• Welcome to the Education Site for SciNet, the High Performance Computing Consortium at the University of Toronto. Here you will find the course materials for all the classes and courses taught by SciNet. 

    Our training covers many topics in Research Computing and Data Science, in a variety of forms, such as webinars, workshops, and multi-week courses. Some events are online, while others are in-person, but many of the latter are also broadcast and recorded.  

    Access to slides and recordings is open to anyone, but to register for courses and to work towards a SciNet certificate, login is required.  Apart from the University of Toronto graduate courses in the list, all training events are free of charge.


Cours disponibles

Parallel programming in Python. We will cover subprocess, numexpr, multiprocessing, MPI, and other parallel-enabling python packages.
Format: In person, but also broadcast and recorded.

Enseignant: Ramses van Zon
Date: : lun., 27 mars 2023 - 1:00 pm
Nombre de crédits - calcul haute performance: 3
: Non

In about 90 minutes, learn how to use the SciNet systems Niagara and Mist, from securely logging in to running computations on the supercomputer. Experienced users may still pick up some valuable pointers.
Format: In-person, as well as broadcast and recorded.

Enseignant: Alexey Fedoseev
Date: : mer., 12 avril 2023 - 10:00 am
Nombre de crédits - calcul haute performance: 1
: Non

This workshop explores various concise and useful constructs for working with bash shell. The goal is to improve your shell skills. Attending this class requires some basic GNU/Linux command line experience.

Format: In-person and On-line (zoom)

Location: SciNet Teaching Room, 11th floor on the MaRS West tower,  661 University Ave., Suite 1140, Toronto, ON M5G 1M1

Time:  1:00 pm - 4:00 pm EST


Enseignant: Ching-Hsing Yu
Date: : lun., 17 avril 2023 - 1:00 pm
Nombre de crédits - calcul scientifique: 3
: Non

This six-week class will introduce neural network programming concepts, theory and techniques. The class material will begin at an introductory level, intended for those with no experience with neural networks, eventually covering intermediate-to-advanced concepts. The programming language will be Python 3.9; experience with Python programming will be assumed. The Keras neural network framework will be used for neural network programming; no experience with Keras will be expected.  Lectures will be 11:00am - 12:00pm, Tuesday and Thursdays.
Format: In-person, but lectures will be recorded.

Enseignant: Erik Spence
Date de début: : 25 avril 2023
Date de fin: : 1 juin 2023
Nombre de crédits - science des données: 16
: Non

In about 90 minutes, learn how to use the SciNet systems Niagara and Mist, from securely logging in to running computations on the supercomputer. Experienced users may still pick up some valuable pointers.
Format: In-person, as well as broadcast and recorded.

Enseignant: James Willis
Date: : mer., 10 mai 2023 - 10:00 am
Nombre de crédits - calcul haute performance: 1
: Non

In this workshop, you will learn advanced MPI techniques such as MPI Datatypes, application topology and MPI-IO in the context of a scientific MPI example.

Enseignant: Bruno Mundim
Date de début: : 15 mai 2023
Date de fin: : 19 mai 2023
Nombre de crédits - calcul haute performance: 4
: Non

Principles and uses of relational databases with practical examples using python and sqlite on the Niagara supercomputer.
Format: In-person, but will also be broadcast and recorded.

Enseignant: Ramses van Zon
Date: : lun., 29 mai 2023 - 1:00 pm
Nombre de crédits - science des données: 3
: Non

In about 90 minutes, learn how to use the SciNet systems Niagara and Mist, from securely logging in to running computations on the supercomputer. Experienced users may still pick up some valuable pointers.
Format: In-person, as well as broadcast and recorded.

Enseignant: Michael Nolta
Date: : mer., 14 juin 2023 - 10:00 am
Nombre de crédits - calcul haute performance: 1
: Non

This week's colloquium: "Data Preparation" by Shadi Khalifa from CAC. The Compute Ontario Colloquia are weekly Zoom presentations on Advanced Research Computing, High Performance Computing, Research Data Management, and Research Software topics, delivered by staff from three Compute Ontario consortia (CAC, SciNet, SHARCNET) and guest speakers. The colloquia are one hour long and include time for questions. No registration is required. 

Enseignant: Shadi Khalifa
Date: : mer., 15 mars 2023 - 12:00 pm
: Non

In about 90 minutes, learn how to use the SciNet systems Niagara and Mist, from securely logging in to running computations on the supercomputer. Experienced users may still pick up some valuable pointers.

