Make the Most of ISC High Performance 2026 Hamburg: Dates, Schedule, Main and Side Events

Are you in the high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, or quantum technologies field? There is one event in Europe not to be missed every year. ISC High Performance (formerly known as the International Supercomputing Conference) brings together the global High-Performance Computing (HPC) community to share ideas, debate, and showcase the technology shaping the next decade of scientific and enterprise computing.

In 2026, the conference will be held in Hamburg, from Tuesday, June 23 to Thursday, June 25. ISC High Performance 2026 promises to offer something unique to researchers, enterprise IT decision-makers, vendors, and students entering the field.

Let’s discover how you can make the most of it.

What is ISC High Performance?

ISC High Performance is the world’s oldest and Europe’s most-attended conference organized around high-performance computing. But it’s also a trade exhibition.

ISC High Performance was first held in 1986 in Mannheim, Germany. Today, it represents a global institution for the HPC community. Ever since, the conference has expanded its scope from pure supercomputing into artificial intelligence, data analytics, quantum computing, and sustainable infrastructure.

The mission of ISC High Performance is to bring together scientists, engineers, and technology leaders to explore the future of high-performance computing. This year, the mission is about “Connecting the Dots.” The point is that HPC, AI, quantum, and cloud computing can’t exist in separation. Instead, they’re deeply interconnected and evolving disciplines.

As a conference, ISC High Performance offers an invited program of keynotes, research presentations, panel discussions, and contributed sessions from the scientific and academic community.

As an exhibition, ISC High Performance has gathered 200+ exhibitors, including industry leaders, innovative startups, and research organizations. They’ll be showcasing the hardware, software, and services powering modern HPC environments.

Rosa M. Badia is the Director of the HPC Software Research Area and Manager of the Workflows and Distributed Computing Group at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. This year, Badia is the Program Chair of the event, and her focus is on computing, workflows, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Check out the ISC High Performance side events

At the ISC High Performance event, you can participate in exciting side and satellite events. These are extremely memorable and practically useful hours of the event.

For example, tutorials on Monday, June 22, provide hands-on, deep-dive learning experiences. This is a great opportunity to dive into HPC, AI, and quantum computing in half-day or full-day formats. So, if you’re an engineer or a practitioner interested in structured, instructor-led learning instead of passive session attendance, this is for you.

On Friday, June 26, you can enjoy expert-led workshops focused on specific industry challenges. If you like dialogue instead of presentation, this genuine peer exchange is right for you. Those interested in informal forums for niche topics and emerging discussions shouldn’t miss the Community Stage Meetups.

Additionally, you can meet international student teams designing and running real cluster systems at the Student Cluster Competition. This is another perfect opportunity for seasoned professionals.

What about posters? You can find research, project and Women in HPC posters at the event. This is a presentation platform for early-career researchers to showcase their latest work and get feedback from peers.

Finally, if you’re interested in deep studies on niche subjects, don’t miss the Birds of a Feather sessions where you can enjoy informal, topically focused discussions.

The location of ISC High Performance 2026 Hamburg

ISC High Performance 2026 is organized at the Congress Center Hamburg (CCH), Germany. The Center is located at Congressplatz 1, 20355 Hamburg, directly adjacent to Dammtor station in the heart of the city.

It takes some 30 minutes to reach the CCH by air. You can use the S-Bahn commuter rail from Hamburg Airport. Taxis and the MOIA ridesharing service take some 20 minutes if traffic permits.

Hamburg is one of the most exciting cities in Germany. It’s a historic port metropolis offering excellent food, outstanding culture, and active nightlife. This compact and walkable inner city offers world-class hotels and well-developed public transport.

You can find more information on the Federal Foreign Office’s website concerning visa requirements. The ISC team recommends applying for a visa 3-6 months in advance, where applicable.

Meet the Bacula Systems Team at ISC Hamburg

Bacula Systems, a leading provider of scalable and robust HPC  backup and recovery software, will be presenting its solutions at ISC High Performance 2026. If you’re interested in enterprise backup and recovery software designed for complex, high-volume, and high-availability demands, look for Bacula at ISC High Performance 2026 on booth Z12.

Bacula Enterprise develops solutions designed for scale-intensive, mission-critical deployments that ISC attendees know well. The company offers native support for physical, virtual, containerized, and cloud infrastructure. Moreover, Bacula Systems has recently expanded Lustre file system compatibility․ Thus, the company has strengthened its position in high-performance computing (HPC) environments.

