Posted by m.jackson on 12 February 2013 - 10:27am

By Mike Jackson.

One year ago, we attended our first boot camp at University College London. Today, we have agreed to coordinate Software Carpentry activities in the UK. By strengthening our collaboration with Software Carpentry, we will help train researchers to confidently and efficiently develop software that contributes to correct, reproducible and reusable research.

"We are pleased to have the Software Sustainability Institute take over coordination of UK boot camps. The Institute shares many goals and values with Software Carpentry, and we believe this partnership will benefit both organisations." - Greg Wilson, Founder of Software Carpentry.

We became involved in Software Carpentry in 2011 when we started developing online lectures in advanced shell techniques and file management in Python. In April 2012, we participated in the first general UK boot camp at University College London, which was led by Software Carpentry's creator, Greg Wilson. A fortnight later, in conjunction with the Digital Institute at Newcastle University and SoundSoftware, we delivered the first boot camp to be run entirely by UK tutors. We have since instructed at the majority of boot camps run in the UK and helped deliver boot camps in Europe. We will help deliver five boot camps in the coming months. 

In our new role, we will help UK researchers organise boot camps for their research groups, institutions and communities. We can help the local organisers of a boot camp to create a syllabus; attract instructors and helpers; manage registration; advise on publicity; and provide support in all aspects of organising a boot camp.

If you'd like help organising a boot camp, or if you're interested in becoming an instructor or helper, please contact us.

• For upcoming boot camps in which we are involved, take a look at our events page.
• For upcoming boot camps around the world, check out Software Carpentry.