Format: online only

Enseignant: Yohai Meiron
Date: : mer., 15 mars 2023 - 10:00 am
Nombre de crédits - calcul haute performance: 1
: Non

Learn how to write bash scripts, use environment variables, how to control process, and much more. Requires some linux basic command line experience.
Format: In-person, but will also be broadcast and recorded.

Enseignant: Marco Saldarriaga
Date: : lun., 13 mars 2023 - 1:00 pm
Nombre de crédits - calcul scientifique: 3
: Non

This week's colloquium: ""High-Performance Computing in R" by Alexey Fedoseev from SciNet.
The Compute Ontario Colloquia are weekly Zoom presentations on Advanced Research Computing, High Performance Computing, Research Data Management, and Research Software topics, delivered by staff from three Compute Ontario consortia (CAC, SciNet, SHARCNET) and guest speakers.  The colloquia are one hour long and include time for questions. No registration is required. Most presentations are recorded and uploaded to the hosting consortium video channel.
Enseignant: Alexey Fedoseev
Date: : mer., 1 mars 2023 - 12:00 pm
: Non

This week's colloquium: "Accelerated DataFrame with Dask-cuDF on multiple GPUs" by Jinhui Qin from SHARCNET.
The Compute Ontario Colloquia are weekly Zoom presentations on Advanced Research Computing, High Performance Computing, Research Data Management, and Research Software topics, delivered by staff from three Compute Ontario consortia (CAC, SciNet, SHARCNET) and guest speakers.  The colloquia are one hour long and include time for questions. No registration is required. Most presentations are recorded and uploaded to the hosting consortium video channel.

Enseignant: Jinhui Qin
Date: : mer., 22 févr. 2023 - 12:00 pm
: Non

An overview of GPUs and their use in supercomputers. This workshop will explain what GPUs are, and cover the basic ideas of GPU use in scientific computing. We will introduce several GPU programming frameworks, and demonstrate how to accelerate a solution of a science problem using a GPU. Python or C++ could be used for the assignment.

Format: In person, but also broadcast.

Enseignant: Yohai Meiron
Date de début: : 21 févr. 2023
Date de fin: : 24 févr. 2023
Nombre de crédits - calcul haute performance: 6
: Non

This week's colloquium: "Making Use of SIMD Vectorisation to Improve Code Performance" by James Willis from SciNet.

The Compute Ontario Colloquia are weekly Zoom presentations on Advanced Research Computing, High Performance Computing, Research Data Management, and Research Software topics, delivered by staff from three Compute Ontario consortia (CAC, SciNet, SHARCNET) and guest speakers.  The colloquia are one hour long and include time for questions. No registration is required. Most presentations are recorded and uploaded to the hosting consortium video channel.

Enseignant: James Willis
Date: : mer., 15 févr. 2023 - 12:00 pm
: Non

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is Microsoft's implementation of Linux container on Windows. WSL allows users to run various Linux distributions inside Windows and provides fully functional Linux environments for routine tasks. This course explores the usage of WSL and Docker Desktop on Windows. 
Format: In-person

Enseignant: Ching-Hsing Yu
Date: : lun., 13 févr. 2023 - 1:00 pm
Nombre de crédits - calcul scientifique: 3
: Non

This week's colloquium: "An introduction to MPLAPACK, a multi-precision linear algebra library" by Ge Baolai from SHARCNET.

The Compute Ontario Colloquia are weekly Zoom presentations on Advanced Research Computing, High Performance Computing, Research Data Management, and Research Software topics, delivered by staff from three Compute Ontario consortia (CAC, SciNet, SHARCNET) and guest speakers.  The colloquia are one hour long and include time for questions. No registration is required. Most presentations are recorded and uploaded to the hosting consortium video channel.

Enseignant: Baolai Ge
Date: : mer., 8 févr. 2023 - 12:00 pm
: Non

In about 90 minutes, learn how to use the SciNet systems Niagara and Mist, from securely logging in to running computations on the supercomputer. Experienced users may still pick up some valuable pointers.
Format: In person, as well as broadcast and recorded.

Enseignant: Bruno Mundim
Date: : mer., 8 févr. 2023 - 10:00 am
Nombre de crédits - calcul haute performance: 1
: Non

In this course students will be instructed in how to program in R. Ultimately students will learn how to use R to analyze, process and visualize data. This course is designed for students with little to no experience in programming. 

This is a graduate course that can be taken for credit by UofT Biochemistry graduate students. Those students should enrol using ACORN/ROSI.

