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CodeRefinery 4 kick-off

Where? - Göteborg, Sweden + partly hybrid ( https://cscfi.zoom.us/j/62397314994 , starting 13 CEST)
When? lunch-lunch May 22nd + 23rd 2025
Who? CodeRefinery project team + steering group if interested

Participants:

  • in Göteborg: 14 +1
    • Yonglei, Ashwin, Pubudu, Richard, Jarno, Thomas, Gregor, Diana, Johan, Tomasz, Samantha, Hemanadhan, Stephan, Oskar, Bjørn
  • remotely: 4 + x
    • Enrico, Radovan, Ebba, Thor, Aurélie, …?

Short summary

Action required

  • Check and update your interest in activities:
  • Please review and comment on section 2.2 , for example, if you disagree with the removal of short video production.
  • Onboarding for new team members 13.6 at 13 CEST or 19./20. (time to be found) with Samantha, if you want to join/haven't gotten an invite; contact Samantha asap

Project direction & structure

  • Steering group provides high-level guidance only - execution is up to the team.
  • Project plan updated with team input: Project Plan

Data & impact

  • Most watched lesson: Git intro. Upload videos on the same day of workshops for best engagement.
  • Short videos (<3min) can work - support available if you want to try.
  • Workshop stats show less SE participation in 2024–2025, possibly due to competing events.
  • Long-term feedback survey: https://coderefinery.org/blog/2024/08/10/post-workshop-survey/

Workshops

  • Current format (6 half-days over 2 weeks) works well. Uncertainty about exercises, as hands-on is generally seen as "need-to-have"
  • We’ll experiment spreading Week 2 over 3 weeks in upcoming workshop.
  • Timing update to include Iceland: Workshop will start 1 hour later.
  • Workshops remain Online-first, but local "bring your own classroom" sessions encouraged.
    • Talk to Samantha and local ambassadors/helpers if you want to organize/help in one.
    • Helpers available; you "just" need to get it started.
    • Offer local "meet the instructor" or "bring your own code" sessions

Team communication

  • Weekly meetings remain Mondays at 14:00 CE(S)T – join when you can! -> Bring your own topic: https://hackmd.io/@coderefinery/team-meeting
  • New announcement-only chat: #coderefinery-info, e-mails on important to notice things too

Course & Content Development

  • Ongoing/new lesson ideas:
    • Data stewards, build systems, responsible AI, Git masterclass, Jujutsu (VCS), VSCode, biological ML, etc. Check notes and contact people that have pitched something you find interesting. Ask Samantha if you need help navigating, have new ideas or want help coordinating

Long summary

First Tomasz, our project owner and interim director of NeIC introduced us to the new NeIC structure and celebrating the success of the project in earlier phases. He emphasized the role of the steering group is not micromanaging the project, but to provide high level support and overview, to set priorities for deliverables. The execution of the project, as framed in the project plan is up to us!

We then got an overview of the history and impact of the project so far by Radovan. The lesson material has evolved a lot in terms of content and presentation. The joy of teaching and sharing knowledge was emphasized with the idea to share this via stories. Stories on how the team came to be, what motivates us and stories also by our associates and learners can help sharing the work we do. Another idea that was brought up is the gamiifcation of "boring" tasks, like following installation instruction or testing prerequisites as well as learning about different concepts.

Next we looked at data that we are collecting about the project and connected it to impact:

  • registration numbers (by country)
    • after pandemic, workshops moved online and workshops got much larger in terms in number of participants
    • SE audience somehow reduced in 2024-2025 compared to earlier, possibly due to competing events
    • advertising in good time is important, newsletter could highlight "recommended courses"
  • statistics
    • twitch views
      - Average views (live) are quite stable
      - Views by location in decreasing order: FI, DE, SE, FR, NO …
    • youtube views
      • Autumn workshop views are slightly more
        • For a particular video, most views in within a few days after upload. Therefore videos should be uploaded in the same day.
        • Long tail curve for watch time, most people jump off quickly after first 3-4 minutes.
    • visits to website
      • tracking visits of the coderefinery.org website - good constant trafic over time
      • for the course website - peaks around the workshops, but good number of visits outside of the workshops
      • git-intro most popular, followed by the installation and documentation lesson
    • lesson materials pages
  • social media: followers, interaction, mentions
  • lesson citations (not yet but soon)
  • workshop feedback
  • long term feedback/impact survey: https://coderefinery.org/blog/2024/08/10/post-workshop-survey/

