AMSTERDAM, 21/10/00 - On 22 November, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander will open the supercomputer at the scientific computing center SARA in Amsterdam. The new scientific computer can carry out more than a trillion calculations per second, making it the fastest computer in Europe.

Over the next six years, the machine will be used for scientific research in fields including biology, chemistry, meteorology, astrophysics, and medicine. One of its main uses will be to simulate phenomena that cannot be studied in laboratories.

SARA is a national computer expertise center. The center manages computers for the NWO national computer facilities foundation, the Free University, Eindhoven Technical University, and the Universities of Twente and Amsterdam.