Find out what’s on over the coming month in the world of Research IT and how the services available can support your research
Research Software Practices in the Social Sciences
As part of the Research Software Practices in the Social Sciences series of events, the Software Sustainability Institute have four talks and a two-day workshop in February and March for the social science research community.
The talks will cover various topics related to useful software and practices for social science research at any career stage, with a particular emphasis on early-career researchers. The workshop will focus on the fundamentals of Python for reproducible data analysis, featuring exercises designed by The Carpentries specifically for the social sciences.
More information and registration.
Research IT Training
We have places available in several upcoming courses including:
- Introduction to Version Control using Git and GitHub 12th Feb
- Data Analysis Using R 28th Feb & 3rd Mar
- Introduction to MATLAB 3rd – 4th March
Our courses are free and are open to PGRs, researchers and staff. Details of all our courses and links to registration are available on our training catalogue.
Virtual Drop-in Help Sessions
At Research IT we know how busy researchers and PGRs are, and how talking face to face can be the easiest way to communicate a problem or a complex research idea. Join our virtual drop-in sessions so you can talk to our experts about anything research computing related e.g. research software, your own code, research data storage & much more!
Our next session is 5th and 19th of February 2-3pm with no appointment required – just join the chatroom at any point during the hour. If you want to find out more about the kind of issues we deal with at these sessions have a look at this great article on our website highlighting some of the more interesting problems we’ve dealt with.
Reminder – we’re Now on BlueSky!
It’s great to see more and more researchers and research groups from across the University joining BlueSky. We’re also on there so come and join us! There’s even a UoM starter pack to get you going.
CaDiR Round Up
Join researchers and PGRs from across the University in the Community and Data in Research (CaDiR) Teams space. This central hub serves as an inclusive platform that brings together various special interest and user groups, offering a streamlined, cross-collaborative environment. You can explore and engage with a diverse range of groups all in one place—much like a dynamic, interactive notice board that you can browse and participate in at your convenience.
GIS, Mapping and Earth Observation drop-in sessions
The GISMEO community is hosting three monthly drop-in sessions per month to make geospatial technologies more accessible and provide an open space for questions and collaboration. The next session is:
- 12th Feb 2pm – GIS drop-in session – join the call and discuss your GIS queries with Dr Gail Millin-Chalabi
R User Group at The University of Manchester (R.U.M.) R users
Spatial Data and Mapping in R – 27th Feb
Discover how to bring your data to life through mapping! This talk introduces the basics of spatial data and how to create stunning maps in R. Using the beloved ggplot2, tmap, and the powerful sf package, we’ll explore visualizing vector and raster data, creating thematic maps, and customizing them. Whether you’re new to spatial data or looking to enhance your data visualization skills, this session will guide you through the essentials of mapping in R.
Research Data Stewardship Community
Implementation of Electronic Notebooks 12th Feb
Research Data Conversations is part of a new series of My Research Essentials and Data Stewardship Community events exploring themes within research data and data stewardship.
Their second conversation will be led by Dr James Bird, Technical Specialist (Research IT, University of Manchester). James will share his experience of opening up his PhD research, how the use of an electronic research notebook (ERN) enabled that, and the ongoing project within The Research Lifecycle Programme which aims to centrally implement ERNs at the University.
Opening Up Research 2024/25 – Open Software
‘Opening up Research’ is a collaborative effort involving the Office for Open Research, the School of Engineering Open Research Lead, representatives from the United Kingdom Reproducibility Network (UKRN), and Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute.
Their next event on the 4th of Feb will explore the open software theme: developing and sharing open-source software and code to maximise the potential for reuse and contributes to robust, reproducible research methods.