Short discussion on short format video:

  • In the most popular video, checking the watch time, there are bumps at the end. This is because there are chapters.
  • Short form videos can be more rewatchable, risks putting in the watch list.
    • Counter point: lessons should not be too short.
    • When does it become a YouTube short? It should be under 3 minutes.
    • Small presentations about Coderefinery could justify a short video to present to others in a conference.
      -> If someone wants to try creating shorter videos, support can be provided

Then it was time to collect some information and opinions from the team, all notes can be found in our collaborative notes, I'll try to summarize and turn into actionpoints below:

  • Generally the current format (6 half-days spread over two weeks) seems fine for reaching as many people as possible
  • To further develop the workshop format and try different things, we will try spreading week 2 over 3 weeks
  • Iceland is one hour before CEST, current workshop time (starting 9) a bit early -> Move an hour later, no lunch break but general longer breaks
  • Agreement that it has to be hands-on
  • Due to multinational nature of the project and focus on collaboration we will keep the workshop "Online-first"
  • Many would like to to more in-person teaching or at least keep the contact
    • Partly possible through "bring your own classroom" - needs coordination and helpers
      • Advice: try to involve libraries, or "event teams" for coordination
      • KTH, UiO, UiB contacts established; ask Samantha
      • Helpers are available and willing in many locations, use chat and ambassadors, Samantha can help
      • But in the end: YOU have to start it, and then WE can help :)
    • Pre- or afterparties or "ask an instructor", "bring your own code" sessions can also be local and advertized during workshop or only to registered learners from your organization. Plan early and let workshop coordinator know!
    • Organizing your own local CodeRefinery is also still an option, we also have some travel money to invite instructors from other organizations, contact Samantha
  • Advertizement for "bring your own team": Learning in a group that knows each other seems to work well and retention is good. Needs motivated "lead" that understands the system: Talk to your colleagues about it, put up posters, it needs word-of-mouth :)

-> Discussion about timing, distribution of the autumn workshop continues in chat: https://coderefinery.zulipchat.com/#narrow/channel/316508-coderefinery-tools-workshop/topic/Autumn.202025.20CR.20workshop/with/521661133

Definition of a CodeRefinery workshop suggestion will come separately. See some notes in collaborative notes for now.

Everyone seems keen on meeting others in the team at least once in a while. We keeep the Monday at 14 CEST timeslot for 30 min weekly meetings. Join when you can :) Some will have specific topics, otherwise open discussions and experience exchange, you can also "bring your own topic" by filling it in the team meeting agenda: https://hackmd.io/@coderefinery/team-meeting . Not everyone will always be available and that is ok.

Information about the project will be shared in chat, new channel called "coderefinery-info": https://coderefinery.zulipchat.com/#narrow/channel/507798-#coderefinery-info. This is for announcements and info from the project to everyone and will serve as basis for the CodeRefinery newsletter. All discussions will be kept in #coderefinery channel. Some topics may be moved to from there to #coderefinery-info.

Important information for the team, especially those that require action from your side will also be shared via e-mail. Multiple times, if need be.

Note that Zulip lets you mute channels as well as topics and allows to choose when it should send you e-mails.

Your visions for the project have been incorporated into the project plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a6Gu9rtD-EaP51mcMV1LwlrndcIGn21_UbBedtyL_JA/edit?usp=sharing
Also the activities in the project plan have been adjusted according to interests and importance for the team. Please note that some more activities have been added. And "short video production" has been removed, as no one seemed interested in actually doing it. If this is not how you feel, please comment on section 2.2 in the project plan! Gamification is seen as being part of lesson development.

