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Thanks to the support of CAKE (Computational Abilities Knowledge Exchange), I had the opportunity to attend ISC 2026 in Hamburg, Germany, one of the world’s leading high-performance computing (HPC) conferences.

I presented my poster, “Accelerating Multi-Omics Analysis with High-Performance Computing”, as part of the Women in HPC (WHPC) poster session, showcasing how HPC infrastructure can help integrate large-scale biological datasets to support biomarker discovery.


This opportunity came after receiving the WHPC Best Poster Award at the NI-HPC 2025 Conference, which opened the door to presenting my work on an international stage. Beyond presenting my research, ISC 2026 allowed me to connect with researchers, HPC specialists, and industry experts from around the world. I learned about emerging technologies, gained new perspectives on computational research, and expanded my professional network. A particular highlight was meeting members of WHPC Ireland and WHPC MENA, and discussing opportunities, challenges, and future developments in HPC across different regions. CAKE’s travel funding made this experience possible. It enabled me to share my research with a global audience, increase its visibility, and gain valuable knowledge and connections that will benefit my future work.

I returned from Hamburg inspired, with new ideas and a deeper appreciation of the role that HPC plays in accelerating scientific discovery.

by Zeinab Abdelrahman, Centre for Public Health, Queen’s University Belfast

  • Read more about Zeinab’s CAKE Placement & Visit, as well as other experiences, here.
  • Learn more about and apply for your own CAKE Placement & Visit here.