Enseignant: Erik Spence
Date de début: : 8 févr. 2023
Date de fin: : 26 avril 2023
Nombre de crédits - calcul scientifique: 9
Nombre de crédits - science des données: 9
: Oui

This week's colloquium: "File Management - Packing Small Files" by Ching-Hsing Yu from SciNet. The Compute Ontario Colloquia are weekly Zoom presentations on Advanced Research Computing, High Performance Computing, Research Data Management, and Research Software topics, delivered by staff from three Compute Ontario consortia (CAC, SciNet, SHARCNET) and guest speakers. The colloquia are one hour long and include time for questions. No registration is required. 

Enseignant: Ching-Hsing Yu
Date: : mer., 1 févr. 2023 - 12:00 pm
: Non

This week's colloquium: "How Research Data Management (RDM) Intersects with ARC and Why Should I Care?" by Jeff Moon from Compute Ontario.
The Compute Ontario Colloquia are weekly Zoom presentations on Advanced Research Computing, High Performance Computing, Research Data Management, and Research Software topics, delivered by staff from three Compute Ontario consortia (CAC, SciNet, SHARCNET) and guest speakers.  The colloquia are one hour long and include time for questions. No registration is required. Most presentations are recorded and uploaded to the hosting consortium video channel.

Enseignant: Jeff Moon
Date: : mer., 25 janv. 2023 - 12:00 pm
: Non

C++ is a high level programming language that is extremely useful for scientific applications. The language has historically had a bad reputation, but modern C++ is much improved so that your code can be relatively short and elegant. In this workshop we will teach the basics of C++ for people who are familiar with the basics of programming, and we will especially compare and contrast C++ with Python (only the material covered in SCMP142 "Intro to Programming with Python" is required). Knowing multiple programming languages may be a useful skill: while Python is a wonderful programming language, execution speed is often a practical issue for pure Python applications. For applications where this is an issue, coding in C++ can significantly improve performance. As C++ can relatively easily be integrated in a Python project, it is also possible (and common) to code just the bottleneck in that language.

Format: In-person, but also will be broadcast and recorded.

Date de début: : 23 janv. 2023
Date de fin: : 27 janv. 2023
Nombre de crédits - calcul scientifique: 6
: Non

This week's colloquium: "A comparison of neural network frameworks" by Erik Spence from SciNet.
The Compute Ontario Colloquia are weekly Zoom presentations on Advanced Research Computing, High Performance Computing, Research Data Management, and Research Software topics, delivered by staff from three Compute Ontario consortia (CAC, SciNet, SHARCNET) and guest speakers.  The colloquia are one hour long and include time for questions. No registration is required. Most presentations are recorded and uploaded to the hosting consortium video channel.

Enseignant: Erik Spence
Date: : mer., 18 janv. 2023 - 12:00 pm
: Non

Working with many of the HPC systems (like those at SciNet) involves using the Linux/UNIX command line. This provides a very powerful interface, but it can be quite daunting for the uninitiated. In this half-day session, you can become initiated with this coursse which will cover basic commands. It could be a great boon for your productivity.

Format: In person, but also broadcast and recorded.

Date: : lun., 16 janv. 2023 - 1:00 pm
Nombre de crédits - calcul scientifique: 3
: Non

This week's colloquium: "Performance: current and upcoming systems" by Mark Hahn from SHARCNET
The Compute Ontario Colloquia are weekly Zoom presentations on Advanced Research Computing, High Performance Computing, Research Data Management, and Research Software topics, delivered by staff from three Compute Ontario consortia (CAC, SciNet, SHARCNET) and guest speakers.  The colloquia are one hour long and include time for questions. No enrollment or registration is required. Most presentations are recorded and uploaded to the hosting consortium video channel.

Enseignant: Mark Hahn
Date: : mer., 11 janv. 2023 - 12:00 pm
: Non

In about 90 minutes, learn how to use the SciNet systems Niagara and Mist, from securely logging in to running computations on the supercomputer. Experienced users may still pick up some valuable pointers.
Format: In-person as well as broadcast and recorded.

Enseignant: Erik Spence
Date: : mer., 11 janv. 2023 - 10:30 am
Nombre de crédits - calcul haute performance: 1
: Non

In this course data analysis techniques utilizing the Python and R languages will be introduced, as well as the basics of programming and scientific computing. The goal of this course is to prepare graduate students for performing scientific data analysis. Successful students will learn how to use statistical inference tools to gain insight into large and small data sets, as well as be exposed to cutting-edge techniques and best practises to store, manage and analyze (large) data.  Topics include: Python and R programming, version control, automation, modular programming and scientific visualization.

