SciNet Training 2022/2023

The following training events will be offered by SciNet in 2022/2023. Some events take place online, others are in-person in out teaching room at the SciNet offices on the St. George Campus of the University of Toronto (https://www.scinethpc.ca/contact-us/). The in-person events are usually also broadcasted and recorded.
All times below are in Eastern Time. All events listed below are free of charge. With a few execptions, these training courses can be taken for SciNet certificate credits.

To register for these events, log into https://scinet.courses with your Alliance/CCDB account, go to “Home”, select the course, and click on “Enrol me in this course”.

A number of courses may still be added later for the Winter 2023 term.
For any questions, contact

INTRO TO NIAGARA AND MIST

  1. Wed Sep 14, 10 am – 11:30 am | https://scinet.courses/1232 (online)
  2. Wed Oct 12, 10 am – 11:30 am | https://scinet.courses/1235
  3. Wed Nov 9, 10 am – 11:30 am | https://scinet.courses/1236
  4. Wed Dec 14, 10 am – 11:30 am | https://scinet.courses/1237
  5. Wed Jan 11, 10 am – 11:30 am | https://scinet.courses/1238
  6. Wed Feb 8, 10 am – 11:30 am | https://scinet.courses/1239
  7. Wed Mar 8, 10 am – 11:30 am | https://scinet.courses/1240
  8. Wed Apr 12, 10 am – 11:30 am | https://scinet.courses/1241
  9. Wed May 10, 10 am – 11:30 am | https://scinet.courses/1242
  10. Wed Jun 14, 10 am – 11:30 am | https://scinet.courses/1243

This is a class of approximately 90 minutes to introduce SciNet and the Niagara and Mist supercomputers and teach you how to use them.

Except for the September instance, these events take place in-person in the SciNet Teaching Room.

Participation counts towards the SciNet HPC Certificate.

INTRODUCTION TO APPTAINER

Mon Sep 26, 1 pm – 4 pm | https://scinet.courses/1247

Container computing is gradually changing the way researchers are developing, sharing, and running software applications. Apptainer (formerly called Singularity) is gaining popularity in HPC for its performance, ease of use, portability, and security. In this course, we will explore: what is a container, why use a container, and how to use and create one.

Format: On-line

Participation counts towards the SciNet Scientific Computing Certificate.

SCINET USER GROUP MEETING

  1. Wed Oct 12, 12 noon – 2:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1253
  2. Wed Nov 9, 12 noon – 2:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1254
  3. Wed Dec 14, 12 noon – 2:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1255
  4. Wed Jan 11, 12 noon – 2:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1256
  5. Wed Feb 8, 12 noon – 2:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1257
  6. Wed Mar 8, 12 noon – 2:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1258
  7. Wed Apr 12, 12 noon – 2:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1259
  8. Wed May 10, 12 noon – 2:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1260
  9. Wed Jun 14, 12 noon – 2:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1261

The SciNet Users Group (SNUG) meetings happen every month on the second Wednesday and involve a techtalk (a hybrid in-person/online webinar) on topics or technologies of interest to the SciNet community, followed by an in-person session at the SciNet headquarters in Toronto where users can bring questions and issues.

These events take place in-person in the SciNet Teaching Room.

Topics of the TechTalks are TBA.

INTRODUCTION TO PROGRAMMING

Oct 3, 5, 10, 12, 17, 19, 24, 26 | https://scinet.courses/1233

New to programming? Learn the basics of programming using python in eight one-hour sessions over the course of four weeks. Sessions will consist of a mix of lectures and hands-on exercises.

Format: In-person in the SciNet Teaching Room.

Participation counts towards the SciNet Scientific Computing Certificate.

INTRODUCTION TO THE LINUX COMMAND LINE

  1. Fri Oct 14, 1 pm – 4 pm | https://scinet.courses/1244
  2. Mon Jan 16, 1 pm – 4 pm | https://scinet.courses/1262

Working with many of the HPC systems (like those at SciNet) involves using the Linux/UNIX command line. This provides a very powerful interface, but it can be quite daunting for the uninitiated. In this half-day session, you can become initiated with this course which will cover basic commands. It could be a great boon for your productivity.

Format: In-person in the SciNet Teaching Room.

Participation counts towards the SciNet Scientific Computing Certificate.

ENABLE YOUR RESEARCH WITH CYBERSECURITY!

Oct 24, 26, 29, 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1245

In three sessions over the course of one week, we will cover different aspects of cybersecurity to help you enable your research! We will explore cybersecurity concepts, cyberattack models, as well as best practices to protect your research. We will talk about cryptography and apply the concept to a real life scenario via SSH keys. Finally, we will approach cybersecurity in the context of the Research Ethics Board. This session will be a mix of theory and practical exercises. We hope you will learn something new and, most importantly, enjoy the sessions!

The format is virtual, but for the second session there is the option to attend in person in the SciNet Boardroom to get in-person help with setting up ssh key authentication.

Participation counts towards the SciNet Scientific Computing Certificate.

PARALLEL PROGRAMMING AT SCALE WITH MPI

Nov 21, 23, 25, 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1251

Learn the basics of Message Passing Interface (MPI) programming. Examples and exercises will be based on parallelization of common scientific computing problems.

Format: On-line

Participation counts towards the SciNet HPC Certificate.

