OIST Mini Courses
The OIST Mini Courses are a series of extracurricular intensive short courses designed for the OIST community, taught by volunteer OIST members and open to all.
Mini Courses provide a platform for any OIST member to propose a specific topic for a course. When the topic is seen as having value for the students and the OIST research community, the Graduate School will gather volunteer teachers and students, and organise the details of the course. The courses will focus on providing participants with a basic set of practical skills that will be of direct use in the students' research and also broaden the graduate curriculum. You may suggest/ request topics here.
Target Audience and Teaching Opportunities
The courses are primarily designed around students’ specific needs, both theoretical and experimental, as determined directly by Faculty members and students themselves. OIST students will therefore be the primary target for participants, although once a given topic is decided on and organised, registration may be open to all members of the OIST community. Participation is voluntary and should be driven by a will to learn above anything else: these are not for credit.
Each minicourse is taught by volunteers: faculty members, postdocs, students, technicians or any admin staff within OIST. OIST is overflowing with knowledge that is begging to be propagated. These minicourses provide a great teaching opportunity to all. They are also a great way to learn something new while meeting people outside your usual circles. Please join us as we teach and learn from each other!
Modus Operandi
The Mini Courses exist within a flexible structure that can adapt to OIST members’ schedules as much as possible. The courses will follow several models, according to the topic of the course. For light topics (e.g. Introduction to LaTeX, or Git) short sessions of a few hours can be organised. For more hands-on topics (DNA Extraction, Arduino...) half or full days are more appropriate. For more in-depth subjects, series with multiple sessions are organized.
Mini Courses will focus as much as possible on skill development and problem solving with a hands-on approach so as to make sure that the participants will be walking away with practical tools they know how to use. Of course, a 6-hour experience does not make one an expert, and hard work and perseverance needed for mastery is ultimately left to the participants’ capable hands, but we will always aim to provide a friendly push in the right direction.
Course Evaluation Form
Once you have completed your Mini Course, please provide us with your honest feedback. Your review will remain anonymous and will be only used by the Curriculum and Programs section to improve upon our Mini Course program. Any information we relay to your instructor regarding this feedback will also be anonymous.
Gallery
See a few pictures available here.
Current and Future Mini Courses
We list here all the courses that are currently planned or in development (tentative). Follow the links below for more information or signing up, or for tentative topics indicate your interest in teaching or learning with this form.
Mini Courses 2024
| Mini Course | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Supersymmetry QFT | April 18-late June | Taught by Dr. Nick Dorey, TSVP |
| (Tentative) Data Management | TBD May-July | ISO Instructor(s) |
| (Tentative) Systematic Literature Review & Metaanalysis | TBD May-July | ISO Instructor(s) |
| (Tentative) Math Writing in LaTeX | TBD May-July | ISO Instructor(s) |
| (Tentative) Data Analysis & Version Control | TBD May-July | ISO Instructor(s) |
| (Tentative) Fundamentals of Project Management | TBD June-August | ISO Instructor(s) |
| (Tentative) Intro to Filmmaking | TBD Spring - Summer 2024 | ISO Instructor(s) |
|
Introduction to Cluster Algebras [potentially to be offered as a Special Topic course] |
September - November | Dr. Kaveh Mousavand |
| Introduction to Mapping Class Groups | October-November | Dr. Xiaobing Sheng |
| Fundamentals of Team Science | 3-4 sessions (90 min each) TBD | Dr. Jim Borg |
| An Introduction to Allen Institute data resources | 2-3 sessions (3 hours each) TBD | Dr. Jim Borg |
| Schubert calculus on Grassmannians | TBD | Dr. Duc-Khanh Nguyen |
| Your Suggested Topic | fill in the webform |
Past Courses
We list here past courses. Follow the links to get more information as well as downloading the slides or material of the course.
