This is a QCIF course and places are highly limited as Graduate School is paying the fee. If you are unable to attend, please de-register (or email graduateschool@uq.edu.au if you are unable to do so). An unexplained absence could result in all your future QCIF registrations becoming Waitlisted. You may only attend the workshop once. Repeat bookings will be removed and placed on the Waitlist.

High-Performance Computing, or HPC, is the use of computers orders of magnitude faster and more powerful than even the best desktop PC. This workshop will give you an introduction to using high-performance computing systems effectively (as well as their limitations), and will introduce the basics of how to access a HPC cluster, load and use software, and submit jobs to run. 

Recommended Participants

Any researcher who intends to use a HPC cluster or is already using a HPC cluster for their research. Participants *must* have access to an HPC cluster to attend the course; basic experience with Unix or Linux is highly recommended.

Learning Objectives

  • Understand the difference between a HPC and a server or laptop
  • Learn how to log into a HPC and transfer files
  • Understand about available storage and its limitations
  • Learn how to load software on the HPC
  • Learn how to submit a job and understand how to request appropriate resources

Syllabus

  • Why use an HPC?
  • Introducing HPC file systems and directories
  • Software to access HPC: Putty, FileZilla, and MobaXterm
  • A guide to software modules
  • Submitting interactive and batch jobs, and the PBS scheduler

 

About Research software and programming

At UQ, there are many research tools available at your disposal. Preview the available research software and programming languages and learn the pros and cons of each. Investigate how to use them to effectively analyse, manipulate, and visualise your research data.
 

Library workshops

The library offers a range of workshops under the headings below including:

R with RStudio  Excel for research data  NVivo Pro

Useful links

  • Library's software training resources
  • Software carpentry: The open-source movement to teach basic lab skills for research computing.
  • REDCap consortium: A secure web application for building and managing online surveys and databases. UQ is a member of the consortium
  • RStudio cheat sheets
  • Hacky Hour (supported by RCC, QCIF, IMB and wonderful volunteer helpers!): RCC runs consultations every Tuesday at Cafe Nano. Come and ask IT questions such as: getting started with Python and R, stats, machine learning, bio-image, software tools, research data management (RDM), how to access high performance computing, cloud data storage and tools for data cleaning and data visualisation. Bring your project's IT problems or come along as a helper! Very occasionally Hacky Hour may not run; follow us on Twitter (@HackyHourStLuc​) to get the latest announcements. Aside from the usual IT research questions, 
    • First Tuesday of the monthBioinformatics Hacky Hour, ask bioinformatics analysis, software and pipeline questions
    • Last Tuesday of the monthBioLab Hacky Hour, ask about experimental design and technical sample processing questions to get started in the lab