On November 27, 2025, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Flemish Minister-President Matthias Diependaele officially inaugurated the new Flemish Tier-1 supercomputer 'Sofia' at the Nexus Datacenter in Zellik. VUB will be responsible for managing the Flemish supercomputer for the next six years.
Sofia’s highly energy-efficient architecture, featuring numerous graphics processing units (GPUs) and sophisticated liquid cooling, makes it perfectly suited for training advanced AI models, conducting complex simulations, and driving innovation across science and industry.
With its sustainable design and impressive computing power, the installation represents a significant new step forward for research and innovation in Flanders. Sofia will be used by researchers at Flemish universities and universities of applied sciences, knowledge institutions, and companies.
Named after the Greek word for 'wisdom', Sofia symbolises the VUB's values of enlightenment and open science, underscoring that enormous computing power must be paired with great responsibility.
Read more in the following features:
- Interview with Karin Voets (VUB Chief Information Officer) and Ward Poelmans (Head of Scientific Data & Computing), explaining what this brand-new system can do.
- Full press release
- VRT NWS
- De Morgen
- Het Laatste Nieuws
- BRUZZ
- Le Soir
- La Libre
- RTBF
