From Big Data to Big Ideas
Developing technological solutions.
Building a research infrastructure ecosystem and community.
Global ilifuCommunity
ilifu users in over 122 global institutions, across 32 countries.
Uptime
99%
CARTA +iDaVIE
Core developer of CARTA and the iDaVIE VR explorer for large, multi-dimensional scientific data.
Active Users
600+
Processor Cores
4000+
MeerKATPublications
Enabling over 25% of MeerKAT-based published papers.
Storage
14PB
PostgraduateSupport
Over 500 postgraduate students supported through ilifu, training, schools, hackathons, and outreach.
The Three Pillars of IDIA
Navigating IDIA
Helping you to explore IDIA’s research, infrastructure, technical support, news, and opportunities.
IDIA provides the advanced computing infrastructure, software pipelines, visualisation tools, and user support that enable researchers to process and analyse MeerKAT data at scale. IDIA currently supports many MeerKAT Large Survey Projects through the ilifu research cloud.
Learn more:
Supporting MeerKAT Science
ilifu Research Cloud Infrastructure
Yes. While IDIA was established to support MeerKAT and SKA science, the ilifu infrastructure also supports other data-intensive research communities, including bioinformatics and interdisciplinary projects requiring advanced compute and storage resources. iDaVIE also supports cross-disciplinary research in areas such as IT, engineering, medical imaging and polar research datasets.
Learn more:
ilifu Research Cloud Infrastructure
The Visualisation Laboratory (VisLab)
Researchers affiliated with South African institutions can apply for access to ilifu through IDIA-supported programmes and MeerKAT project calls. Successful applicants receive computing allocations, storage access, and user support. ilifu infrastructure is also used for development, outreach, and educational projects that promote data-intensive science.
Learn more:
ilifu Research Cloud Infrastructure
Supporting MeerKAT Science
Using ilifu for your development event
IDIA is a core development partner in the internationally used CARTA visualisation and analysis tool for large radio astronomy datasets, and in the 3D volumetric data visualisation tool iDaVIE. These tools enable interactive analysis of massive radio astronomy and related field datasets.
Learn more:
CARTA
IDIA Visualisation Laboratory (VisLab)
Citing IDIA, ilifu, CARTA and iDaVIE
Postgraduate students are central to IDIA’s mission. Through ilifu, students and researchers gain hands-on experience with big-data astronomy, high-performance computing, software tools, and MeerKAT datasets. ilifu also provides regular training workshops, onboarding support, and technical guidance to help users develop practical data-intensive research skills.
Learn more:
Empowering the Next Generation
ilifu Research Cloud Infrastructure
The IDIA News section features the latest science highlights, software releases, student achievements, infrastructure updates, staff news, and announcements. You can also subscribe to the IDIA newsletter or browse previous editions online.
Read the latest updates here:
IDIA News
Upcoming IDIA Events
Subscribe to the IDIA Newsletter
View the Latest Newsletter
IDIA provides recommended acknowledgement text for publications, presentations, ilifu usage, and software such as CARTA and iDaVIE. The site also includes guidance on institutional affiliations and MeerKAT acknowledgement wording.
View the guidelines here:
Citing IDIA, ilifu, CARTA and iDaVIE