INTRO TO GIT VERSION CONTROL

Mon Nov 21, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1249

Using version control for your scripts, codes, documents, papers, and even data, allows you to track changes, keep backups, and facilitate collaboration. In this workshop, you will learn the basics of version control with the popular distributed version control software GIT. This workshop assumes that students have an understanding of basic Linux shell commands.

Format: In-person in the SciNet Teaching Room.

Participation counts towards the SciNet Scientific Computing Certificate.

FILE MANAGEMENT – PACKING SMALL FILES

Mon Nov 28, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1248

Managing large amount of files can be a challenging task. This course explores options such as using Apptainer Overlay and SQLite to pack and reduce large number of files to few files.

Format: Online.

Participation counts towards the SciNet Data Science Certificate.

ADVANCED LINUX COMMAND LINE

Mon Dec 19 17, 1 pm – 4 pm | https://scinet.courses/1250

Working with Advanced Research Computing and High Performance Computing systems involves using the Linux command line. This workshop will cover Linux commands to improve your productivity on the command line.

Participation counts towards the SciNet Scientific Computing Certificate.

FROM PYTHON TO C++

Jan 23, 25, 27, 12:30 noon – 2:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1263

Python is a wonderful programming language, but it is not the fastest. If execution speed is an issue for your project, it can be worthwhile moving to a so-called compiled language such as C++. This three-session workshop is intended to get Python programmers started with the basics of C++.

Format: TBD, but hopefully in-person. In any case, sessions are broadcast and recorded as well.

Participation counts towards the SciNet Scientific Computing Certificate.

MICROSOFT WINDOWS SUBSYSTEM FOR LINUX

Mon Feb 13, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1264

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is Microsoft’s implementation of Linux container on Windows. WSL allows users to run various Linux distributions inside Windows and provides fully functional Linux environments for routine tasks. This course explores the use of WSL and Docker Desktop on Windows.

Format: TBD

Participation counts towards the SciNet Scientific Computing Certificate.

INTRODUCTION TO GPU PROGRAMMING

Feb 21, 22, 24, 12:30 noon – 2:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1266

An overview of GPUs and their use in supercomputers. This workshop will cover the basic ideas of GPU use in scientific computing and introduce several GPU programming frameworks. Prior knowledge of programming (any language) is recommended.

Format: TBD, but hopefully in-person. Sessions will be broadcast and recorded.

Participation counts towards the SciNet HPC Certificate.

LINUX SHELL SCRIPTING

Mon Mar 13, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1267

Learn how to write bash scripts, use environment variables, how to control process, and much more. Requires some linux basic command line experience.

Format: In-person in the SciNet Teaching Room.

Participation counts towards the SciNet Scientific Computing Certificate.

HIGH PERFORMANCE PYTHON

Mon Mar 27, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1268

Parallel programming in Python. We will cover subprocess, numexpr, multiprocessing, MPI, and other parallel-enabling python packages.

Format: In-person in the SciNet Teaching Room.

Participation counts towards the SciNet HPC Certificate.

ADVANCED LINUX II

Mon Apr 17, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1265

GNU tools provide powerful commands that facilitate the usage of HPC systems. This course explores some efficient ways of working with bash shell for routine tasks. It is complementary to the “Advanced Linux Command Line I”. Attending this class requires basic knowledge of GNU/Linux shell.

Format: TBD

Participation counts towards the SciNet Scientific Computing Certificate.

NEURAL NETWORK PROGRAMMING

Apr 25 – Jun 1, 11:00 am – 12:00 noon | https://scinet.courses/1271

This six-week class will introduce neural network programming concepts, theory and techniques. The class material will begin at an introductory level, intended for those with no experience with neural networks, eventually covering intermediate-to-advanced concepts. The programming language will be Python 3.9; experience with Python programming will be assumed. The Keras neural network framework will be used for neural network programming; no experience with Keras will be expected.

Format: In-person in the SciNet Teaching Room.

Participation counts towards the SciNet Data Science Certificate.

RELATIONAL DATABASES BASICS

Mon May 29, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm | https://scinet.courses/1270

Principles and uses of relational databases with practical examples using python and sqlite on the Niagara supercomputer.

Format: In-person in the SciNet Teaching Room.

Participation counts towards the SciNet Data Science Certificate.

INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM COMPUTING

Jun 5, 6, 7, 8, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm EDT | https://scinet.courses/1290

An introduction to the theory, formalisms and algorithms of quantum computing. The programming language will be Python; experience with Python will be assumed. Experience with quantum mechanics is not necessary; an introductory-level understanding of linear algebra will be assumed. The PennyLane quantum-computing programming framework (installation instructions here), provided by Xanadu, will be used. No experience with quantum computing will be expected.

Format: In-person in the SciNet Teaching Room.

Participation counts towards the SciNet Scientific Computing Certificate.

2023 COMPUTE ONTARIO SUMMER SCHOOL

June 12-29, 2023 | https://training.computeontario.ca/coss2023.php

Compute Ontario Summer School, jointly organized by SHARCNET, SciNet, Centre for Advanced Computing, and in collaboration with the RDM Network of Experts, offers a comprehensive curriculum packed with nearly 30 courses for researchers, students, and staff. These sessions are offered in two parallel streams which cover a wide range of topics including Advanced Research Computing (ARC), High Performance Computing (HPC), and Research Data Management (RDM) and are available at introductory to advanced levels. Whether you are interested in a specific topic or wish to explore multiple areas, you have the freedom to register for one, some, or all of the workshops available.

Format: Virtual