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Summer 2025 Workshops

The URCF is pleased to announce our Summer 2025 workshop series. These workshops are designed to teach the fundamentals of research computing: the Unix shell, programming basics, and how to access and use Picotte. They're interactive, so you'll practice these skills during the workshop using your own computer. These workshops are open to all members of the Drexel community, and will be useful for anyone interested in using computation in their research, regardless of discipline.

Introduction to the Unix shell♯

  • When: Monday, June 23rd, 10am-12pm

  • 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: https://forms.office.com/r/nceaWrfiwE

Introduction to research computing on Picotte♯

  • When: Wednesday, June 25th, 10am-12pm

  • 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: https://forms.office.com/r/zySWMLD7TL

Introduction to Python programming, Part 1♯

  • When: Tuesday, July 8th, 10am-12pm

  • 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: https://forms.office.com/r/Jx5mT1z9my

Introduction to Python programming, Part 2♯

  • When: Thursday, July 10th, 1pm-3pm

  • 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: https://forms.office.com/r/GStxUX4sLn

All workshops will be conducted remotely on Zoom. Some require you to install and setup the relevant software on your computer beforehand. We'll send setup instructions and Zoom links to the registered participants for each workshop beforehand.

All workshops are taught by James Porter, the URCF Research Computing Specialist. If you have any questions, please contact jjp366@drexel.edu.