About the Lab
The Petzold Lab focuses on the design, operation, and optimization of large-scale scientific computing infrastructures that enable data-intensive research, particularly in high-energy physics. A central theme of the lab’s work is making complex computing systems reliable, efficient, and sustainable at scale, from individual worker nodes to national and international data centers.
Research in the lab addresses practical and forward-looking challenges in high-performance computing (HPC) and distributed systems. This includes evaluating new processor architectures such as ARM for energy-efficient computing, optimizing CPU usage for real-world scientific workloads, and integrating heterogeneous resources into established grid environments. The lab also develops robust configuration management strategies to ensure secure, reproducible, and automated deployment of thousands of machines, as well as large-scale storage solutions that support petabyte-level scientific data access.
Much of the work is closely connected to the GridKa Tier-1 center and the Large Scale Data Facility (LSDF) at KIT, which support experiments at CERN and beyond. As a result, the research has direct societal relevance by improving the efficiency, sustainability, and reliability of publicly funded research infrastructure.
The lab is a good fit for students interested in computer science, engineering, or applied physics, with motivation to work on real production systems. Ideal candidates enjoy hands-on problem solving, scripting or systems programming, and are curious about how software, hardware, and networks interact in large-scale computing environments.