Jülich, 9 October 2013 – Before the next generation of supercomputers, exascale computers, can become a reality, a number of technical issues must first be resolved. The new EU project DEEP – Extended Reach (DEEP-ER), work on which began on 1 October 2013, will address two key challenges: the growing gap between computing speed and data transfer bandwidth, and improving protection against hardware failures. Fourteen partners from seven EU countries are involved in the project, which Forschungszentrum Jülich is coordinating. Around € 6.4 million in funding has been earmarked for DEEP-ER from the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme until 2016.