ISC is one of the few events where HPC and enterprise IT teams come together to evaluate solutions and have honest, technical conversations with the people behind them.  The Bacula Systems team – including senior engineers, will be there to meet you. Whether you’re redesigning your data protection architecture, rethinking your backup strategies for AI workloads, or seeking new enterprise backup looks, the Bacula Systems team at ISC Hamburg welcomes you.

What is on the agenda for ISC High Performance 2026?

The ISC High Performance 2026 agenda is built around:

• Supercomputer architectures for data-intensive applications
• Growing intersection of AI and HPC platforms
• Parallel programming models and software tools
• Quantum computing and its emerging role in the computing stack
• Energy efficiency and sustainable HPC
• The application of HPC in science, engineering and commercial domains

You can also find talks on the present and future of recurring lens from some of the most prominent figures in supercomputing history.

In keynotes, you can find the highlights of the main conference days. You can enjoy talks by speakers from the leadership ranks of academia, government research institutions and technology companies.

Industry and research leaders will work through real-world constraints and viable solutions during the invited sessions. Besides, the event has contributed sessions dedicated to the most recent original research from the global HPC community.

The exhibition floor promises striking product launches, live demonstrations and interactive exhibits to energize the environment with new technologies, outstanding speakers and potential adopters.

Notable experiences at ISC High Performance 2026 outside of the session format

ISC High Performance 2026 offers extremely valuable experiences in the spaces between formal sessions. You can enjoy Walking Talks with a guided expert to explore the exhibition floor. Here, you can find technology demonstrations and gain new knowledge from broader architectural and strategic conversations.

At the Online HPC Career Center, job seekers can connect with employers actively recruiting in HPC, AI, and related fields. Moreover, you can connect with professionals during networking receptions and social events.

The ISC Vendor Program enables attendees to listen to leading researchers and technology experts in a commercial context. And this builds an exciting bridge between exhibitors and engaged technical audiences.

ISC High Performance 2026 event time frame

ISC High Performance 2026 starts on Monday, June 22. The conference will close on Friday, June 26, 2026, as mentioned above. Register in advance and get your badge to visit conference sessions, exhibitions and associated events.

Find information on the pass types and access levels on the official ISC registration page.

ISC High Performance 2026 side event schedule

Use the ISC High Performance 2026 schedule below to organize your conference week to make the most of your time:

Monday, June 22: Tutorials Day
Full-day and half-day tutorial sessions run from 9:00 am.
These sessions include applied topics across HPC, AI, and quantum computing.

Tuesday, June 23: Conference and Exhibition Opens
Sessions begin at 9:00 am.
Exhibitions open at 1:00 pm and last till 8:30 pm.
Welcome reception on the exhibition floor in the early evening.

Wednesday, June 24: Full Conference Day
Sessions start at 9:00 am.
Exhibitions open at 10:00 am and last till 6:00 pm.
Birds of a Feather sessions, Community Stage Meetups and poster sessions are organized throughout the day.

Thursday, June 25: Final Exhibition Day
Sessions open at 9:00 am.
Exhibitions start at 9:00 am and last till 4:00 pm.
The last opportunity to visit exhibitor stands and vendor program sessions.

Friday, June 26: Workshops Day
Expert-led workshop sessions start at 9:00 am and run throughout the day.
Specific technical or organizational challenges to engage in.

Join Bacula Systems at ISC Hamburg

Is data protection for HPC, AI, or enterprise infrastructure the topic you’re interested in? Connect with the Bacula Systems team on the exhibition floor during ISC High Performance 2026.

Bacula will be present at ISC since the company is genuinely committed to the HPC community as a partner in solving some of the most demanding data management challenges in the industry.

Stop by the booth to talk or exchange perspectives on the present and future of the enterprise backup industry. This is critical in the era of exascale computing, AI-generated data volumes, and increasingly complex hybrid environments.

Find Us at ISC High Performance 2026

Meet the Bacula Systems team in the foyer area, booth Z12, at the Congress Center Hamburg during the main exhibition days, June 23–25.

Discover Bacula Enterprise’s unified approach to data protection across physical servers, virtual machines, containers, and cloud infrastructure. Learn the specialized capabilities the company offers for large-scale and high-throughput environments common in HPC. For instance, you can learn more about Bacula’s most recent Lustre file system compatibility designed for HPC storage environments, or Bacula’s special capabilities with GPFS.

To make the most of your time, schedule a meeting with the Bacula Systems team in advance via  the Bacula Systems website. As a result, you can enjoy tailored discussions about your specific environment and requirements during the ISC busy week

Reasons to attend ISC High Performance 2026

Not sure whether ISC 2026 is worth attending? Well, ISC High Performance aims to be the center of the global HPC community in Europe.