Your interests in the activities from the project plan have been transferred to the staff overview table: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K76Ow0psHqFx7VJy2OKE52Y4zwTZwG4F9pp3wAsbLmg/edit?usp=sharing

Please go check that your interests have been captured well and fill in anything missing (2: very interested, 1: slightly interested). Also add 0 for things you are NOT AT ALL interested in doing.

We also took a look at different courses/lessons that people are working on or would like to work on in the future and scouted some interests:

Some ideas from the kickoff:

Agenda

~10 min break at end of each hour

Order: hearts, clubs, spades, diamond

Day 2:
K: Note taker: Ashwin, Richard, Bjørn
J: Time keeper: Oskar, Johan, Johan
A: Summarizer: Pubudu, Diana, Thomas
Q: Online bridge: Jarno, Gregor, Hemanadhan

Day 1:
K: Note taker: Jarno, Johan, Diana, Ashwin
J: Time keeper: Thomas, Bjørn, Stephan, Richard
A: Summarizer: Diana x2, Gregor, Pubudu, Samantha
Q: Online bridge, Heman, Oskar, Yonglei x2

Slides: https://hackmd.io/@coderefinery/CR4_kickoff_slides

Thu, May 22nd

Time (CEST) Topic Type Hybrid
12 - 13 Lunch at Solrosen - x
13 - 14 Welcome, goals, introductions presentation, intro round yes heart
14 - 15 CodeRefinery today, current activities, impact group work, presentation yes clover
15 - 16 CodeRefinery workshops presentations, discussion yes spades
16 -17 CodeRefinery workshops cont. discussion yes diamond
19 - .. Dinner at Cicero - x

Fri, May 23rd

Time (CEST) Topic Type Hybrid
9-10 Recap & Open issues from yesterday, community representative in SG ? yes
10-11 Material and course pitches presentations by you yes
11-12 The road ahead (1 year): Activities, Event calendar, ways of working discussion yes
12 - 12.15 Wrap-up presentation yes
12.15-13.45 Lunch at Bror och bord (30 min walk/tram from venuae towards main station) x

Notes from the meeting

Introduction by the project owner, Tomasz

CR4 until May 2028, ~2.5 FTE in-kind

NeiC now much slimmer structure
Until now 25 projects, the ones that are over are now affiliates

Lightweight coordination, flexible, want to keep it that way

NeIC is all on national providers and projects themselves

CR4 has clearly defined structure

On the outlook for extra funding to add to budget of CodeRefinery

CR is good with connecting competencies

Steering group: do not micromanage the project, high level support and overview, sets priorities for deliverables, how to execute is up to team and PM

CodeRefinery benefits graph: SG acts on the middle part

High level benefit form: What is expected of the project

Overview of NeiC organization

Introductions, all

CodeRefinery today, history

Radovan gives an account of project history

Comments:

  • Gamification a-la-advent-of-code would be nice in a way that is not "copy-paste-solvable by AI"… how to do that? :)

CodeRefinery workshops

  • small workshops before 2020, mostly on-site
  • after pandemic, workshops moved online and workshops got much larger in terms in number of participants
  • SE audience somehow reduced in 2024-2025 compared to earlier, possibly due to competing events
  • advertising in good time is important
  • use ambassadors to reach out to possible participants
  • what to do about newsletters that advertise too many courses at a time?
    • Aalto highlights recommended courses
  • learning paths / tags for courses to navigate through the pool of courses
  • platform for MOOC / self-learning - EVITA may play an important role here
  • possible platforms for self-learning:
    • https://e-learn.csc.fi
    • SUNET Canvas
    • RD: I'd generally agree with shorter episodes better, we could try to make them shorter and all end with an exercise.
      • TP: This also could be an important improvement for the Video parts of the course. If more lessons could have a 15 minute structure in some way they would be better to "learn one thing" on your own later
    • TP: Separate MOOC vs Course Videos.
    • TP: Would require substantial work on designing the questions/exercises (need to be auto-correctable).
      • RD: Could be different types of questions for MOOC vs live teaching: MOOC has more quiz questions (in live teaching: notes polls), live teaching has more emphasis on time spent in exercises?
    • DI: Canvas probably supports iframes, that can be used to embed instead of copying.
    • DI: is LinkedIn Learning a possibility?