Mini Courses 2023
| Mini Course | Date |
|---|---|
| Filmmaking for Everyone | December 6, 8, 13 from 14:30-17:30 |
| Julia for Open Quantum Systems | Nov. 27-29 |
| Asymptotic Symmetries | July 31-August 24 |
| Big Geographical Data | June 5-6 |
| Project and Team Management Tools for Academic Research with an Emphasis on Jira and Confluence | May 25 |
| March 20, 24, 27 | |
| Effective Visual Communication of Science | March 7 |
| Particle Tracking Simulation Using Ocean Parcels | February 7, 8, 9 |
| Comparative Genomics, Alignment & Annotation | January 10, 12, 17, 19, 24, 26, 31, February 2 |
| Control and Computation in Living Systems | January 17, 19, 24, 26 |
| Experimental Realization through Analog Electronics | January 10, 11, 12, 13, 16 |
Mini Courses 2022
| Mini Course | Date |
|---|---|
| Mini Course: LabVIEW | February 8, 10, 15, 17 |
| Mini Course: Terminal | February 7, 9, 14 |
| Mini Course: Jira | January 27 |
Mini Courses 2021
Mini Courses 2020
| Mini Course | Date |
|---|---|
| Mini Course: Git | November |
| Mini Course: LaTeX | November |
| Mini Course: Functional Programming | November 18, 20, 25, 27 |
| Mini Course: High Molecular Weight DNA Extraction | November 12 |
| Mini Course: Terminal | November 9, 11, 13 |
| Mini Course: Arduino | November 5, 6 |
| Mini Course: in vivo Th Cell Differentiation | October 22, 26 ~ 30, November 5 |
| Mini Course: Editing Wikipedia for Scientists | October15 |
| Mini Course: R for Reproducible Science | September23, 24, 30, October 1 |
| gnuplot | August 17, 19, 24 |
| Intro to Programming | August 5, 6, 7, 13 |
| Solving "Unsolvable" Differential Equations | July 14, 15, 21 |
| Teaching Techniques for Scientists | July 20, 22, 27 |
| GraphPad Prism | July 21, 28, 29, August 4 |
| Database Manipulation | July 7, 10, 14 |
| Intro to Molecular Biology Methods | July 6, 8 and 13 |
| Phylogenetic Comparative Methods | May 18, 20, 22 |
| 3D Printing | March 4 and 6 |
| R | January 27, 30, March , 6 |
| Fiji | February 26 and 27 |
| Graphic Design in Science | January 21 and 22, 3-5PM |
Mini Courses 2019
| Mini Course | Date |
|---|---|
| Zsh | December 18 |
| RNA-seq | December 4, 5, 11, 12 |
| Intro to Cellular Biology | November 6, 11 and 13 |
| Neural Coding and Brain Computing | November 9, 10 |
| Complex Analysis | October 24, 29, 31, 3PM to 5PM |
| Keynote | October 28 and 30, 10AM-12PM |
| LaTeX | November, TBD |
| Sozi | October 2, 3PM to 5PM |
| Arduino | August 28, 29 |
| Git | August 13, 14, 15, 1PM to 3PM |
| Julia | July 11, 12, 16, from 10AM to 12PM |
| Computational Reproducibility | June 27, from 10AM to 12PM |
| MATLAB | May 13, 15, 20, 22, 1PM to 3PM |
| Terminal | May 27, 28, June 2 3PM to 5PM |
| Intro to Molecular Dynamics | May 20, 23, 27 |
| macOS Tips and Tricks | March 21, 10AM to 12PM |
| LabVIEW | April 16, 18, 23, 25 |
| Endnote | April 19, 1PM to 3PM |
| Intro to Programming | March 19, 20, 26, 27 |
| Classical and ab initio Molecular Simulations | February 18, 25 and March 4, 2PM-4PM |
| Non-Equilibrium Green Functions | February 25, 27 and March 6, 6, 10AM-12PM |
| Blender | February 19, 21, 26 and 28 , 10AM - 12PM |
| Beautiful Python | January 22 and 24, 10AM - 12PM |
| Field Studies of Animals | February 1, 10AM - 12PM |
| Linear Dynamical Systems | February 4 and 6, 3:30PM - 5:30PM |
| Vector Calculus Identities | January 10, 11, 17 and 18 (non-regular schedule) |
| Quantitative Genetics | January 10 and 11, 1PM-3PM |
Mini Courses 2018
| Mini Course | Date |
|---|---|
| Intro to Molecular Biology Methods | December 5, 6 and 12, from 1PM to 3PM |
| Evolutionary Genomics | December 15 (Saturday) and 16 (Sunday AM) |
| Asymptote | November 27, 28 and December 4, 1PM - 3PM |
| Amira | November 22, 27 and 29, 10AM - 12PM |
| LaTeX | November 6, 7, 13 and 14, from 1 to 3 PM |
| Thermodynamics of Open Quantum Systems | October 10 and 12, 10AM to 12PM |
| Inkscape | September 25 and 27, 1PM to 3PM |
| Regular Expressions | August 28 and 30, 1PM to 3PM |
| Hands-on Electronics | August 23, 27 and 29, from 1PM to 4 or 5PM |
| Git | July 10 and 12, 10AM - 12PM |
| GIMP | June 25 and 28, 1PM - 3PM |
| BLAST | July 17 and 18, 10AM - 12PM |
| Building and Maintaining a CV | July 3 and 5, 10AM - 12PM |
| Terminal | May 22, 24, 28, 10AM to 12PM |
| Filmmaking for Scientists | May 30, 31, June 6, AM |
| 3D Printing | May 14, 16, 10AM to 12PM |
| Calculus of Variations | April 23. 25, 27, 10AM to 12PM |
| Teaching Techniques | April 17, 19, 10AM to 12PM |
| Phylogenetic Reconstruction | April 10 (1PM to 3PM) and 12 (1PM to 4PM) |
