Chico State and the National Research Platform (NRP)
Researchers at UC San Diego, along with over 50 partner institutions including Chico State, have connected a High-Performance Computing (HPC) node to the National Research Platform (NRP) via their Internet Service Provider, CENIC. Supported by awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF), this initiative has deployed over 300 nodes of compute and storage. The goal is to provide high-speed compute resources to professors, researchers, and institutions worldwide, enabling them to handle large data sets and perform computations that would typically take weeks or months using internal resources, in just days or minutes by leveraging NPR's resources.
This effort places Chico State at the forefront of democratizing access to cutting-edge AI infrastructure, research tools, and educational platforms across the California State University system. Our campus is directly integrated into this national effort with operational support from CENIC (Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California) and access to high-performance computing environments via the Nautilus platform, a central component of NRP.
This powerful, nationally distributed computer system includes Central Processing Units (CPUs), Graphic Processing Units (GPUs), and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and features specialized subsystems for a wide range of data science, simulations, and machine learning/artificial intelligence tasks. Data access is facilitated through a federated national-scale content delivery network by the name of Nautilus, significantly enhancing computational capabilities for large-scale research projects.
The National Research Platform (NRP) is a nationwide distributed cyberinfrastructure initiative aimed at accelerating AI research, education, and collaboration. The CENIC AIR component connects California’s research and education institutions to the platform, enabling:
Chico State has installed a dedicated Nautilus node, providing the local campus community with direct access to AI-ready computing infrastructure. Our involvement includes:
We are also contributing to broader CSU system collaboration by offering rack space and network infrastructure (Science DMZ) for future expansion of the CENIC AIR network.
Participation in NRP opens the door to:
Chico State joins a coalition of forward-thinking CSU campuses (including Fullerton, San Bernardino, Sacramento State, and others) in leveraging this platform. Research projects—from high-resolution image segmentation in forestry to teaching foundational AI in the classroom—are already benefiting from this infrastructure. Faculty and students can explore NRP resources such as tools, datasets, and shared learning opportunities.
The project is ongoing, supported by awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Here is our timeline to date.
Faculty and students can get started with NRP by: