services.

In your opinion, where did the problems in the past originate?

I cannot give any answer to that question. Analysing past problems is an extremely laborious and uncertain enterprise. Much of it may have had to do with the internal and external communications, and I think disputes were often caused by misunderstandings. I will pose the question in the forthcoming conversations with the staff, not to apportion blame but to identify situations that might also lead to complications in the future.

In the past the CSCS management was reproached by their own staff with the accusation that no clear strategy existed in the procurement of supercomputers. What is your opinion on that?

In view of the imminent period of growth and consolidation, my main wish is to be forward looking, and I will also make the future my theme in the forthcoming discussions. The CSCS is in an excellent starting position at present. The decisions at the highest level, in the Statement for 2008-2011, ought to bring stability. The report on the recent evaluation by a group of professionals with the very best credentials awarded the Centre good marks. The experts found the work of the last few years to be outstandingly good, and judged that the CSCS had made considerable progress in implementing the recommendations from previous evaluations. Therefore, in the absence of clear evidence, I cannot imagine why the CSCS should lack a “clear strategy in the procurement of computers”.

Where do you see the greatest potential for improvement at the CSCS?

In the technology field the CSCS is already one of the world’s best high performance computing centres, as the peer review also established. Collaboration in research is one area where further development could benefit the CSCS. In the strategy context the corresponding national working group will give directions and make suggestions. A good atmosphere, healthy self-appreciation and a clear mission are additional important preconditions for progress in research and technology. We will work on that basis.