The four-day high performance computing conference and trade show at the Congress Center Hamburg provides a unique international platform to gain insights, network and do business, all under one roof. With over 1500 attendees and more than 120 exhibitors from over 45 countries expected to attend, ISC'09 is shaping up to be the most extensive and dynamic since the conference began as a meeting in Mannheim in 1986.

ISC, which marks its 24th anniversary in 2009, has a well-established reputation for presenting well-founded, precise and up-to-date information in an environment that encourages informal conversations and sharing of ideas. ISC is also the largest high performance computing exhibition in Europe. All conference proceedings are conducted in English.

In addition to world-renowned keynote speakers, ISC'09 will feature four in-depth sessions examining some of the most exciting - and challenging - areas in high performance computing today. Here is a quick look at each of the sessions:

• HPC & Cloud Computing: Synergy or Competition?, featuring speakers from Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Microsoft and others
• Climate Modelling & HPC: Challenges in a Changing World, featuring speakers from leading climate research institutions, including ECMWF, NCAR, MPI, GFDL and COLA.
• Supercomputing Challenges for Research in Aeronautics, featuring speakers from EADS, Airbus, Boeing, DLR and Turbomeca.
• Scientific Afternoon, with parallel sessions on burning scientific topics, chosen by a panel of judges from submissions by researchers around the world.

"Every year, as we put together the conference programme, I say this will be the best ever, but this year the programme is truly illustrious", stated Conference Chair Professor Hans Werner Meuer of the University of Mannheim. "For 2009, we have four days of presentations, an impressive line-up of speakers and our largest exhibition ever. At the same time, we have also updated our pricing structure to ensure that everyone who wants to attend can afford this extremely valuable investment."

The ISC'09 programme also includes four keynote speakers:

• Andreas von Bechtolsheim of Arista Networks and the legendary co-founder of Sun Microsystems, will discuss "The Evolution of Interconnects for High Performance Computing" during the opening session keynote address on Tuesday, June 23.
• Professor Dr. Thomas Sterling, the Arnaud & Edwards Professor of Computer Science at Louisiana State University, will talk about "HPC Achievement & Impact - 2009" on Wednesday, June 24.
• Professor Dr. Gunter Dueck, IBM Distinguished Engineer, will give the Thursday, June 25 keynote talk on "Lean Brain Management - More Success and Efficiency by Saving Intelligence".
• Professor Dr. Edgar Körner, President of the Honda Research Institute Europe, will discuss "The Brain-like Vision" in the keynote session on Friday, June 26.

In addition, the Research Poster Session is an excellent opportunity for presenting latest research results, new projects and innovations. Posters will be prominently displayed throughout the conference (June 24–26, 2009), and there will be a Research Poster Reception on Wednesday, June 24, 2009, 1:45–2:30 pm, which will allow conference attendees to discuss the research displays with the presenters. The poster submission deadline is April 12, 2009. More information is available at http://www.supercomp.de/isc09/Participate/Call-for-Posters

An overview of the ISC'09 conference programme can be found at http://www.supercomp.de/isc09/Program/Overview

Advance registration for ISC'09 begins Monday, March 2, and in addition to reduced rates, a number of one-day options for both the programme and exhibition are being offered for the first time.