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Fall 2025 Workshops

The URCF fall 2025 workshop series will run from November 11th - November 20th. These workshops teach the fundamentals of research computing: the Unix shell, programming basics, and how to access and use Picotte.

All workshops will be held remotely via Zoom. Zoom links will be provided to registered participants closer to the workshop date.

The target audience for these workshops is researchers, but all members of the Drexel community are welcome to attend.

You can find the info and materials for these workshops below.

Introduction to the Unix shell♯

  • When Tuesday November 11th, 1pm - 3pm ET
  • What you'll learn: The basics of interacting with computers using the Unix shell (a.k.a. the command line), which is a foundational skill for all other technical computing. You'll learn how to manipulate data, automate repetitive tasks, chain programs together to make more powerful workflows, and the basics of shell scripting.
  • Required background: None, this workshop assumes you're completely new to research computing.
  • Register here

Introduction to research computing on Picotte♯

  • When Thursday November 13th, 1pm - 3pm ET
  • What you'll learn: How to use Picotte, Drexel's high performance computing cluster, to tackle more substantial computational tasks that would be infeasible on a laptop or desktop. You'll learn how to connect to Picotte, how to move data to and from the cluster, and how to submit and scale up jobs.
  • Required background: Basic Unix shell skills, from attending the previous workshop or otherwise
  • Register here

Introduction to Python programming, Part 1♯

  • When Tuesday November 18th, 1pm - 3pm ET
  • What you'll learn: The basics of programming using Python, a popular language for research. We'll cover Python fundamentals like variables, types, and loops, as well as a few practical examples like data visualization.
  • Required background: None, this workshop assumes you're completely new to research computing.
  • Register here

Introduction to Python programming, Part 2♯

  • When Thursday November 20th, 1pm - 3pm ET
  • What you'll learn: This workshop picks up where Part 1 left off. We'll cover conditionals, functions, error handling, debugging, and writing Python scripts you can run on the command line.
  • Required background: Basic Python skills, from attending the previous workshop or otherwise
  • Register here