diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6ea113dc6099..6c946c893997 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ build/
 /.settings/
 
 # Visual Studio Code project files
-.vscode/
+.vscode
 
 # Visual Studio project files
 .vs/
@@ -57,3 +57,6 @@ jobs.yml
 # pipenv files
 Pipfile
 Pipfile.lock
+
+# user specific cmake preset settings
+CMakeUserPresets.json
diff --git a/CMakePresets.json b/CMakePresets.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..348eea26b8e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CMakePresets.json
@@ -0,0 +1,407 @@
+{
+    "version": 3,
+    "cmakeMinimumRequired": {
+        "major": 3,
+        "minor": 22,
+        "patch": 0
+    },
+    "configurePresets": [
+        {
+            "name": "develop",
+            "description": "enable tests and examples",
+            "hidden": true,
+            "binaryDir": "${sourceDir}/build/${presetName}",
+            "cacheVariables": {
+                "alpaka_BUILD_EXAMPLES": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                },
+                "BUILD_TESTING": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-serial-gcc",
+            "description": "use g++ compiler with serial back-end",
+            "inherits": "develop",
+            "cacheVariables": {
+                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "g++"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_SEQ_T_SEQ_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-omp2b-gcc",
+            "description": "use g++ compiler with OpenMP 2 Grid Block back-end",
+            "inherits": "develop",
+            "cacheVariables": {
+                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "g++"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_OMP2_T_SEQ_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-omp2t-gcc",
+            "description": "use g++ compiler with OpenMP 2 Block Thread back-end",
+            "inherits": "develop",
+            "cacheVariables": {
+                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "g++"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_SEQ_T_OMP2_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-stdthreads-gcc",
+            "description": "use g++ compiler with std::thread back-end",
+            "inherits": "develop",
+            "cacheVariables": {
+                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "g++"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_SEQ_T_THREADS_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-tbb-gcc",
+            "description": "use g++ compiler with Intel TBB back-end",
+            "inherits": "develop",
+            "cacheVariables": {
+                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "g++"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_TBB_T_SEQ_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-serial-clang",
+            "description": "use clang++ compiler with serial back-end",
+            "inherits": "develop",
+            "cacheVariables": {
+                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "clang++"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_SEQ_T_SEQ_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-omp2b-clang",
+            "description": "use clang++ compiler with OpenMP 2 Grid Block back-end",
+            "inherits": "develop",
+            "cacheVariables": {
+                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "clang++"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_OMP2_T_SEQ_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-omp2t-clang",
+            "description": "use clang++ compiler with OpenMP 2 Block Thread back-end",
+            "inherits": "develop",
+            "cacheVariables": {
+                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "clang++"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_SEQ_T_OMP2_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-stdthreads-clang",
+            "description": "use clang++ compiler with std::thread back-end",
+            "inherits": "develop",
+            "cacheVariables": {
+                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "clang++"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_SEQ_T_THREADS_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-tbb-clang",
+            "description": "use clang++ compiler with Intel TBB back-end",
+            "inherits": "develop",
+            "cacheVariables": {
+                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "clang++"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_TBB_T_SEQ_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "gpu-hip",
+            "description": "use HIP back-end on AMD GPUs",
+            "inherits": "develop",
+            "cacheVariables": {
+                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "hipcc"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_SEQ_T_SEQ_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_GPU_HIP_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "gpu-sycl-intel",
+            "description": "use Sycl back-end on Intel GPUs",
+            "inherits": "develop",
+            "cacheVariables": {
+                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "icpx"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_SEQ_T_SEQ_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_SYCL_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                },
+                "alpaka_SYCL_ONEAPI_GPU": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                },
+                "alpaka_SYCL_ONEAPI_GPU_DEVICES": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "spir64"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "gpu-cuda-nvcc-gcc",
+            "description": "use cuda back-end on Nvidia GPUs with nvcc device compiler and g++ host compiler",
+            "inherits": "develop",
+            "cacheVariables": {
+                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "g++"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_SEQ_T_SEQ_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_GPU_CUDA_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "gpu-cuda-nvcc-clang",
+            "description": "use cuda back-end on Nvidia GPUs with nvcc device compiler and clang++ host compiler",
+            "inherits": "develop",
+            "cacheVariables": {
+                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "clang++"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_SEQ_T_SEQ_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_GPU_CUDA_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "gpu-clang-cuda",
+            "description": "use cuda back-end on Nvidia GPUs with clang++ device compiler and clang++ host compiler",
+            "inherits": "develop",
+            "cacheVariables": {
+                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "clang++"
+                },
+                "CMAKE_CUDA_COMPILER": {
+                    "type": "STRING",
+                    "value": "clang++"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_CPU_B_SEQ_T_SEQ_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                },
+                "alpaka_ACC_GPU_CUDA_ENABLE": {
+                    "type": "BOOL",
+                    "value": "ON"
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    ],
+    "buildPresets": [
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-serial-gcc",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-serial-gcc"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-omp2b-gcc",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-omp2b-gcc"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-omp2t-gcc",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-omp2t-gcc"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-stdthreads-gcc",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-stdthreads-gcc"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-tbb-gcc",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-tbb-gcc"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-serial-clang",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-serial-clang"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-omp2b-clang",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-omp2b-clang"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-omp2t-clang",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-omp2t-clang"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-stdthreads-clang",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-stdthreads-clang"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-tbb-clang",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-tbb-clang"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "gpu-hip",
+            "configurePreset": "gpu-hip"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "gpu-sycl-intel",
+            "configurePreset": "gpu-sycl-intel"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "gpu-cuda-nvcc-gcc",
+            "configurePreset": "gpu-cuda-nvcc-gcc"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "gpu-cuda-nvcc-clang",
+            "configurePreset": "gpu-cuda-nvcc-clang"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "gpu-clang-cuda",
+            "configurePreset": "gpu-clang-cuda"
+        }
+    ],
+    "testPresets": [
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-serial-gcc",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-serial-gcc"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-omp2b-gcc",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-omp2b-gcc"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-omp2t-gcc",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-omp2t-gcc"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-stdthreads-gcc",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-stdthreads-gcc"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-tbb-gcc",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-tbb-gcc"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-serial-clang",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-serial-clang"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-omp2b-clang",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-omp2b-clang"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-omp2t-clang",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-omp2t-clang"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-stdthreads-clang",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-stdthreads-clang"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "cpu-tbb-clang",
+            "configurePreset": "cpu-tbb-clang"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "gpu-hip",
+            "configurePreset": "gpu-hip"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "gpu-sycl-intel",
+            "configurePreset": "gpu-sycl-intel"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "gpu-cuda-nvcc-gcc",
+            "configurePreset": "gpu-cuda-nvcc-gcc"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "gpu-cuda-nvcc-clang",
+            "configurePreset": "gpu-cuda-nvcc-clang"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "gpu-clang-cuda",
+            "configurePreset": "gpu-clang-cuda"
+        }
+    ]
+}