Statistics:

  • Website stats: https://github.com/rantahar/CR_web_trafic/blob/main/plausible.ipynb

    • tracking visits of the coderefinery.org website - good constant trafic over time
    • for the course website - peaks around the workshops, but good number of visits outside of the workshops
    • git-intro most popular, followed by the installation and documentation lesson

  • RD continues with YouTube stats for recorded videos.

    • Autumn workshop views are slightly more
    • For a particular video, most views in within a few days after upload. Therefore videos should be uploaded in the same day.
    • Long tail curve for watch time, most people jump off quickly after first 3-4 minutes.

  • RD continues with Twitch stats for live streams.

    • Downloaded here (unfortunately private repository even though the twitch stats have no personal info): https://github.com/coderefinery/workshop-stats/
    • Looks at Day 1 stats on Tuesday, March 25
      • Average views (live) are quite stable
      • Views by location in decreasing order: FI, DE, SE, FR, NO …
    • Looks at last day on Thursday
      • Very similar.

  • Are views unique?

    • Not sure.

  • In the most popular video, checking the watch time, there are bumps at the end. This is because there are chapters.

  • Short form videos can be more rewatchable, risks putting in the watch list.

    • Counter point: lessons should not be too short.
    • When does it become a YouTube short? It should be under 3 minutes.
    • Small presentations about Coderefinery could justify a short video to present to others in a conference.

Survey

https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/2FB1D89C7A463F83

  • Later we will analyze in small teams of 2 or 3. Things like:
    • What do we want, what would learners want?
    • Connections to other projects
    • Vision for the future
    • Meeting frequency
  • Kickoff end postponed to 17:15. Going overtime for analyzing the results.

https://link.webropolsurveys.com/short/d1586964c65b495385bb6a303d16f972

Summary of analysis in groups

TP, OT: Q1 (your ideal workshop format as instructor)

  • A lot of people like in person
  • generally current lecture is liked
  • has to be hands on
  • no consensus on anything.
  • Notes:
    • Local instructor groups can give the human interaction which is missing.
    • Teaching online is a solved problem.
    • Next phase should try to take the teaching to local learner groups.
    • Right now, collaborative document is the only way to get interactions, but it takes effort for learners to use it.
    • It will still stay online-first.
    • Local groups tend to stay very active and retention of learners over days are good. Downside, require more staff.
      • true for pre-assigned groups
    • Breakout rooms do not work, if they are not pre-assigned.
    • Invite learners by looking at their emails to come to local groups.
    • Optimal size for local participation should be around 30 learners.
    • Challenge to find a date that works for all local participants.
    • Survey (aalto) about preferred styles: (survey at https://link.webropol.com/s/scipod )
      • In person: 41%
      • Online with live audiovisual interaction (e.g. zoom): 61%
      • Online with only written interaction (e.g. twitch.tv): 39%
      • Hybrid: 43%
      • I don't mind: 15%
    • We need enough teachers for 2 courses (and not dumping many lessons on few individuals)
    • Try to focus on training new instructors

RD, YW: Q2 (ideal workshop format for learners)

  • Schedule, various options:
    • Once per week as seminar series
    • All one week (doesn't take two weeks from schedule)
  • Online gives the most attendance. How to improve from here:
    • "Meet the instructor" sessions before (can be local) (begin local, continue online)
    • Cohort groups/teams/etc.
    • Streaming better than videos
    • Do we expect learnors to be self-sufficient after the course? If yes, then we need more repitition during the course. If no, it can be shorter.
  • Notes:
    • Do we still have the will and energy to do two workshops a year?
    • Important to train them when they are starting: spring admissions and autumn admissions.

