Professor Mark Parsons holds a Personal Chair in High Performance Computing at the University of Edinburgh. He is the Director of EPCC, the University of Edinburgh’s supercomputing centre, a position he has held since 2016. He is also the Associate Dean for e-Research in the College of Science and Engineering, a role he has held since 2010.
Mark joined EPCC following his PhD at CERN in 1994 to work as a software developer. By 1996 he had taken the role of Commercial Manager, alongside his technical role. In 1997 he was made the Commercial Director, a role he retained until 2010. From 2001 to 2010 he was also the Commercial Director of the National e-Science Centre. In 2010 he became the Associate Dean for e-Research a role he currently holds. In 2011 he became co-Executive Director of EPCC. In 2016 he became the Sole Director of EPCC.
EPCC is the leading supercomputing centre in the UK and hosts and manages many of the UK’s national High Performance Computing and Research Data services at its custom built data centre, the Advanced Computing Facility, on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Of particular relevance is the hosting and management of the Scottish National Data Safe Haven, which Mark has led since 2013. The safe haven is a key component of HDR UK in Scotland and works closely with the Regional Data Safe Havens across the country.
