As previously announced, the 2020 CERN openlab summer-student programme has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are, however, pleased to announce that we now have a range of exciting online educational activities lined up in its place: https://openlab.cern/online-learning.

On the page above, you can find a catalogue of lectures from the CERN openlab summer student programme. These address topics such as machine learning, quantum computing, high-performance computing, and much more!

At 16:00 CEST (14:00 UTC) on 16 and 30 July, there will also be opportunities to ask your questions to computing experts at CERN. So, if you have ever wanted to ask a question about how scientists at CERN turn data into discoveries, join us at one of these sessions: 

                        16 July: https://indico.cern.ch/event/932557/
                        30 July: https://indico.cern.ch/event/932558/

On the above online-learning page, you can also find details of a number of upcoming tutorials, organised by computing experts at CERN. These address topics such as parallel programming, high-performance computing with GPUs, and monitoring systems.

On top of this, we are pleased to announce that CERN openlab is able to provide mentoring for a small number of those people originally selected for the 2020 edition of our summer-student programme. This is currently foreseen for around a dozen students. Selections have been made based on the practical feasibility of working with certain technologies at distance, as well as on the availability of supervisors.

Finally, the CERN Webfest — a weekend-long hackathon based on open web technologies — will take place online for the first time this year. The event is open to all and will be held over the weekend of 27-28 June. Please find more information on the Webfest and how to register here: http://webfest.cern/ (registration closes at 23:59 CEST on Wednesday 24 June).

“Education and training are at the heart of our mission,” says Alberto Di Meglio, head of CERN openlab. “As well as working to accelerate innovation of computing technologies, we want to help ensure that the next generation of computing specialists have the expertise needed to make full use of the new cutting-edge technologies that become available.”

“We hope that the activities we have lined up can play an important role in this,” continues Di Meglio. “We encourage everyone with an interest in computing and physics — wherever you may be in the world — to join us at these events.”