SS, BL: Q3 (What is CR workshop)
All lessons are licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Any part of the workshop can be reused by others if they attribute the CodeRefinery project. Since we have CC-BY-4.0 is it possible to define what a CR workshop is?

  • Notes:
    • It could mean any format since the material can be reused.
    • Needs clarity for licensing of logo.
    • This question comes because TU-delft has been teaching workshops called "CodeRefinery" themselves (but without our logo). They wondered, is this ok?
      • if one of CR people will be there, they can call it CodeRefinery. if no, maybe sentences like "using materials developed by CR team" might be better?
        • How is a "CR member" defined?
          • One representative from partner institution?
            • i.e. one of the institutions supporting by "in kind hours"?
      • What about (for now): if the teachers of the other workshop have collectively co-taught the online workshop at least two times, they can call it CodeRefinery. Otherwise "workshop with coderefinery materials"
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        • And they shouldn't make pure-online or reverse-hybrid workshops and call them CR (only local and normal hybrid)?
      • Different language for teaching the materials vs it's an official CR workshop. Teaching a CodeRefinery workshop vs this is a CodeRefinery workshop?
    • More flexibility of use of logo will increase visibility.
    • This will be discussed in the weekly meetings and sent to steering group.

PS,JR,A: Q4 (why and when to meet)
- Frequency: 5 say weekly, 3 say biweekly, 1 monthly, 1 ad-hoc
- Theme: Task force / specific topic to discuss / focussed: 5 vs No planned content: 1 vs Nothing mentioned: 4
- Only 2 mention chat, possibly because it was missing from the question
- Time 30-50 minutes: 1 mention
- Notes: we keep it at Mondays at 14:00 CET, try to make it topical and duration will be flexible when needed.

DI, JH: Q5 (info about project)
Preferences for different info and communication channels:
chat +++++++??
newsletter / email +++++++?
meetings ++++
informal ++
Chat overload mentioned as a general dilemma. It was pointed out that Newsletter style emails might stay unread.

  • Notes:
    • Encourage muting channels when irrelevant.
      • These days you can mute a stream and unmute a topic in that stream. And request notifications from certain topics only.
    • An announcement channel or emails for important things.
    • Informal meetings are great for getting to know people, but maybe not for communicating information
    • Fear of missing out with other chat apps like Teams and Slack. Zulip is clearer with topics.
    • We will try out a separate chat channel (not topic, right?) for announcements
      • Either that or email. Certainly not a topic.

SW: Q6 - Vision

  • A more interconnected group working together would be ideal i.e. everyone on the same page even though CR spans many countries and disciplines.
  • A big provider of reusable open learning materials on any "RSE" related tool/topic (git, reproducibility, apptainer, python/R/julia/Rust,…). CR has already more lessons than software carpentries (not counting the incubators). It could become a "Khan Academy" for reseachers and instructors.
  • We have successfully executed 2 online workshops every year. We cooperate on other online courses in the Nordics.
  • Running online courses as we do now, potentially running some spin-off / more specialised courses on parts of the general courses, where we currently only touch the surface (i.e. 'here is our 'must know' massive course and here are 5 full day focus courses on Aspects 1-5 from the course - which start with the course as basis knowledge).
  • Hard to say. We really need to attract younger researchers around age of 30 if it should stay relevant.
  • being part of the education system + deliver calibrated trainings to specific organizations
  • I would be happy if there was a clear way new instructors could join and get trained and become "main instructors". Same for local helpers for breakout rooms. Enough that all the old people can hand it off to the next generation.
  • more visible to the community

Pre-tasks

Calendar check

Project activities

  • Read through the project activities and think about which you would find interesting and what may be missing:

