Birmingham Environment for Academic Research (BEAR) Newsletter This month, we enjoyed meeting and speaking to over 200 staff members at the Staff Benefits Fair about the various BEAR services available, welcome to those who have joined our mailing list! November’s newsletter looks a little different as we’ve added some sections to help with navigation, do let us know if you have … Continue reading “November 2025 BEAR Newsletter”
Modelling accelerator-based neutron sources using the BlueBEAR cluster
In this case study we hear from Louis Butt, a doctoral researcher from Metallurgy and Materials, who has been using BlueBEAR to research accelerator-based neutron sources. I am a PhD student researching accelerator-based neutron sources in the School of Metallurgy and Materials. My work involves taking measurements with our source at the University’s MC40 Cyclotron … Continue reading “Modelling accelerator-based neutron sources using the BlueBEAR cluster”
The value of version control
The Research Software Group’s mission is rooted in the observation that most current research requires software, often written by researchers themselves, and that the application of a few core software engineering principles leads to more effective research. This is neatly captured by the Software Sustainability Institute‘s tag line: “better software, better research”. A core technology … Continue reading “The value of version control”
Digital Research Committee working groups
Authors: Carol Sandys and Stephanie Thompson, Advanced Research Computing Some of you may be aware of the exercise that IT Services is undertaking to refresh the Digital Strategy and consider future investment in digital initiatives across the board, including for research. To contribute to that exercise, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research, Professor Rachel O’Reilly, has asked … Continue reading “Digital Research Committee working groups”
Investigating the Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT)
In this case study we hear from Ronan and Anubrata, both research staff in Cancer and Genomic Sciences, who have been using BlueBEAR to find therapeutic targets and biomarkers for the diagnosis of ALT-reliant cancers such as high-grade glioma. Our lab is investigating the Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) process; a molecular mechanism used by … Continue reading “Investigating the Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT)”
HPCwire Award 2025 winners!
For the third year running (see previous awards), we are pleased to announce that a research group who use our advanced computing facilities has been recognised as award-winning in the HPCwire 2025 awards! Advanced Research Computing is very proud to provide Birmingham Environment for Academic Research (BEAR) to support high-impact research at the University, which … Continue reading “HPCwire Award 2025 winners!”
Molecular simulations of small peptides as a means to interpreting mass spectra
In this case study we hear from Edwin, a PhD student in Biochemistry,who has been using BlueBEAR to evaluate the effectiveness of different Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation protocols at assigning structural information to Ion Mobility data Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS), Traveling Wave Ion Mobility Spectrometry (TWIMS) and High-Field Asymmetric Wave Ion Mobility Spectrometry (FAIMS) are … Continue reading “Molecular simulations of small peptides as a means to interpreting mass spectra”
October 2025 BEAR Newsletter
Birmingham Environment for Academic Research (BEAR) Newsletter It’s been great to meet so many new PhD students at various college and school inductions over the last few weeks, and to see so much interest in the new training workshops that we are providing. To help spread the word about the many ways that BEAR services can help … Continue reading “October 2025 BEAR Newsletter”
JuliaSIG repository
Dr Vincenzo Brachetta, Chair of the Julia Special Interest Group (SIG), describes below the creation of a repository to share educational resources related to the Julia programming language. Following the establishment of the Julia Programming Language Special Interest Group, which was created with the aim of supporting the growing community of Julia users and enabling … Continue reading “JuliaSIG repository”
Energy Data Landscape – Challenges and Opportunities
Edward Barbour and Grant Wilson, Associate Professors in Chemical Engineering, explored detailed domestic heat pump demand data and became interested in their operational costs under different energy tariffs. They quickly discovered that tariff data was difficult to obtain and compare across different suppliers. With help from Mingxue (Jean) Du, a Research Software Engineer, they identified … Continue reading “Energy Data Landscape – Challenges and Opportunities”