Posted on: 18 December 2024 purlPURL: https://gxy.io/GTN:N00103

The Galaxy Training Network joined the BioNT Community Event & CarpentryConnect - Heidelberg 2024

BioNT, in collaboration with The Carpentry, proudly hosted CarpentryConnect2024 at EMBL Heidelberg from November 12th to 14th. Designed as a community event, it brought together diverse learning communities to exchange ideas and discuss about their communities’ involvement, learning materials, teaching concepts and many other topics.

The event aimed to bridge the gap between academia and industry learning efforts in the biotechnology and biomedical sectors, supporting BioNT’s consortium goal of enhancing digital skills among small and medium-sized enterprises in the European union.

The Galaxy Training Network (GTN) participated with a poster, a lightning talk, and a mini hackathon. The poster and lightning talk showcased the GTN’s capabilities and opportunities, facilitating valuable connections with interested attendees. These interactions led to insightful discussions and questions about the GTN, for which we are grateful.

The hackathon, titled ‘Find out what the Galaxy Training Network is, by actively tackling a small task on the GTN,’ offered participants a hands-on introduction to our infrastructure and how to contribute to the GTN. The diverse needs and interests of the attendees were well-served by our flexible task approach.

The event featured three inspiring keynote presentations. Malvika Sharan from The Alan Turing Institute delivered impactful insights on effective community management and engagement strategies, an area we continually strive to enhance at GTN. Radhika S. Khetani from AstraZeneca shared her experiences of cultivating an educational community in academia and subsequently transferring her expertise to industry, providing a fascinating glimpse into both sectors. Finally, Yanina Bellini Saibene from ROpenSci inspired attendees with her talk on pursuing tasks in training and community involvement that can lead to career opportunities and how meaningful impact measuring is.

Generous breaks between workshops and breakout discussions provided many opportunities for attendees to network with peers from other learning communities, share ideas, and forge new connections. This event proved immensely fruitful for us, leaving us inspired and enriched with new contacts and ideas.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to all who organized, contributed to the program, and participated in making CarpentryConnect2024 a truly enjoyable and rewarding experience. If you would like to get further insights on please read the full BioNT Community Event report.