  • Add your initials (in bold for very interested and have time for it, in italic for could do);

  • add separate x's (max 10 / person) for something you see as important, but do not want to do

Activity A: Management and coordination

  • A-1: Coordination of CodeRefinery workshops: EG, xxxxxxx
  • A-2: Facilitation of events: RD, EG, HM, xxxx
  • A-3: Community building and maintenance: DI, xx xxxxxxxxxx
    (- A-4: Administration and reporting) xx
  • A-5: Feedback monitoring and implementation: xxxxxx
  • A-6: Keep up to date and in contact with other initiatives/projects: EG, JH, HM, DI, YW, xxxxxxxxxx

Activity B: Operations

  • B-1: Delivering CodeRefinery workshops (teaching): RD, GD, JR, DI, OT, BL, TP, JH, HM, EG xxx
  • B-1a: Delivering CodeRefinery workshops (broadcasting): RD, JR, HM, EG xxx
  • B-2: Lesson/Episode/Exercise development: RD, AM, JR, OT, DI, BL, JH, HM, YW, EG, PS x
  • B-2a: Lesson maintenance: GD, AM, BL, TP, RD, xx
  • B-3: Instructor training and development: RD, HM, OT, xx
  • B-4: CodeRefinery MOOC: JR, HM, DI, YW, EG, xx
  • B-5: Manuals maintenance: RD, xxx
  • B-6: Website maintenance: BL, EG, xxxxxx
  • B-7: Lesson contribution and reusability guide: RD, EG x
  • B-8: FAIR-ification of lesson material: HM, EG x
  • B-9: Gamification of exercises/instructions: PS, OT, DI, xx
  • B-10: Short video production: xxx

Activity C: Outreach

  • C-1: Engagement of ambassador community: OT, EG, xxx, EÞH , HM
  • C-2: Onboarding: RD, TP, EG, HM
  • C-3: Conference contributions: GD, OT, JH, TP, x, HM, PS
  • C-4: Social media: DI, EG, xxx, HM
  • C-5: Newsletter: EG, xxx
  • C-6: Blog / Stories: RD, xx
  • C-7: Chat digest: xxxx

Poll results (amount of x) (EG I did it with regex, apologies if there are errors)

  • A-1: 7 BRONZE
  • A-2: 4
  • A-3: 12 WINNER
  • A-4: 2
  • A-5: 6
  • A-6: 10 SILVER
  • B-1: 3
  • B-1a: 3
  • B-2: 2
  • B-2a: 2
  • B-3: 2
  • B-4: 2
  • B-5: 3
  • B-6: 6
  • B-7: 1
  • B-8: 1
  • B-9: 3
  • B-10: 3
  • C-1: 3
  • C-2: 0 :(
  • C-3: 1
  • C-4: 3
  • C-5: 3
  • C-6: 2
  • C-7: 4

New training material / course pitches

Many of you mentioned that you would like to discuss lesson update/development and new materials and training collaborations. The kick-off has some time reserved for this!

Think about:

  • Which CodeRefinery tools workshop lessons need bigger updates and what would that be?
  • Which additional CodeRefinery tools workshop lessons/epsiodes would you like to develop?
  • Does your organisation have existing training that could benefit from CodeRefinery contributions / shared teaching?
  • Are you developing or plan to develop new materials/training that could benefit from CodeRefinery contributions / shared teaching?
  • What do you think is missing in the RSE training world? (No matter if you want to develop yourself or just wish 'someone' would)
  • Check this list of initiatives: https://hackmd.io/@coderefinery/RSE_train (and add any missing that you know of) - any that you would like to collaborate with?

