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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.

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

Introduction to the Unix shell♯

  • When Tuesday November 11th, 1pm 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 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 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 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