CPDN Volunteer Computing - Volunteer your Computer (University of Oxford / climateprediction.net)

CPDN (climateprediction. net) is a University of Oxford-based volunteer computing project that runs climate modelling experiments using the spare processing power of volunteers' home computers. Volunteers install the BOINC client, join the Climateprediction.

net project, and allow climate models to run in the background on their machines. The project is not-for-profit and is run by a team of climate scientists, computing experts and graduate students in partnership with researchers worldwide.

Volunteers help run large ensembles of global and regional climate models which are computationally intensive and require many small contributions from ordinary computers. Participation is suitable for anyone with a compatible personal computer and an interest in supporting climate science; no formal qualifications are required.

Key practical steps are to download and install the BOINC client, register a CPDN account, add the Climateprediction. net project to BOINC, and configure preferences (for example to suspend work while the computer is in use).

Participants can access technical FAQs and community message boards for setup help and discussion. The role offers engagement with climate research, opportunities to learn about modelling and data, and membership of a global volunteer community, but it does not provide a formal qualification or paid work.