Pitches

Any thoughts on above questions? -> Prepare a pitch (max 2min)

  • Topics to be pitched with your initials:
    • CodeRefinery for Data Stewards/Data support/librarians (EG)
      • Summary: They did this, it was a container page that linked to other pages, it wasn't a full course but basics for data stewards to work with others who use these tools. Framed as "someday you will work with software people. This is what you will need to know."
      • The materials we used for "CodeRefinery in a day for (future) data stewards" https://coderefinery.github.io/CR-in-a-day/
    • Porting Carpentries course material to sphinx-lesson format – show and tell by example of ENCCS/deep-learning-intro (AM)
    • Shape the upcoming EVITA: EuroHPC Virtual Training Academy (AM)
    • Bridges to AI factory, ML courses or software engineering for ML researchers (OT)
      • Summary: Slightly adjusted topics (parameter optimization, containers, etc.) would be relevant to AI. Is this new lessons or adjustments (new/different exercises) to existing lessons?
    • Revisit contents of a build systems course which was given October 2024 (JH)
    • Responsible coding with AI assistants (EG)
      • This is just a draft for now, but EG will deliver this in early June. It will be a 4 hours python for scicomp where the code is done with prompts + integrity/ethics/security considerations. If anyone wants to join (e.g. as a reviewer), drop me a message in zulip. Target audience: people who have never coded in their life. It will be added under CodeRefinery
      • Can you link to materials or whatever you have now?
      • JR, OT interested
    • Idea: porting some ASC courses under CodeRefinery github org for greater visibility and reuse + making it clearer how to start contributing (EG) (in general, if all orgs supporting CR have their materials under coderefinery, any other org part of coderefinery has lower barriers to start contributing to the materials)
      • Summary: to make our own organization's materials more visible, move it to the CodeRefinery Github organization. Then it's findable, others can more easily contribute (both technically and morally), and able to be maintained longer.
    • Git masterclass (RB)
    • Jujutsu (RB, GD, OT is also interested but needs to learn jj first)
      • https://github.com/jj-vcs/jj
      • no really good tutorial for beginners exists yet
      • ambition: being able to teach beginners a version control with good usability in 1 day instead of 2 days
      • Summary: it's 1-2 years old, it's getting a lot of attention from professional developers, simpler and more powerful. Simpler more important. And it nicely interfaces with Git and GitHub so that we can still continue using all the other tools. All existing tutorials are for people who have an advanced understanding of git, and we can make one focused on beginners (and also teach our 3-day git course in 1 day). It would be a fresh course but could use some existing examples.
      • and just to clarify: it makes still lots of sense to continue using and teaching Git and GitHub. this would not be "in competition" with our standard material but to create something hopefully useful in addition before inevitably somebody else does it and "gets the market"
        • DI: sounds fun, interested
    • VSCode lesson ? DI interested
      • EG I could be a reviewer. Ideally targetted for total beginners (but of course good to have "pro-tips" bits too). (PS)
    • Applied Machine Learning for Biological Data: Course registration page with CodeRefinery logo; Module 1 & Module 2 (PS)
      • Summary: BioNT lesson, uses CR template which works well, combination of new lesson and container lesson that links to other slides. When people came with own material it was very rigid and not so reusable. First module is under CR namespace.
      • OT interested
    • C++ and Kokkos (BL)
      • Summary: kokkos allows C++ to be used for GPUs. Some courses from U Washington. BL will make a new course using CR strategies starting from (probably) January. Collaborators, contact BL.
      • JH interested
      • DI interested as an observer
    • "Primary" recommended courses, perhaps like Aalto's new doctoral course. Big environment of other courses. Conference/meeting about the environment? (RD, PS)
      • Summary:
    • DI: blog post for "Git for large databases" think Corpus or similar, particullarly on HPC where I/O is typically slower than on local machines

Comments and questions on pitches

  • Should we have a "banner" in the lesson template that could say "this lesson is work in progress/being developed" vs "stable lessons"?
  • Should we make it easier to let others to contribute to the lessons? Clear contribution rules, "good-first-issue" kind of labels, etc… I think some lessons already have this, but this could be more systematic?

