HPC Ready - Developing RSE and HPC skills

Join us for a one-day workshop - “HPC Ready: Developing RSE and HPC skills” - on Thursday 27th March 2025 from 10:00 to 16:00 (GMT/UTC), which will take place in person at the University of Edinburgh Bayes Centre, and online.

Everyone is welcome!

Register now

Overview

  • 🕒 Thursday 27th March 2025, 10:00 - 16:00 UTC
  • 🌍 In person at the University of Edinburgh, Bayes Centre and Online via Zoom

After three years, the UNIVERSE-HPC project is coming to a close and we will be celebrating this milestone with an event about training for RSEs, with an emphasis on HPC. Members of the wider RSE and HPC training communities will give talks on their work in this field and UNIVERSE-HPC members will share some of our achievements over the course of the project. This will be a great opportunity to meet and network with members of the community and find out more about the work going on in the area of RSE training! ✨

Tea, coffee, cake and lunch will be provided!

Please read our event privacy notice.

Agenda

  • 10:00 - 10:30 Meet and Greet 🚀
  • 10:30 - 11:15 Opening Keynote: If learning is a journey, how do we create better maps? by Neil Chue Hong (EPCC, University of Edinburgh)
  • 11:15 - 11:30 Coffee break ☕
  • 11:30 - 13:00 Learning pathways session by Weronika Filinger (EPCC, University of Edinburgh) and Julie Mullen (MIT)
  • 13:00 - 14:00 Lunch break 🍴
  • 14:00 - 14:45 Lightning talks ⚡
  • 14:45 - 15:00 Coffee break 🥐
  • 15:00 - 15:45 Closing Keynote: RSE training in Algorithms for Exascale Simulations by Jemma Shipton (University of Exeter) and David Acreman (Hewlett Packard Enterprise)
  • 15:45 - 16:00 Closing remarks 👋🏼

Opening Keynote: If learning is a journey, how do we create better maps?

Speaker: Neil Chue Hong (EPCC, University of Edinburgh)

Abstract: Research relies on software and data – but how do we learn the skills to make use of them? Research Software Engineering is developing as a profession, working as part of the research team to improve the software used in research. Research Software Engineers (RSEs) enable good practices in research software and thus make research more open and efficient. Despite the importance of RSEs, the majority of them are self-taught. There is a gap in professional education and cohort network for RSEs: even more so for those specialising in High Performance Computing (HPC).

UNIVERSE-HPC or ‘Understanding and Nurturing an Integrated Vision for Education in RSE and HPC’ has been exploring the different ways in which people from diverse disciplines and backgrounds can be helped to obtain the skills and experience they require to have a successful RSE career. This talk will introduce some of what we have developed, from facilitating personal learning pathways and curriculum development, to flexible training platforms and course delivery choices, to building an engaged community of practitioners. Although UNIVERSE-HPC is finishing, this work is being continued through projects such as CHARTED and DRIFT, as well as through international initiatives.

This will provide clear routes to enable more people from a wide diversity of disciplines and backgrounds to obtain the skills and experience they require to have a successful RSE career: working within centres of excellence, RSE groups, and embedded in research groups.

Learning pathways

Speakers: Weronika Fillinger (EPCC, University of Edinburgh) and Julie Mullen (MIT)

Abstract: This session is focused on the learning pathways approach to professional skill development. It will start with an introduction to learning pathways and an overview of the related collaborative efforts led by the UNIVERSE-HPC over the last couple of years. More than half of the session will be spent on an interactive exercise, in which the participants will attempt to decompose a task into skills required to perform it. We hope those decompositions will bring us one step closer to creating a training ecosystem that can support the learning pathways approach as a more flexible option for professional skills development.

Lightning talks

  • David Henty (EPCC, University of Edinburgh) - The Curse of the Matrix
  • Thomas Flynn (Durham University) - Building performance analysis practice through training workshops
  • Jannetta Steyn (Newcastle University) - A Mini HPC For Training - A CarpentriesOffline Project
  • Dmitry Nikolaenko (Durham University) - Enhancing Training Course Development Through Software Engineering Best Practices: A Collaborative Approach
  • Kirsty Pringle (EPCC, University of Edinburgh) - Understanding the environmental impact of research software
  • Andy Turner (EPCC, University of Edinburgh) - Training to enable reduction in GHG emissions from HPC

Closing Keynote: RSE training in Algorithms for Exascale Simulations

Speakers: Jemma Shipton (University of Exeter) and David Acreman (Hewlett Packard Enterprise)

Abstract: We will present our experience of running the ExCALIBUR RSE training project in Algorithms for Exascale Simulations. We will cover our motivation for initiating this project and the lessons learnt from the workshops and Summer school that we delivered.

Code of conduct: This event takes place under our Code of Conduct.

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