Priority Programme “Disruptive Memory Technologies” (SPP 2377)
In March 2021, the Senate of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) established the Priority Programme “Disruptive Memory Technologies” (SPP 2377). The programme is designed to run for six years. The present call invites proposals for the second three-year funding period – follow-up proposals as well as new proposals.
Motivation
Ever since pioneers like Konrad Zuse and John von Neumann laid the foundation for today’s computer architectures, memory has been a central component in every system. The hardware technology of memories has evolved over the decades, leading to greater capacities and higher speeds, but essential properties of the interface between hardware and software remained the same until recently: main memories used to be volatile, passive and largely homogeneous. These typical properties are so firmly anchored in the expectations of software developers that they manifest themselves in their products.
We are currently observing a wave of innovations in the field of memory that nullify these assumptions and, in this sense, are disruptive for the entire software industry and various sub-domains of computer science. For example, current server systems are operating with a multitude of heterogeneous memory types. In addition to ordinary DRAM, they can access extremely fast “high-bandwidth memory” and CXL-attached memory that can be shared with accelerators or even with other servers. An increasing number of embedded computer systems are being equipped with “non-volatile memories” that are, for instance, based on FRAM technology. Intensive research and development is also being done on “in-memory” and “near-memory” computing approaches that abandon the traditional Von-Neumann architecture. They allow a large number of parallel operations on data objects in or close to the memory with an enormous potential for performance improvements.
Overall, these and other ongoing innovations in main memory technology promise various improvements for all computer systems, for example lower energy consumption, higher processing power, more reliability and simplifications and thus cost reductions. However, it is largely unclear how to make use of all these new possibilities for existing and future software and thus overall systems.
Objectives
The aim of this Priority Programme is therefore to explore the potentials of ongoing developments in the field of main memory technologies and architectures. Despite the disruptive nature of these technologies, systems software and applications need to be enabled to fully exploit them. In order to master disruptive memory technologies and their impact on the overall memory hierarchy, research efforts are required on all levels of the classic system software stack, for example:
- Computer architecture (technical computer science): innovative architectures, for example, sensor nodes with fully-persistent state; improving/adapting existing architectures, for example, issues of volatile and non-volatile memory co-existence; instruction set extensions and memory management units
- Operating systems: software abstractions for new types of memory, including disaggregated on-demand memory from shared pools; integration into the memory hierarchy; fine-grained isolation and sharing of persistent objects; synchronisation mechanisms and memory transactions; systems that never reboot; removal of “persistent” faults or bugs; models and strategies for thread and data placement in a world of changing memory technologies
- Algorithms / data structures: dealing with heterogeneity (high/low bandwidth, different read/write performance); lightweight transactions on data structures
- Databases: optimised usage of different memory types, for example, index structures in persistent memory or optimised query execution by making use of in-/near-memory computing
- Languages / compilers / software engineering: support for in-/near-memory computing; evolution of persistent state; extended type systems and other models for novel classes of memory; conversion of legacy software; potential bugs related to the new technology
Follow-up and new projects proposals must have a clear relation to the above-mentioned aim of the Priority Programme. The addressed research questions are expected to be evolutionary (improving existing systems in a focused manner), disruptive (making use of novel memory technology for new and potentially incompatible features), or visionary (rethinking systems completely). All three kinds of projects are welcome and cross-project collaboration throughout the project duration will be encouraged for mutual benefit.
Programme Structure
Since the memory technologies in focus are all new, the initiators have planned a “bottom-up” approach for exploring the field. In the first funding period, projects were expected to conduct basic research with an explorative character and a close relation to hardware and systems software. Where possible, the second funding period builds upon the insights of the first and extends the research questions more towards higher abstraction levels and applications. This is equally true for both new and follow-up projects. Authors of new proposals are expected to be familiar with the results of the first funding period and must explicitly address how the planned research fits into the overall picture. Projects within the programme that have already cooperated during the first funding period are explicitly encouraged to continue as tandem projects in the second funding period.
Proposal Submission
Proposals must be written in English and submitted to the DFG by 5 March 2025. Please note that proposals can only be submitted via elan, the DFG’s electronic proposal processing system. To enter a new project within the existing Priority Programme, go to Proposal Submission – New Project/Draft Proposal – Priority Programmes and select “SPP 2377” from the current list of calls.
When preparing your proposal, please review the programme guidelines (DFG form 50.05, section B) and follow the proposal preparation instructions (DFG form 54.01). These forms can either be downloaded from our website or accessed through the elan portal.
Applicants must be registered in elan prior to submitting a proposal to the DFG. If you have not yet registered, please note that you must do so by 19 February 2025 to submit a proposal under this call; registration requests received after this time cannot be considered. You will normally receive confirmation of your registration by the next working day. Note that you will be asked to select the appropriate Priority Programme call during both the registration and the proposal process.
By submitting a proposal within this programme, the applicants agree that the DFG will share all necessary information with the coordinator of the Priority Programme after the call deadline.
Further Information
More information on the Priority Programme is available at:
The elan system can be accessed at:
DFG forms 50.05 and 54.01 can be downloaded at:
For scientific enquiries, please contact the Priority Programme coordinator:
- Professor Dr.-Ing. Olaf Spinczyk, Universität Osnabrück, Institut für Informatik, Wachsbleiche 27, 49090 Osnabrück, phone +49 541 9692598, olaf.spinczyk@uos.d
Questions on the DFG proposal process can be directed to:
- Programme contact: Dr. Valentina Damerow, phone +49 228 885-2868, valentina.damerow@dfg.d
- Administrative contact: Constanze Grunwald, phone +49 228 885-2973, constanze.grunwald@dfg.d