The Road ahead

Preparations happening

Statistics collection

Talks

  • (RB) CodeRefinery history and impact
  • (YW) CodeRefinery MOOC

CR tool workshop Fall 2025

  • When?
  • Who wants to teach what? Write here
    • EG: anything from day 4 is fine (reproducibility and/or social coding/licensing). Also can coteach anything else for week 2 (on week 1 since I will host an in-person room).
    • BL: All days are available
    • GD: anything on day 1-3
    • JH: days 1-4 work
    • DI: anything day 1-3
    • RD: anything, prefer days 1-3
    • JR: Testing, documentation, social coding, git (Anything OK)
    • HM: uncertain as of now but happy to contribute
    • AM: depends on the schedule
    • .
  • Format:
    • 10 votes are for doing normally (as we always do it).
    • 8 votes for doing just 1 week.
    • The winning dates are 9-11/9+16-18/9 2025.
    • (EG: git week1 as usual + once a week for "week2" but with exercises?)
    • 2h + lunch break + 1.5h
    • Who will bring back exercises for learners in week2? 5 votes!
      • EG: exercises for week2 if week2 gets diluted over 3 weeks like TTT4HPC and like TP said, more time added (so that one can skip the whole week 1 and join week 2 event 1 to try snakemake, apptainer, etc…)
    • Try out spreading out week 2 as independent days. SW will discuss will EG.

Python for Sci Comp workshop Fall 2025

  • When?
    • Possible dates: 25+26+27/11/2025 (2h+lunch+2h)
  • Who wants to teach what?
    • EG: I can be a replacement/co-teacher for anything.
      • TP : Same here
      • JR : +1
      • HM : +1
    • GD: Xarray lecture (probably needs some updates and 1h instead of 30 min), profiling lecture
    • JH: topics related to GPU computing via Python / Python API
      • TP: I'm of two minds here, I understand it becoming ever more
    • AM: will join, undecided on the topic.
    • DI: maybe, it depends on the dates
    • .
    • OT: not sure yet
  • New materials:
    • EG would like to add a basics of software security

Summary: Day 1 - CodeRefinery workshops

  • Why Norway+Sweden had lower number of participant probably due to many newsletters going around providing many options
  • Can CodeRefinary get a library of these newsletters to cross-advertise
  • AI tool to generate learning paths tailored to individual learner would help

Summary: Day 2 - 0900-100

  • History
    • Pandemic -> started zoom CR workshop
    • Main lecture on zoom, exercises in breakout rooms with helpers - pre assigned participants before opening breakout rooms
    • Main lecture on zoom - breakout rooms without pre assigned participants didn’t make participants joining the breakout rooms
    • Now streaming and zoom session + interactive document
    • Local partners have physical meeting rooms to join lessons as a group
  • Does CodeRefinery has the capacity to have workshops twice a year
    • Not decided
  • CodeRefinery license is open - CR is flexible when others using materials
    • Need to come up with flexible requirements to use CR materials
  • Zulip
    • One channel - announcements

Summary Spades Session:

NeIC meeting 22-23.9 all Team Members are invited.
Majority for having 2 week course in September
Tools Workshop decided to happen 9-11 + 16-18. September 2025
Python for SciComp will happen 25-27.11.25
Several discussions about how the september course should happen. Possibly extend Week 2 to re-introduce exercises, but needs to be seen.

  • What do I need to be successful in my role/the activities in this project?

    • time +1 +1
    • EG: I need Richard and Samantha :D
    • RD: someone to decide the times and get people at sessions where I can do stuff.
    • JR: Defined roles / needs / open issues (ones I can fix)
    • OT: onboarding
      • HM: +1
    • DI: better communication with higher-ups

  • What do I have to offer, am I good at, I enjoy doing

    • GD: HPC/GPU/LUMI expertise
    • EG: cooking metaphors, research integrity, mentoring
    • RD: mentoring and teaching new people how to do this teaching.
    • OT: learning
    • DI: teaching together and learning from each other

Thank you!!

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