Better Research Software

Newcastle University

2027-06-23

09:00 to 17:00 (UTC + 1)

Instructors:

Helpers:

The Carpentries

The Carpentries project comprises the Data Carpentry, High-Performance Computing Carpentry, Library Carpentry, and Software Carpentry communities of Instructors, Trainers, Maintainers, helpers, and supporters who share a mission to teach foundational computational and data science skills to researchers.

About this Incubator Workshop
This Carpentries Incubator workshop is based on the Better Research Software lesson.

About The Carpentries Incubator
The Carpentries Incubator is a community-driven platform for developing and sharing new lessons. It provides a space for the community to collaborate on lesson development, and to share lessons that are still in development or that are not yet ready for inclusion in the main Carpentries curriculum. The Incubator is open to anyone who wants to contribute, and we encourage you to get involved!

About The Carpentries
The Carpentries develops and teaches workshops on the fundamental data skills needed to conduct research. Its target audience is researchers who have little to no prior computational experience, and its lessons are domain specific, building on learners' existing knowledge to enable them to quickly apply skills learned to their own research. Participants will be encouraged to help one another and to apply what they have learned to their own research problems.

Support what we do by donating to The Carpentries.

For more information on what we teach and why, please see our paper "Good Enough Practices for Scientific Computing".

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Code of Conduct

Everyone who participates in Carpentries activities is required to conform to the Code of Conduct, which also outlines how to report an incident if needed.

Workshop Logistics
Who

Who: The course is aimed at graduate students and other researchers. You don't need to have any previous knowledge of the tools that will be presented at the workshop.

This lesson assumes you have a working knowledge of Python and some previous exposure to the Bash shell. These requirements can be fulfilled by: a) completing a Software Carpentry Python workshop or b) completing a Data Carpentry Ecology workshop (with Python) and a Data Carpentry Genomics workshop or c) independent exposure to both Python and the Bash shell. If you're unsure whether you have enough experience to participate in this workshop, please read over this detailed list, which gives all of the functions, operators, and other concepts you will need to be familiar with. In addition, this lesson assumes that learners have some familiarity with astronomical concepts, including reference frames, proper motion, color-magnitude diagrams, globular clusters, and isochrones. Participants should bring their own laptops and plan to participate actively.

Where
. Get directions with OpenStreetMap or Google Maps. What3Words location: ///bars.hips.hired.
When

2027-06-23; 09:00 to 17:00 (UTC + 1) Add to your Google Calendar.

Requirements

Windows PCs are available in the training room. Log in with your University credentials.
Newcastle University Managed Windows Laptops: The University provides 'packaged' software, which can be installed without admin rights on your managed laptop or workstation.

  1. Open 'Software Center' from the start button and search for the software you need
  2. Click 'install'
  3. After install is completed, the new software can be launched from the start menu.
If you can't see the software you need, log a ticket at https://nuservice.ncl.ac.uk to request that it is added to Software Center. You'll need to provide the PC name.

Participants are welcome to bring and use their own laptop, provided they have admin rights have a few specific software packages installed (listed below) before the workshop.
Accessibility

We are committed to making this workshop accessible to everybody. The workshop organizers have checked that:

  • The room is wheelchair / scooter accessible.
  • Accessible restrooms are available.

We are dedicated to providing a positive and accessible learning environment for all. We do not require participants to provide documentation of disabilities or disclose any unnecessary personal information. However, we do want to help create an inclusive, accessible experience for all participants. We encourage you to share any information that would be helpful to make your Carpentries experience accessible. To request accessibility support for this workshop, please fill out the accessibility support request form. If you have questions or need assistance with the accessibility support form please email us.

Glosario is a multilingual glossary for computing and data science terms. The glossary helps learners attend workshops and use our lessons to make sense of computational and programming jargon written in English by offering it in their native language. Translating data science terms also provides a teaching tool for Carpentries Instructors to reduce barriers for their learners.

Workshop Recordings

Carpentries workshops are designed to be interactive rather than lecture-based, with lessons that build upon one another. To foster a positive online learning environment, we strongly recommend that participants join in real time. As a result, workshop recordings are not recommended and may not be available to learners.

Contact

Please email training.researchcomputing@newcastle.ac.uk for more information.

Workshop FAQ

For answers to frequently asked questions about workshops, refer to the Carpentries Workshop FAQ.

Collaborative Notes

We will use this collaborative document for chatting, taking notes, and sharing URLs and bits of code.

Surveys
Pre-Workshop Survey

Please fill out this survey before attending the workshop.

Pre-workshop Survey
Post-Workshop Survey

Please fill out this survey before you leave the workshop.

Post-workshop Survey
Schedule
Day 2
MorningBlurring Images
10:30 amBreak
Thresholding
AfternoonConnected Component Analysis
2:30 pmBreak
Capstone Challenge
After finishingPost-workshop survey
END

Setup

To participate in a workshop, you will need access to software as described below. In addition, you will need an up-to-date web browser.

We maintain a list of common issues that occur during installation as a reference for instructors that may be useful on the Configuration Problems and Solutions wiki page.

Required Workshop Software

The setup instructions for this Incubator Python workshop can be found at the workshop overview site.