Frequently Asked Questions

The Mt Ida campus is in Newton, on the outskirts of Boston, NOT in Amherst! It is a campus that UMass Amherst recently established for more convenient access to the Boston area.

Campus Security phone number 413-545-4777 (in case you get locked out, etc; for emergencies, always call 911 first).

Do you provide certification?

The summer school is an informal workshop meant to serve the research community, and as such it is not accredited to offer diplomas. Every attendee will receive an unaccredited attestation of their participation with description of the covered material on request. The organizers will be able to provide letters of reference for hackathon participants as well.

Will personal laptops be required?

Bringing a personal laptop on which attendees can install and administer open source software is highly encouraged (e.g. Julia, Python, Rust, git, etc). A great deal of lecture content will be meant to be interactive and attendees will also have the opportunity to join for hackathons.

The organizers will not be able to provide laptops.

Power outlets and extension cords will be available in all lecture halls and workspaces.

What are the internet connectivity options on campus?

Both Eduroam and guest access options exist for internet connectivity.

Is parking available?

Free parking is plentiful on campus. Charging stations for EVs are available.

What is included in the registration cost?

Lodging and lectures are included in the cost. Meals are not included, but the dining hall on campus is very convenient. Breakfast snacks and coffee will be served at the lecture hall, and sweets will be served at the hackathon.

Are any meals provided?

Meals are not included in the registration cost, but the dining hall on campus is very convenient. Breakfast snacks and coffee will be served at the lecture hall in the morning, and sweets will be served at the hackathon.

There will be a catered dinner on Thursday evening and the Saturday hackathon will be also a pizza party.

What are the housing facilities?

The lodging will be at the Mt Ida campus in Newton.

Each registered graduate attendee will have a private room, with shared bathroom facilities on the floor. A small laundry room is available on the basement floor. A microwave oven is available in a small kitchenette.

Laundry?

A small laundry room is available on the basement floor of the dorm building.

A kitchen?

A microwave oven is available in a small kitchenette.

Gym?

Attendees will have access to the campus gym (you need to ask the security office in the same building to open for you if your access card does not work).

Bedding?

Bedding is provided (with extra blankets, etc, made available if anyone needs them)

Anything to pre-install on my computer?

Have the following pre-installed (we will help if these are giving you trouble):

• some python environment that is not your default system's environment (it is dangerous to reuse the system's python for dev work as the OS might be using it for something else); I (Stefan) personally use pip+virtenv, but many people prefer conda, and there is a Cambrian explosion of more recent options

• have a good terminal emulator – mac and linux users are probably fine with their defaults (although I (Stefan) would suggest checking out the fish shell), but windows users could benefit from installing Windows Terminal (comes with Win 11, can be found in the MS store for Win 10)

• install the juliaup managing tool with which you can install and manage different versions of julia (no need to install julia in any other way)

• install VS Code unless you are already an experience user of another IDE; install the Julia plugin for VS Code