TACCSTER 2026

September 21-22, 2026

Texas Advanced Computing Center

J.J. Pickle Research Campus | Austin, TX


The annual TACC Symposium for Texas Researchers is a meeting of scientists, engineers, scholars, and students from across the state of Texas who use, and would like to use, the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) to advance their research goals.

This meeting will be an opportunity for you to showcase your ongoing research involving TACC resources, learn new and useful computing skills from a variety of tutorials, network with other Texas-based researchers, and hear information about the latest TACC systems and services. The meeting will be held in person September 21-22, 2026.

For more information about what to expect, check out TACCSTER 2025.

Register Now

Registration closes August 28, 2026.

LODGING

TACCSTER will be held in the ACB building on the J.J. Pickle Research Campus (PRC) of The University of Texas at Austin at 10100 Burnet Road, Austin, TX, 78758. Lodging recommendations can be found here (hotels on Domain Dr. close enough to walk).

TACCSTER Proceedings

Search the TACCSTER Proceedings community and collections stored in the University of Texas Library Repositories.

Travel & Participation Stipend

To broaden participation in the TACCSTER 2025 symposium from around the State of Texas, we are supporting up to six Travel and Participation Stipends for up to $1,500 each. The stipends are intended to cover registration, travel, and accommodation expenses incurred for attending TACCSTER 2025 in Austin. Stipend recipients will be expected to give a 15-20 minute talk on their TACC-related work in a dedicated session at the symposium.

Eligibility
The Travel & Participation Stipends are available to Undergraduate and Graduate Students who will be enrolled in institutions of higher education in the State of Texas at the time of the symposium. Priority will be given to those who would not otherwise be able to attend without receiving the Travel & Participation Stipend. Additional details including instructions on how to apply will be posted soon.

To apply, please complete the Google form linked below, which requests:

  1. Your name, year/level of study (e.g. "3rd year graduate student"), university/department affiliation, and field of study
  2. A single PDF including:
    • A short abstract (max 300 words) containing a title, names and affiliations of all authors and coauthors, and description of the work you would like to present.
    • A short personal statement (max 300 words) describing how it will be helpful to your future career goals to attend and present at TACCSTER.

Please provide the abstract and personal statement in a single PDF file. All materials will be de-identified, then reviewed by a panel of scientists, scholars, and educators. The application deadline is August 7th. Applicants will be notified of the panel’s decision by August 26th.

Apply Now

Poster Presentations & Lightning Talks

TACCSTER is accepting abstracts to be considered for a poster presentation at the symposium. Abstracts should highlight original research or related activities performed on TACC systems (any field of study).

Abstracts submitted for poster presentation will be assessed on their overall content, impact, and relevance to TACC. Limited exceptional submissions will be invited to give a lightning talk in addition to a poster. Poster presenters will be evaluated by a panel of judges on their overall content, impact, relevance to TACC, and the effectiveness of their communication. Select presentations will be highlighted on the TACC website following the symposium. Additional details including instructions on how to apply will be posted soon.

To apply, please complete the Google form linked below, which requests:

  1. Your name, year/level of study (e.g. "3rd year Doctoral student"), university/department affiliation, and field of study
  2. A single PDF including:
    • A short abstract (max 300 words) containing a title, names and affiliations of all authors and coauthors, and description of the work you would like to present.

Please provide the abstract in a single PDF file. All materials will be de-identified, then reviewed by a panel of scientists, scholars, and educators. The application deadline is August 7th. Applicants will be notified of the panel’s decision by August 26th.

Apply Now

One-on-One Sessions with TACC Experts

There will be opportunities for registered symposium attendees to meet one-on-one with TACC staff and domain experts. If you would like to arrange a meeting, please email a short summary (2-3 sentences) of your interests and what you hope to achieve from a one-on-one meeting to taccster@tacc.utexas.edu. Requests must be submitted by September 14, 2026. Meeting slots are limited and we cannot guarantee that a member of the TACC staff will be available.

