Birmingham Environment for Academic Research (BEAR) Newsletter
Whilst June has seen several of the team head out to conferences and events, including ISC High Performance 2025, we are busy preparing for our own event next week to welcome 15 teams of taught students to the heavily oversubscribed BEAR Challenge 2025, part of the UoB Xtra series of events.
Included in this month’s newsletter:
- News from the Advanced Research Computing team
- NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute workshops – July
- Reflections on the BEAR Conference 2025
- Women in Engineering/Women in STEM coffee morning – Monday 23 June
- Digital twins: opportunities and challenges in stimulating society webinar – 25 June
- AI and Sustainability Postgraduate Research Symposium – 2 July
- Case study on RNA sequencing analysis made easy with BEAR
- BEAR drop-in session dates
News from the Advanced Research Computing team
We would like to welcome another new member to the Research Software Group, Dr Alexandre Changenet. Alex is joining us as a Senior Research Data Scientist to support the Research Data Science service.
In further news, we are pleased to announce that we have secured five years of funding from the University’s Digital Strategy to expand our training workshops. We will be working closely with the Institute for Data and AI (IDAI), who have provided additional funding, to develop a set of new workshops to meet the needs of researchers, focussing in particular on researchers that have little or no background in software development. New workshops will be announced via this mailing list but are likely to include topics such as ‘Webscraping’ and ‘Introduction to Computational Thinking’ over the coming academic year.
NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute workshops – July
As part of the BEAR training series of workshops, we are now taking bookings for NVIDIA workshops in July, including two brand new topics! If you are interested in ‘Fundamentals of Deep Learning’, ‘Accelerated Computing with Modern CUDA C++’, or ‘Accelerated Computing with CUDA Python’, then find out more details and book via our training webpages.
Reflections on the BEAR Conference 2025
The 14th annual BEAR Conference, a vibrant event organised by postgraduates for postgraduates, took place on 22 May 2025 in the Alan Walters Building, and what a fantastic day it was! With 55 attendees, the conference was packed with insightful talks, lively discussions, and a strong sense of community. You can find out more about the day in the BEAR Conference blog post.
Women in Engineering/Women in STEM coffee morning – 23 June
On International Women in Engineering Day (Monday 23 June), the ChemEng EDI team are hosting a ‘Women in Engineering/Women in STEM coffee morning’ at 10:30-11:30 in the Atrium (1st floor) of School of Chemical Engineering (building Y11). Take a pause from the usual emails, meetings, and deadlines, and join us for a relaxed coffee morning with tea, coffee, cake, and good company. It’s a chance to catch up, share experiences, and enjoy informal conversations in a supportive space. Everyone is welcome – this is an inclusive event open to all, regardless of gender. Feel free to share and drop in!
Digital twins: opportunities and challenges in stimulating society webinar – 25 June
On Wednesday 25 June at 15:00-16:00, the School of Government are hosting a GovTech Webinar exploring the cutting edge of Digital Twin Applications across societal, governmental, and business contexts. This session will dive into the technological innovations and practical challenges of implementing digital twins – virtual models that mirror real-world systems – across a range of complex domains. Find out more and register to attend via the webinar registration page.
AI and Sustainability Postgraduate Research Symposium – 2 July
On Wednesday 2 July, the AI and Sustainability Symposium aims to bring together PostGraduate Researchers (PGRs) from across the University to foster a collaborative environment for sharing knowledge, showcasing innovative approaches, and discussing best practices – as well as potential pitfalls – in the application of AI to sustainability-related research. Find out more and register to attend the Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action (BISCA) event via the Symposium Form.
Case study on RNA sequencing analysis made easy with BEAR
In this month’s featured case study, we hear from Jonny Lewis (researcher in Inflammation and Ageing), who explains the data workflow he uses for RNA sequencing in his research to understand changes in the cells lining blood vessels. Jonny uses a combination of scripts on our BlueBEAR supercomputer and more interactive use of RStudio on the BEAR portal to speedily analyse his data, preventing his own computer from being pushed to the limit of its capabilities. Have a read of Jonny’s case study to find out more.
BEAR drop-in session dates
We are currently holding monthly in-person drop-in sessions on the first Wednesday of the month at 13:30-14:30 on the first floor of Staff House (formerly Café Aroma). We also provide additional virtual drop-in sessions via Zoom for those not on campus or who require specialist help – check the drop-in webpage for updates, as well as details on how to join the sessions. Currently scheduled dates are also listed below:
- Via Zoom – Thursday 19 June, 11:00-12:00
- Via Zoom – Friday 27 June, 10:00-11:00
- In-person – Wednesday 2 July, 13:30-14:30 – Staff House, first floor (look for our banner)
- Via Zoom – Tuesday 8 July, 13:30-14:30
Missed last month’s newsletter?
Find May’s newsletter here. Sign up to receive the newsletter direct to your inbox by joining our bear-updates mailing list here (UoB login required), or ask to join via email at bearinfo@contacts.bham.ac.uk