Skills Development

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Skills Development

The mission of the QCIF Skills Development team is to enable our Members’ staff and students to maximise their research outcomes through the best use of research computing technology.

As data science rapidly becomes a core skill in an ever-increasing range of research projects and disciplines, QCIF Skills Development supports researchers of all levels of experience to take advantage of research computing infrastructure and resources. 

We achieve this by providing high-contact researcher guidance and upskilling through a network of on-site research computing specialists, an extensive program of short practical training workshops, and by fostering the growth of local community support networks.

Download QCIF’s Skills Development flyer (PDF, 594 KB).

eResearch Analysts

The heart of the Skills Development group is our team of eResearch Analysts — research support professionals embedded within our Member institutions. 

Find out more about our eResearch Analysts. 

Training

Each year we deliver nearly 2,500 training places on a wide range of research computing topics. Our practical, hands-on courses are open to researchers from across Australia, and are free to participants from QCIF Member organisations. 

Find out more about our training.

Community Support

We actively encourage researchers to connect and share their knowledge and experience with colleagues through our involvement in a range of community-building initiatives. These include:

  • Hacky Hours at all our Member institutions. Hacky Hour is a regular drop-in support session, where our eResearch Analysts and experienced volunteer researchers provide advice on coding and research computing questions.
  • ResBaz Queensland is an annual data science, networking and career development event for young researchers. The Skills Development team and other QCIF staff are major contributors to the organisation and delivery of ResBaz Queensland.
  • The Carpentries: QCIF is a platinum member of The Carpentries, a worldwide community teaching foundational coding skills to researchers. QCIF provides Carpentries-based workshops, Carpentries instructor training, community discussion events, and participates in Carpentries volunteer committees.
  • Local groups: The Skills Development team also regularly participate in other support communities within their local institutions, including the UQ R User Group and CodeR at JCU.

Resources