Training
NeSI is committed to sharing expertise and building capability in New Zealand’s research communities and institutions, improving researchers’ ability to adopt eResearch techniques that today’s complex questions require. NeSI embeds training programmes within institutions and communities, taking a leadership role in growing capacity and changing research culture.
Hiring a Research Communities Advisor with a specific focus to support computational skills training resulted in significant growth of NeSI training impacts in 2019. Working with NeSI’s Computational Science and Applications Support teams, Megan Guidry coordinated an expansion of training formats and topics, to better connect NeSI training efforts with the needs for both upskilling the ecosystem as a whole, as well as providing specialised training for advanced capabilities.
Expanding offerings to achieve greater impacts
To reduce barriers to access and expand the reach of NeSI’s training efforts, new online resources and knowledge base materials were developed in 2019. A regular programme of training webinars and online Hacky Hours were launched, increasing the learning and networking opportunities for NeSI researchers, some of whom are located in rural or remote areas.
As a result, more users than ever are better positioned to take full advantage of NeSI infrastructure. Additionally, these online training sessions were recorded and shared via NeSI’s YouTube Channel. This practice provides a growing knowledge base of new training content for researchers to easily refer back to lessons they received, or, if they couldn’t attend a live session, enables them to learn at their own pace on their own time.
Lifting skills across New Zealand’s wider research ecosystem
Building basic computational skills early in a researcher’s career enables them to be active contributors to projects that can push our boundaries of discovery. It also opens doors for researchers to communicate and connect with international peers using a common language. The Carpentries is a global program to teach foundational computational and data management skills to researchers. Since 2017, NeSI has partnered with The Carpentries to promote training best practices and software / data reproducibility across research domains and communities in New Zealand.
Alongside coordinating NeSI’s own training activities, NeSI Research Communities Advisor Megan Guidry also took on the role of Carpentries Regional Coordinator for New Zealand, becoming a vital connector among the wider ecosystem’s training community of learners, instructors, partners, and advocates.
This has contributed to a key objective within NeSI’s national training strategy, to establish and improve the reproducibility and sustainability of training efforts across the country. Coordination at a national level lifts the capabilities of all New Zealand research institutions and communities by enabling the self-organisation necessary for increasing local fundamental coding and data management workshops.
By facilitating these efforts and working collaboratively with communities, NeSI is contributing to capability building and training delivery that is sustainable and training opportunities that are more equitably distributed.
Collaborating to develop digital skills across research domains
NeSI was able to reach and support a wider community of researchers in 2019 thanks to stronger connections built with collaborators and partners across research domains.
Examples include hosting a Machine Learning Hacky Hour in partnership with NIWA staff, and NeSI Applications Support Specialist Callum Walley embedding himself as an in-person, hands-on resource within the University of Auckland’s Engineering faculty once a week.
These activities, targeted at domain-specific challenges and interests, created new opportunities for broadened uptake of NeSI, and enabled new communities of researchers to advance their skills in computational research approaches.
NeSI training efforts also connected with more researchers in the bioinformatics and ‘omics fields. Megan Guidry and Dinindu Senanayake from NeSI worked closely with Ngoni Faya from Genomics Aotearoa to collaborate with institutions across New Zealand and significantly increase training for bioinformaticians across the country.
Capping off the year, NeSI supported an intensive three-day Metagenomics Summer School hosted at the University of Auckland by Genomics Aotearoa. This inaugural event was extremely well-received, particularly as the multi-day training format allowed delivery of in-depth and tailored materials. Following that specific event, three researchers followed up and requested accounts on NeSI, demonstrating the direct benefit and impact from participating in the session.
