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​Running a face-to-face training course for a whole week is challenging, but running it completely online for a week, and doing so with the highest levels of attendance so far, is nothing less than impressive - congratulations to Dr. Sarah Fegan (STFC) and fellow organisers for a highly successful week!

From October 2nd to October 9th, CCPBioSim ran a mixture of lectures, seminars and hands-on activities aimed at newcomers to, and those keen to improve their skills in biomolecular simulations. The week long event was designed in a modular way for registered participants to pick and choose those sessions that suited their individual interests. Participants were encouraged to install the relevant software before each session ​​with a dedicated 'Introduction to Software' morning being the first event on Friday 2nd - neatly timed to allow further practice over the weekend if necessary.

The talks were given by both external speakers and STFC staff including: Dr. James Gebbie of the high end computing​ consortium: HECBioSim; Dr. Alin Elena and Dr. Michael Seaton both of CCP5, the CCP for computer simulation of condensed phases; and Dr. Tom Burnley of CCP-EM, the CCP for​​ electron microscopy. The research seminars were given by: Prof. Syma Khalid of ​the University of Southampton and chair of ​HECBioSim; Prof. Prem Chapagain of Florida International University; and Dr. Viv Kendon​​ of ​Durham University and chair of CCP-QC​, CCP for Quantum Computing.

The attendance level was a record high increasing from an average of 30-40 at in-person events, to almost 200 delegates from all over the world, with a large percentage being complete novices to simulation. The event organisers scaled-up the training capacity without any issues, resulting in a very smoothly run and hitch-free week, which is a particularly impressive achievement considering the variety of delivery methods that were tested such as cloud, non-cloud, etc. Well done to all those involved!

Details of lectures, seminars and hands-on activities during the training week

CCPBioSim​

CCP5​

CCP-EM​

HECBioSim​

CCP-QC​