Category: News

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IADF Summer School: Computer Vision for Earth Observation

Applications are Open

A great opportunity is available for anyone wanting to expand their skills in computer vision for remote sensing. Computer Vision for Earth Observation (CV4EO) is an online Summer School, organised by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) GRSS (Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society) and Image Analysis and Data Fusion Technical Committee, and will be the first of its kind.

The GRSS’s IADF serves as a global and multi-disciplinary network for geospatial image analysis. They aim to connect people and resources, educate and promote theoretical advances and best practices in image analysis and data fusion. This includes machine learning, deep learning, image and signal processing, and big data. The summer school will focus on applying computer vision (CV) methods to address challenges in remote sensing.

An exciting line-up of speakers will contain a series of lectures on the existing methods utilised for analysing satellite images, along with the challenges encountered, and cover topics including Image Fusion, Explainable AI for Earth Sciences, Big Geo-Data, Multi-source Image Analysis, Deep Learning for Spectral Unmixing, SAR Image Analysis, and Learning with Zero/Few Labels. The school will include lectures, theoretical sessions and hands-on practical sessions.

DETAILS

The summer school is open to everybody who has a strong motivation and interest in the topics. Participants will not be charged a registration fee. The number of participants is limited to 75, but the course will be broadcast to everyone who applies. Those who attend the course will receive a certificate.

Application deadline: 23 September
Summer School dates: 3-7 October
Apply here: https://iadf-school.org/

Speakers include:
Avik Bhattacharya
Melba Crawford
Saurabh Prasad
Behnood Rasti
Sylvain Lobry
Lichao Mou
Caleb Robinson
Alejandro Frery

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Training Opportunity: DIPLOMICS Bioinformatics for Molecular Biologists

A training course offered by DIPLOMICS and Thermo Fisher Scientific that deals with the basics of the Linux operating system and command line operation is open for registration.

DIPLOMICS is a network of academic, commercial and industrial labs in South Africa and a resource for the national and international Omics community.  

This hands-on course includes:
– An introduction to the Linux OS and how to work in the command line;
– Relational databases and MySQL;
– Basic database operations (creating tables, inserting data, constructing queries);
– Python (or Perl) programming languages;
– Creating a script that transforms variant data into a format that can be loaded into a relational database.

DETAILS

The course is open to all molecular biologists and bench scientists interested in going beyond the graphic interface. The course is open to cross-platform data analysis users (not limited to Ion Torrent users).

Course dates: 22-26 August

Venue: DIPLOMICS training room in Cape Town (108 Albert Rd, Woodstock)


Apply here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=LXJ9toqqd0ehaevremo7ZxXHBWUAwhBDlbkMFjEAwBdUOFdPVzRUN1pPRVY1R0U5TFY0Mk5HN1gwUi4u

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MATHack Western Cape 2022

The MATHack Western Cape 2022 is open for registrations and the theme for 2022 is Finding creative solutions to the difficulties that COVID-19 has brought upon the people of the Western Cape. The 24-hour coding challenge is exclusively for universities and colleges from the Western Cape, and promises to be action-packed and fun. Teams of up to 4 people can register.

Prizes include:
1st place: MATHack WC 2022 trophy and R5000
2nd place: R4000
3rd place: R3000

Event details:
Date: 17 September – 18 September
Time: 12:00 pm -12:00 pm
Place: UCT Upper Campus, PD Hahn 1

Register: MATHack WC 2022 Registration

Sign up for the MATStart & MATApp workshops to help you and your team upgrade your MATLAB skills in preparation for the hackathon.

#MATHack_WC_2022

Find more information on their website: https://www.optinum.co.za/mathack-wc-2022

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Opportunity: Zindi Ambassadors

Zindi, a Data Science platform and social enterprise with a focus on building a “data science ecosystem” in Africa, is looking for volunteer Ambassadors. The role will involve creating awareness in your own communities about data science and Zindi activities. Zindi’s mission is to build the data science ecosystem in Africa. They are a Cape Town-based company with a vision for a vibrant community of data scientists across Africa, mobilised towards solving the region’s most pressing problems.

Find out more and register to become an ambassador: https://bit.ly/3IViXPw

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Workshop: Creating a DMP

Research data management (RDM) is an integral component of the research process. A data management plan (DMP) provides detail of how your research data will be managed. A workshop held on 2 Augusts aimed to provide an overview of what DMPs are, why a postgraduate student would need one, and a practical guide on putting one together.

Workshop contents:

  • What is a data management plan (DMP)?
  • Why postgraduate students need DMPs
  • How to put together a DMP plan

Workshop outcomes:

  • Basic understanding of the UWC RDM policy and the POPI Act
  • Understanding of the implications of these policies for postgraduate research
  • Practical skills for putting together a RDM plan for thesis research

Date: 2 August 2022
Time: 12:00-14:00

Sign up here: https://forms.gle/Fhys6o2hLe64GGEj9
Watch the recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNfnrAKJDU4

Facilitators: Mark Snyders (Library), Sarah Schäfer (eResearch Office),  and Janine Senekal (DPGS)

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Africa Open Science Hardware Summit

AfricaOSH is an organisation that aims to inspire African makers, and is focused on open source scientific tools and hardware. They seeks to promote and provide a platform for innovation and creation in Africa, and hold annual events.

The 2022 annual summit theme is Growing the Do-It-Yourself & Do-It-Together (DIY/DIT) Culture for Community Transformation : a focus on Open Health, and promises to be insightful, educative, innovative and fun. The event will be hosted by MboaLab and take place from 29 September-1 October in Yaounde, Cameroon. Read more about it here.

Applications to attend the 2022 AfricaOSH annual summit are now open: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdOwXEONbacMeYX5p1BEpWT20uyQZuByTiRBkLfgGPDXKjUhA/viewform

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CarpentryCon 2022: Expanding Data Frontiers

CarpentryCon 2022 will take place online from 1-12 August 2022, and registration is now open. CarpentryCon is an exciting way to connect with The Carpentries community and level up data science skills. Attendance is free, and takes place over two weeks, featuring sessions that will draw participation from around the world.

The programme will include: lesson development sprints, professional and community skill building, technical skill-ups, regional subcommunity updates, updates on new curriculum development and more.

The CarpentryCon 2022 Schedule can be viewed, and all sessions will be recorded.

Read more about the event and register to attend at https://2022.carpentrycon.org/

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Basics of R: a Training Module

In collaboration with DPGS, a ‘Basics of R’ training module will begin on 5 July. The module will include an introductory session, after which training materials will be available through iKamva. The purpose of this training module is to equip postgraduate students with basic knowledge and skills to begin using R.

R is a programming language that is widely used by researchers in various disciplines for data manipulation, calculations and graphical display and visualisations. Anyone who would like to begin working with R as part of their research or skills development will benefit from this training module, and the lessons are aimed at people with no previous experience.

Interested participants can register at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe-DvVWWGV9OU4uoEQGDTI9vrDvvRpPPO_z_W8y5fBHrM_ZYg/viewform

Intro-to-R-poster-finalDownload
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Working with Data Training Module Q&A Session

The Working with Data: Training Module, created in collaboration with DPGS, is still available on iKamva, and the Q&A session on Wednesday 8 June is an opportunity to ask questions about spreadsheets and OpenRefine.

The session is also for those who would like to begin working on the module during the vacation period.

To access the training module and the recording of our introductory session on iKamva: https://ikamva.uwc.ac.za/x/qV5MAP