| Intro to Programming | March 26, 29, April 2, 5, 1PM to 3PM |
| Android Development | April 4, 1PM to 5PM |
| LabVIEW | March 20, 23, 27, 30, 10AM to 12PM |
| Philosophy of Mind | Feb 27, Mar 2, 6, 9, 10AM and 11AM to 12PM |
| Bayesian statistics | January 18, 19, 25 and 26, 10AM to 12PM |
| Visualizing Tomography Data | February 6, 8 and 13, 10AM to 12PM |
Mini Courses 2017
| Nanoparticles by Design | December 9 (Saturday) 10AM to 6PM |
| Super-resolution Microscopy | December 6, 7 or 8, 10AM to 12PM |
| Electronics for Computational Neuroscience | November 18 and 25 (Saturdays) |
| Planning Your Scientific Journey | Every Wednesday from October 4th to November 1st, 12PM to 1PM |
| LaTeX | November 6, 7, 13 and 14, 1PM to 3PM |
| GPU | November 7, 9 and 14, 10AM to 12PM |
| Digital Marketing | Wednesday October 11, from 10AM to 12PM |
| MATLAB | October 3, 5, 10 and 12, 10AM~12PM |
| Keynote | September 27 and 28, 10AM~12PM |
| Raspberry Pi | Saturday September 9, 10AM to 6PM |
| Linux | August 22, 24 and 29, 10AM to 12PM |
| Python | July 31, August 3, 7, 10, 10AM to 12PM |
| General Relativity | Tuesdays from July 11 to August 29 (2PM) |
| Julia | July 4, 6, 11 and 13 (5-7PM) |
| Intro to Bioinformatics | June 17, 24 (Saturdays, 10AM-6PM) + June 16 (3-5PM) |
| SolidWorks | May 18, 19, 25, 26 (10-12PM) + May 17 (11AM-12PM) |
| Calculus | May 17, 18, 24, 25 (5-7PM) |
| DMRG | May 29th and June 1st (1:30PM - 3PM) |
| Terminal | April 5, 6 and 10 (5-7PM) |
| Differential Operators | March 23, 27 and 30 (5-7PM) |
| Intro to Programming | March 18 and 25 (Saturdays, 10AM-6PM) |
| Quantum Information 2 | February 16, 22, 23 (5-7PM) |
| Intro to Neurobiology | February 4 and 11 (Saturdays) |
| LaTeX | January 30, February 2, 6, 9 (5-7PM) |
Mini Courses 2016
| C/C++ | December 10, 17 (Saturdays) |
| Fourier Transforms | December 1, 7 and 8 from 5 to 7PM |
| Next-gen Sequencing | November 17, 19 and 23 |
| gnuplot | November 14 and 21 from 5 to 7PM |
| R | October 22 and 29 (Saturdays), 10AM to 6PM |
| Quantum Information | October 17 and 24 (Mondays), 5 to 7PM |
| Mathematica | September 13, 14, 20 and 21 (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) from 5 to 7PM |
| Materials Modeling and Simulation | September 10 (Saturday) from 10AM to 6PM |
| Keynote | September 6 and 7 (Tuesday, Wednesday) from 5 to 7PM |
| LabVIEW | July 19, 20, 26, 27, August 9, 10, from 5PM to 7PM (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) |
| Inkscape | July 25th and August 1st, from 1PM to 3PM |
| Data Structures and Algorithms with Python | July 23rd and 30th (consecutive Saturdays) |
| Database Manipulation | June 21st, 23rd, 28th, 30th from 5PM to 7PM |
| Intro to Cellular Biology | May 14th and 21st, 2016 (Consecutive Saturdays) |
| Git | June 1st (Wed.) and 2nd (Thur.) from 5PM to 7PM |
| Arduino | April 16th, from 10AM to 5:30PM (Saturday) |
| Presentation Skills | April 14th, from 10AM to 5:30 PM (Thursday during Final Fortnight) |
| CAD with SOLIDWORKS | March 30th, 31st, April 6th, 7th from 1PM to 3PM (weekdays) |
| Differential Equations | March 26th and 27th, 2016 (Saturday and Sunday) |
| Terminal | March 16th, 17th, 23rd, 24th from 5PM to 7PM (weekdays) |
| Gravitational Waves | March 7th, 8th and 10th, 2016, from 4:30PM. |
| Statistics | February 27th and 28th, 2016 (Saturday and Sunday) |
| Programming with Python | February 13th and 20th, 2016 (Consecutive Saturdays) |
| Matrix Algebra | January 30th and 31st, 2016 (Saturday and Sunday) |
| LaTeX | January 18, 21, 25 and 28, 2016 (From 5PM to 7PM) |
| Group Theory | January 16th and 23rd, 2016 (Consecutive Saturdays) |
Mini Courses 2015
| MATLAB | November 28-29th, 2015 (Saturday-Sunday) |
Credits and Recognition
Because of the unscripted and unaccredited nature of the Mini Courses, participants will not be able to earn OIST credits that contribute to their degree. However, we are confident that the practical skills the students will work towards acquiring will be fully rewarding in their own right.
For teachers, participation will be officially recorded and recognition will be addressed in the most appropriate way possible, such as logging those hours towards the required teaching hours for OIST students, or by issuing official certificates for students, postdocs and faculty.
Proposing a Topic
If you would like to see a custom course organized, contact the Curriculum and Programs Section. We will work with you to open your suggestion to the OIST community to find additional teachers and students.
Contact
For more information, never hesitate to contact the Curriculum and Programs Section.