Students willing to take the course as part of their graduate program must enrol through Acorn/ROSI.

Date de début: : 10 janv. 2023
Date de fin: : 6 avril 2023
Nombre de crédits - calcul scientifique: 8
Nombre de crédits - science des données: 28
: Oui

This course is aimed at reducing your struggle in getting started with computational projects, and make you a more efficient computational scientist. Topics include well-established best practices for developing software as it applies to scientific computations, common numerical techniques and packages, and aspects of high performance computing. While we will introduce the C++ language, in one language or another, students should already have some programming experience. Despite the title, this course is suitable for many physical scientists (chemists, astronomers, ...).

This is a graduate course that can be taken for graduate credit by UofT PhD and MSc students. Students that wish to do so, should enrol using ACORN/ROSI.

Enseignant: Ramses van Zon
Date de début: : 10 janv. 2023
Date de fin: : 30 avril 2023
Nombre de crédits - calcul scientifique: 28
Nombre de crédits - calcul haute performance: 8
: Oui

In about 90 minutes, learn how to use the SciNet systems Niagara and Mist, from securely logging in to running computations on the supercomputer. Experienced users may still pick up some valuable pointers.
Format: In-person as well as broadcast and recorded.

Enseignant: James Willis
Date: : mer., 14 déc. 2022 - 10:00 am
Nombre de crédits - calcul haute performance: 1
: Non

Working with Advanced Research Computing and High Performance Computing systems involves using the Linux command line. This workshop will cover Linux commands to improve your productivity on the command line. 
Format: In person, but also broadcast and recorded.

Enseignant: Marco Saldarriaga
Date: : lun., 12 déc. 2022 - 1:00 pm
Nombre de crédits - calcul scientifique: 3
: Non

Managing large amounts of data can be a challenging task. Processing large numbers of files incur heavy overhead of IO communications. This course explores several options such as using Apptainer Overlay and SQLite to pack and reduce a large number of files to few files, and hence, improving IO performance. Python scripts are used throughout the course.

Format: On-line (Zoom).

Enseignant: Ching-Hsing Yu
Date: : lun., 28 nov. 2022 - 1:00 pm
Nombre de crédits - science des données: 3
: Non

Using version control for your scripts, codes, documents, papers, and even data, allows you to track changes, keep backups, and facilitate collaboration.  In this workshop, you will learn the basics of version control with the popular distributed version control software GIT. This workshop assumes that students have an understanding of basic Linux shell commands.
Format: In-person, but also will be broadcast and recorded.

Enseignant: James Willis
Date: : lun., 21 nov. 2022 - 1:00 pm
Nombre de crédits - science des données: 3
: Non

Learn the basics of Message Passing Interface (MPI) programming. Examples and exercises will be based on parallelization of common scientific computing problems. 
Format: Online (Zoom)

Enseignant: Bruno Mundim
Date de début: : 21 nov. 2022
Date de fin: : 25 nov. 2022
Nombre de crédits - calcul haute performance: 4
: Non
In about 90 minutes, learn how to use the SciNet systems Niagara and Mist, from securely logging in to running computations on the supercomputer. Experienced users may still pick up some valuable pointers.
Format: Online Zoom Meeting
Enseignant: Michael Nolta
Date: : mer., 9 nov. 2022 - 10:00 am
Nombre de crédits - calcul haute performance: 1
: Non

In three sessions over the course of one week, we will cover different aspects of cybersecurity to help you enable your research! We will explore cybersecurity concepts, cyberattack models, as well as best practices to protect your research. We will talk about cryptography and apply the concept to a real life scenario via SSH keys. Finally, we will approach cybersecurity in the context of the Research Ethics Board.     This session will be a mix of theory and practical exercises.  We hope you will learn something new and, most importantly, enjoy the sessions! 
The format is virtual, but for the second session there is the option to attend in person in the SciNet Boardroom to get in-person help with setting up ssh key authentication.

Date de début: : 24 oct. 2022
Date de fin: : 28 oct. 2022
Nombre de crédits - calcul scientifique: 4
: Non

Working with many of the HPC systems (like those at SciNet) involves using the Linux/UNIX command line. This provides a very powerful interface, but it can be quite daunting for the uninitiated. In this half-day session, you can become initiated with this coursse which will cover basic commands. It could be a great boon for your productivity.
Format: In person, but also broadcast and recorded.