Nearly 50% of HPC users, vendors and providers will be present at the event. Moreover, 3,500+ attendees from academia, government and industry will come together for 5 days to focus and engage in industry discussions and exhibitions.

You can enjoy a rigorous technical program and research presentations reflecting peer-reviewed original work. Invited speakers are high-level experts in their fields. Workshops and tutorials offer hands-on and practical experience.

Why is ISC High Performance 2026 irreplaceable? Because the conference offers the most recent views and thoughts on AI adoption, infrastructure modernization and long-term computing strategies. The event enables visitors to compare a wide range of technologies and communicate directly with the developers.

If you’re starting your career, ISC High Performance 2026 is an unmatched opportunity to meet senior leaders and the broader HPC community. And this is thanks to the Student Volunteer Program, poster sessions, the Student Cluster Competition, and structured networking events under the conference roof.

If you’re a vendor or exhibitor, ISC High Performance 2026 is a unique chance to talk to decision-makers and technical practitioners interested in evaluating solutions and forming new partnerships.

Finally, the broader enterprise IT community, including CIOs and infrastructure leads, ISC High Performance 2026 is a grounded, credible, and technically honest environment that helps never stay behind the rapidly evolving landscape.

Post-event action plan

To invest in these 5 days with intention, make sure to come equipped with a plan and leave with a follow-up strategy:

• For this, review the full ISC High Performance 2026 program before the conference.
• Select sessions that you’d like to participate in.
• Focus on 5 – 10 exhibitors most relevant to your current or future projects.
• Visit these exhibitors’ pages in advance.
• The AI-powered recommendation system on the ISC platform can help you determine the exhibitors and sessions best aligned with your interests.
• Schedule your meetings with vendors or peers.

It ‘s also often helpful to:

• Take notes with follow-up actions during the event.
• Take concrete action for each valuable conversation, e.g., request a product trial, download a whitepaper, connect on LinkedIn, or schedule a follow-up call.
• After ISC, while the context is fresh, revisit session-related content online that you missed or want to review.
• Share key takeaways with those interested.
• See what ideas, technologies, approaches, strategies, or partnerships can be placed on your organization’s roadmap.

Let’s Talk at ISC Hamburg

Are you interested in speaking with the Bacula Systems team? We’re available throughout the conference days. We’re open to both a 5-minute introduction or longer technical discussions.

Today, when data is the new oil, the interest in enterprise backup is on the rise. So, if you’re dealing with simulation runs, AI training jobs, experimental results, or operational telemetry, reliable and cost-effective data protection is vital for you. We’re looking forward to talking to you.

What ISC High Performance 2026 signals for HPC, AI, and enterprise infrastructure teams

ISC 2026 arrives at a time when multiple exascale systems and a new generation of architectural challenges are emerging. And it’s critical to know how to manage and protect them.

AI has grown from a niche HPC workload into an infrastructure challenge, raising demand for GPU clusters, high-bandwidth interconnects, and data pipelines at an unprecedented scale.

Quantum computing is moving forward with rapid advances. Thus, forward-looking infrastructure teams focus on hybrid classical-quantum workflows. Enterprise infrastructure teams, especially those in data-focused sectors like research institutions, financial services, and life sciences, make the questions debated at ISC extremely valuable and relevant to present-day decisions.

ISC High Performance 2026 aims to help balance on-premise HPC investment against cloud HPC services. The event also aims to help store and protect data for AI-scale workloads.

Moreover, ISC 2026 aims to help design for energy efficiency without hurting the performance that scientific and commercial users demand. Finally, the conference focus is on building the skills and partnerships necessary for staying competitive over the next decade.

During ISC High Performance 2026, you’ll meet the people and technologies that are shaping the answers to the questions above. And the event aims to provide enduring value through a density of expertise and innovation.

Conclusion

ISC High Performance 2026 is the event where thought leaders and visitors come together to debate, dive deeper into the topics, and move forward. This is a rare opportunity to see the next generation of HPC talent in action, share knowledge, gain new insights, build connections, and find clarity about where high-performance computing is heading.

This year, ISC High Performance will open on June 22 and close on June 26. So, register early, schedule your meetings, and make a list of questions before the event. Take advantage of every format offered, including the hands-on tutorials on Monday morning and the expert-led workshops on Friday afternoon.

If data protection for HPC or enterprise infrastructure is what you’re interested in, meet the Bacula Systems team on the exhibition floor. Enjoy the valuable conversations and meetings at ISC to make well-thought-out decisions in the year ahead.