Stronger networks, better science: A review of the NHR Summer School at KIT
Between 18 and 22 May, KIT became a hub for early-career researchers in high-performance computing (HPC) for a week: Fellows from the NHR Graduate School – the joint graduate school of the National High-Performance Computing (NHR) centres – gathered from all over Germany for this year’s NHR Summer School. For a week, doctoral students from Germany and abroad were able to deepen their specialist knowledge, network and gain fresh inspiration for their research. The varied programme, comprising academic exchange, practical training and insights into the HPC infrastructure at KIT and within the NHR Alliance, provided the ideal setting for this.
Academic careers benefit from the exchange of ideas
Right from the start, the poster session made it clear that the Summer School focuses on the exchange of ideas, experiences and research findings. The fellows presented their current projects, discussed scientific questions and forged new contacts within the NHR network. As well as the reunion of the four existing cohorts, the focus was also on welcoming the new fellows, who were attending the Summer School for the first time.
To kick off the Summer School, Dr Swantje Schirmer from the Karlsruhe House of Young Scientists (KHYS) provided valuable guidance on pursuing a career in science. With practical insights into the day-to-day realities of doctoral study and specific recommendations on how to structure the doctoral phase, she offered the participants a wealth of ideas.
Insights into the research infrastructure
A particular highlight was the excursion to the SCC’s data centre on KIT’s North Campus. There, the fellows gained fascinating insights into the research and computing infrastructure in place. The focus was on a visit to the HoreKa supercomputer, which impressively demonstrates the capabilities of modern high-performance computers (Figure 1). At the heart of the Summer School were the practice-oriented workshops, which were designed by experts from the participating NHR sites. Researchers from the University of Paderborn, KIT and RWTH Aachen University imparted key skills for scientific work in the HPC environment.
Courses and workshops
In the courses on “Best practices in Research Software Engineering: Automated Testing and Documentation” and “Introduction to Performance Engineering”, experts from the SCC introduced participants to methods and tools for version control and collaborative software development, as well as for analysing and optimising the efficiency of scientific applications – both of which are indispensable tools for modern research projects. Tutors from the Paderborn Centre for Parallel Computing (PC2) gave participants an introduction to the technical and scientific programming language Julia, providing them with an initial insight into the use of a modern programming language for HPC applications. This was complemented by presentations from RWTH Aachen University on the MPI standard – widely used in the HPC environment – as well as on research data management and metadata, which addressed the structured documentation, organisation and long-term reusability of scientific data.
The Summer School – A platform for knowledge transfer and networking
The NHR Summer School has once again demonstrated how valuable the exchange between researchers from different disciplines and locations is for scientific progress. By combining professional development, interdisciplinary networking and collaborative work on current challenges in high-performance computing, new perspectives, contacts and ideas for future collaborations emerged.
The annual NHR Summer School thus sends an important signal regarding the promotion of early-career researchers and the strengthening of the German HPC community.
Participants were able to benefit from the numerous opportunities for learning, networking and professional exchange, and took away valuable inspiration for their future research work.