If you want to make a difference and are fascinated by how technology works, come and join a leading team responsible for supercomputing and allied services at the University of Birmingham! The Advanced Research Computing team that runs Birmingham Environment for Academic Research (BEAR) services is looking for two graduates (recently graduated or in final … Continue reading “We’re recruiting! Two Graduate System Engineer posts”
January 2026 BEAR Newsletter
Birmingham Environment for Academic Research (BEAR) Newsletter December was an exciting month for the team, as one of the student teams from BEAR Challenge won the national Computing Insight UK Cluster Challenge! Team ‘Beariables’ gave an amazing performance to beat 16 teams from across the UK, and now go on to represent the UK at the International Supercomputing Conference … Continue reading “January 2026 BEAR Newsletter”
Call for volunteers to join R User Group Organising Committee!
We’re looking for volunteers to help re-launch the R User Group at the University of Birmingham. This Special Interest Group (SIG) will bring together R users from across the University to share knowledge and skills. R is a popular programming language with many applications and excellent tools for reproducible research. To support R users from … Continue reading “Call for volunteers to join R User Group Organising Committee!”
Update – 2024 IT Needs of Active Research survey progress
It has been nearly two years since the last Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research (PVC-R) ‘IT Needs of Active Research Survey’ was released, and as we prepare for the next survey, we wanted to update you on some actions that IT Services has taken since we analysed the results of the 2024 survey. You can find … Continue reading “Update – 2024 IT Needs of Active Research survey progress”
We’re recruiting! Permanent Grade 7 Research Software Engineer (RSE)
Advanced Research Computing (ARC) at the University of Birmingham is seeking to appoint a Research Software Engineer (RSE). This is a permanent post in the Research Software Group (RSG), part of the award-winning ARC team, which has earned a national and international profile. As an RSE you will join the 15 RSEs and Senior RSEs … Continue reading “We’re recruiting! Permanent Grade 7 Research Software Engineer (RSE)”
Vibe coding: when programming becomes a feeling
If you’ve ever wished you could build an app without learning to code, vibe coding might sound like the answer. Named Collins Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2025, the term describes the process of creating a website or app simply by telling artificial intelligence what you’d like it to do — and letting the AI write the code for you. … Continue reading “Vibe coding: when programming becomes a feeling”
Cooling works in data centre – upcoming service disruption
Update – 10:30 on Monday 13 April, 2026 We would like to provide you with an update on the maintenance work that has been taking place on BEAR services over the last two weeks (commencing on 30 March 2026). The key message is that BlueBEAR (HPC) will be unavailable until Wednesday 15 April (late afternoon) … Continue reading “Cooling works in data centre – upcoming service disruption”
Building a community for research computing
Research Computing and Data Community – RCDC The Advanced Research Computing team at the University of Birmingham have been providing several different Special Interest Groups (SIGs) for researchers for many years, to enable interdisciplinary communities to come together with shared interests in particular programming languages, or coding in general. As these SIGs have grown over … Continue reading “Building a community for research computing”
MATLAB Special Interest Group reboot
On the afternoon of Wednesday 26 November 2025, the MATLAB Special Interest Group held a re-launch event. Featuring keynote presentations by our new Chair, Dagmar Fraser from Psychology, MathWorks and UoB researchers. This session gave researchers the opportunity to hear more about the disparate use cases of MATLAB across the University, in the hopes of … Continue reading “MATLAB Special Interest Group reboot”
Team of undergraduate students wins national computing challenge!
We were so thrilled to hear that team ‘Beariables’ have won the national supercomputing challenge at Computing Insight UK (CIUK2025)! The team of undergraduate students from the University of Birmingham are studying for degrees in the School of Physics & Astronomy, and the School of Computer Science, and competed against 16 other teams from institutions … Continue reading “Team of undergraduate students wins national computing challenge!”