Agenda

      Tutorials

      Speakers

      Special Sessions

      Logistics

Day 1: Monday, September 21, 2026

8:00am Doors open, coffee and light breakfast available
9:00am Building Interactive Scientific Dashboards in the Cloud with Plotly Dash

Erik Ferlanti and James Labyer

Introduction to Horizon and CPU–GPU Architecture

Dr. Lars Koesterke

Transformer-Based AI Surrogates for Scientific Simulations

Dr. Karthik Mukundakrishnan

10:00am
11:00am Surrogate Modeling on TACC Systems

Dr. Luke Smith

12:00pm Break for Lunch (not provided)

Day 1: Tuesday, September 23, 2025

8:00am Doors open, coffee and light breakfast available
9:00am Deep Learning in Life Sciences Research: Build Your Own Artificial Neural Network

Kelsey Beavers
9:00am - 12:00pm

Introduction to Horizon

Lars Koesterke
9:00am - 12:00pm

Successful Sustainability: Strategies for Growing Your Software and Portal Products

Claire Stirm & Juliana Casavan<
9:00am - 11:00am

Data Transfer Strategies and NetSage

Jen Schopf & Doug Southworth
9:00am - 11:00am

Finding Funding During the New World Order

Jonelle Bradshaw De Hernandez
11:00am - 12:00pm

12:00pm Break for Lunch-on-your-own (not provided)
1:00pm Welcome

Dr. Joe Allen

Office of Campus Engagement
Texas Advanced Computing Center

1:10pm High-Performance Computing to Enable Patient-Specific Digital Twins in Oncology

Dr. Tom Yankeelov

The University of Texas at Austin

1:40pm Supercomputing Precision Medicine: Purpose-Built Infrastructure for Clinical AI

Dr. Jeanne Kowalski-Muegge

The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School

2:10pm Protected Data Services at TACC

Nathaniel Mendoza

Networking, Security & Operations
Texas Advanced Computing Center

2:40pm Break for Coffee & Refreshments
3:00pm Forecasting Tsunamis: Real-Time Inference and Optimal Sensor Placement at Extreme Scale

Dr. Stefan Henneking

Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences
The University of Texas at Austin

3:30pm Lightning Talks
3:50pm Poster Session
4:30pm Reception

Day 2: Tuesday, September 22, 2026

8:00am Doors open, coffee and light breakfast available
9:00am Welcome

Dr. Joe Allen

Office of Campus Engagement
Texas Advanced Computing Center

9:10am State of the Center Address

Dr. Dan Stanzione

Executive Director, Texas Advanced Computing Center
Associate Vice President for Research, The University of Texas at Austin

9:55am The Local Detergent Model of Biological Membrane Fusion

Dr. Jose Rizo-Rey

UT Southwestern Medical Center

10:25am Break for Coffee
10:45am Travel Award Talks
12:00pm Break for Lunch (provided)
1:00pm TBD
2:00pm Town Hall / Poster Winner Presentation
3:00pm Meeting End / Facilty Tours

Paul A. Navrátil Young Researcher Award

Join us as we present the Paul A. Navrátil Young Researcher Award during the TACCSTER Town Hall. Submissions are now open.

This award honors the life and work of Paul A. Navrátil by recognizing University of Texas at Austin researchers who exemplify a passion for advancing knowledge, demonstrate innovative use of TACC resources, and excel across multiple disciplines.

Learn More

Special Thanks to Our 2026 TACCSTER Sponsor!

Cambridge Computer has been empowering technology innovators for over 30 years. We are a technology integrator, consulting firm, and channel partner serving technical end users across industries. A five-time consecutive recipient of NVIDIA’s Partner of the Year award—including four in Higher Education and the 2025 award for Innovation—Cambridge is trusted by fast-moving, technical decision-makers on the cutting edge of technology.