When the University of Sydney’s high‑performance computer Artemis was shut down for the final time, some researchers felt as if they were saying goodbye to a dear colleague. Over a decade, Artemis drove discoveries across disciplines, leaving a lasting legacy and helping to pave the way for a new approach to research computing at the University of Sydney.
For a moment in late 2025, staff from across the University of Sydney community took time out to farewell the supercomputer, Artemis, with a small celebration, reflecting on its years of service and the pivotal role it played in countless research projects. “Artemis was regarded with a sense of great affection by many staff and students,” says Professor Simon Ringer, the University of Sydney’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research Infrastructure).
“Its decommissioning certainly was the end of an era, as Artemis achieved so much for the University through the research it enabled.” When the first version of Artemis arrived in 2015, it was eagerly anticipated by researchers. Artemis was designed to speed up the University’s complex data analysis, supporting work in fields such as bioinformatics and genomics, as well as data-intensive research and modelling in earth sciences, agriculture, astronomy and physics. “When Artemis went live, there was a great sense of excitement – it felt like opening a whole new world of possibilities,” Simon says.
“This was something completely new – faster, bigger, more powerful. Suddenly, our researchers could collaborate more, tackle questions that had seemed out of reach before.”
However, he recalls that there was some trepidation at first. “Investing in and installing something this big was a bit daunting initially, but it quickly became clear that it was the right move. Major research infrastructure like this is what lets our researchers do their best work and accelerates discoveries. It’s about building something that boosts research, while delivering real benefits to the wider community.”
Major upgrades followed in 2016 and 2018, and Artemis went on to support more than 7000 researchers working on around 4000 research projects. In total, it delivered an estimated 360 million CPU core hours and contributed to more than 16,000 research papers.
Artemis' achievements
Among its most notable achievements was enabling evolutionary virologist Professor Edward (Eddie) Holmes, with a colleague in China, to become the first to map and publicly release the COVID-19 genome. This work also earned Eddie the accolade of 2020 NSW Scientist of the Year.
“My team played a key role in revealing the origin and early spread of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19,” Eddie says. “This work requires the computational analysis of huge amounts of genome sequence data. This would have been impossible without Artemis; it absolutely transformed the research I was able to perform.”
Artemis ultimately underpinned a vast range of significant research projects at the University – from modelling global plate tectonics to surveying the Milky Way to developing advanced engineering simulations and quantum cryptography.
Other flagship projects enabled by Artemis
- Global hazards of pesticide and herbicide pollution
- Whole‑genome sequencing in patients with prostate cancer or heart disease
- Design of new catalysts for batteries and fuel cells
- Viruses in honeybees, rabbits, mummies, parasites and Tasmanian devils
- Deep learning in soil science
- Modelling and detection of defects in concrete construction materials
My team played a key role in revealing the origin and early spread of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19,” Eddie says. This would have been impossible without Artemis; it absolutely transformed the research I was able to perform.
Professor Edward (Eddie) Holmes
A long history of landmark computers
In many ways, the University is the cradle of Australia’s digital computing and computer science story. Artemis was the latest in a long line of groundbreaking University of Sydney computers that began with Australia’s first digital computer, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Automatic Computer (CSIRAC), which was operational on campus from 1949 to 1964. It was followed by SILLIAC, famously financed by a donor’s Melbourne Cup winnings, which ran from 1956 to 1968.
With Artemis decommissioned in 2025, the University continues its tradition of forward-thinking computing as it phases in a new suite of computing capabilities, known collectively as Sydney Research Cloud. This includes a new partnership with the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre, which gives researchers access to Setonix, Australia’s most powerful supercomputer, and increasing capacity for AI-enabled research.
Simon says that Sydney Research Cloud will offer researchers more user-friendly, scalable and secure research computing.
“Our capacity to support AI-based research – machine learning and inference [prediction based on large data sets] – is receiving a huge boost, and we’ll be able to drive faster, more powerful modelling. Sydney Research Cloud will give our researchers access to a flexible range of modern processing units with the reliability they need to both drive and collaborate on globally significant research.”
Although now retired, Artemis lives on in the discoveries it helped to make possible and in the foundations it laid for the future, as the University of Sydney steps into its next era of research computing.
Hero image - Photography: David Batterham.