Enseignant: Marco Saldarriaga
Date: : ven., 14 oct. 2022 - 1:00 pm
Nombre de crédits - calcul scientifique: 3
: Non

In about 90 minutes, learn how to use the SciNet systems Niagara and Mist, from securely logging in to running computations on the supercomputer. Experienced users may still pick up some valuable pointers.
Format: In-person, as well as broadcast and recorded.

Enseignant: Ramses van Zon
Date: : mer., 12 oct. 2022 - 10:00 am
Nombre de crédits - calcul haute performance: 1
: Non

New to programming? Learn the basics of programming using python in eight one-hour sessions over the course of four weeks. Sessions will consist of a mix of lectures and hands-on exercises.
Format: In-person. Sessions will be recorded.

Enseignant: Ramses van Zon
Date de début: : 3 oct. 2022
Date de fin: : 4 nov. 2022
Nombre de crédits - calcul scientifique: 8
: Non

Container computing is gradually changing the way researchers are developing, sharing, and running software applications. Apptainer (formerly called Singularity) is gaining popularity in HPC for its performance, ease of use, portability,  and security. In this course, we will explore: what is a container, why use a container, and how to use and create one.
Format: On-line (Zoom).

Enseignant: Ching-Hsing Yu
Date: : lun., 26 sept. 2022 - 1:00 pm
Nombre de crédits - calcul scientifique: 3
: Non

In about 90 minutes, learn how to use the SciNet systems Niagara and Mist, from securely logging in to running computations on the supercomputer. Experienced users may still pick up some valuable pointers.
Format: Online

Enseignant: Alexey Fedoseev
Date: : mer., 14 sept. 2022 - 10:00 am
Nombre de crédits - calcul haute performance: 1
: Non

The goal of this course is to prepare graduate students to perform scientific data analysis using the R programming language.  Successful students will learn how to use statistical inference and machine-learning tools to gain insight into data sets, as well as be introduced to techniques and best practises for storing, managing and analyzing data.  Topics will include: R programming, version control, modular programming, coding best practices, data analysis, machine learning and scientific visualization.

Classes will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:00-10:30am, in GB244 and BL205, respectively.

Students willing to take the course as part of their graduate program must enrol through Acorn.  This course is part of the IMS graduate program.

Date de début: : 13 sept. 2022
Date de fin: : 29 nov. 2022
Nombre de crédits - calcul scientifique: 8
Nombre de crédits - science des données: 28
: Oui

This course will provide an introduction to the theory, formalisms and algorithms of quantum computing.  The programming language will be Python; experience with Python will be assumed.  Experience with quantum mechanics is not necessary; an introductory-level understanding of linear algebra will be assumed.  The PennyLane quantum-computing programming framework (installation instructions here), provided by Xanadu, will be used.  No experience with quantum computing will be expected.  Classes will be held, July 25, 27, 29, 12:30-3:30pm, in the SciNet Teaching room. Update: due to technical problems with the SciNet Teaching room, this class will be moved to the SciNet Boardroom.

Date de début: : 25 juil. 2022
Date de fin: : 29 juil. 2022
Nombre de crédits - calcul scientifique: 9
: Non

Monthly SciNet user meetings, now virtual, with user discussion and a TechTalk.  The topic on May 11th, 2022 will be "Modern C++", by Yohai Meiron.

Abstract: C++ has existed for four decades, but has gone through especially significant changes in the 2010s with the advent of the Standard C++11 and beyond. We'll demonstrate some of the new language features, as well as the workflow and tools that make C++ an important programming language for scientific computing, and a lot of fun!

Date: : mer., 11 mai 2022 - 12:00 pm
: Non

A quick introduction on how to use SciNet and the Niagara and Mist supercomputers.

Enseignant: Michael Nolta
Date: : mer., 11 mai 2022 - 10:00 am
Nombre de crédits - calcul haute performance: 1
: Non

This six-week class will introduce neural network programming concepts, theory and techniques. The class material will begin at an introductory level, intended for those with no experience with neural networks, eventually covering intermediate-to-advanced concepts. The programming language will be Python 3.9; experience with Python programming will be assumed. The Keras neural network framework will be used for neural network programming; no experience with Keras will be expected.  Lectures will be 11:00am - 12:00pm, Tuesday and Thursdays.

Enseignant: Erik Spence
Date de début: : 26 avril 2022
Date de fin: : 2 juin 2022
Nombre de crédits - science des données: 16
: Non