MSI Users Bulletin - March 2023

The Users Bulletin provides a summary of new policies, procedures, and events of interest to MSI users. It is published quarterly.

1. Research Computing Exhibition:  The 2023 Research Computing (RC) Exhibition will be held on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. The RC Exhibition will include a poster competition, a panel discussion with industry and university representatives about careers in HPC, presentations about projects supported by Research Computing, and tours.

The schedule of events can be found on the RC Exhibition webpage. 

2. NICE and NX-NoMachine Retired: As announced in previous emails, both NICE and NX-NoMachine were retired on March 1, 2023. Interactive access to the MSI clusters is available through Open OnDemand. See MSI’s documentation on Using Open OnDemand for details.

3. Spring Deadline for UMII Large/Medium Seed Grants: The spring deadline for large/medium UMII Seed Grants is Friday, April 28, 2023. Funds will be available in June 2023. The funding amount for these grants is $10,001 - $120,000. See complete information on the Research Computing website: UMII Funding Portal.

4. Research Computing Collaboration and Coffee: Research Computing has instituted a new event intended for RC staff and users to meet in person and discuss what’s going on with their research while enjoying some coffee, tea, and snacks. The next Collaboration will be held on Wednesday, April 19, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m., in 401 Walter Library.

5. Spring Tutorials and Workshops:

a. MSI Tutorial Series: MSI’s tutorials are intended to help users achieve the best results using MSI systems. Spring 2023 tutorials are hybrid, with both in-person and online (Zoom) participation. In-person tutorials are held at MSI in Walter Library. Descriptions and registration links are posted on the MSI Events page and the MSI Tutorial Calendar.

Past tutorials can be viewed on the MSI YouTube channel.

b. GEMS Learning: GEMS Learning provides modular non-credit digital and data science education for working professionals and students in food, agriculture, and natural resource application areas. Across the curriculum, instructors have built their course content from their own work executing large-scale data science projects to solve agricultural problems. Register for GEMS Learning Spring 2023 courses on the GEMS website.

c. U-Spatial Workshops: U-Spatial offers a variety of instructor-led workshops focusing on different geospatial tools and technologies. These workshops are offered at a minimal cost to U of M students, faculty, and staff. The schedule for Spring 2023 can be found on the U-Spatial website.

6. U-Spatial Mapping Prize: The Mapping Prize competition, which is open to students at the University of Minnesota, honors provocative and innovative map-making. Information about the 2023 competition can be found at the Spatial University website.

The submission deadline for the 2023 competition is May 12, 2023.

7. 2023 DMD Conference: The annual Design of Medical Devices Conference will be held April 17-19, 2023. Complete information can be found on the conference website.

8. U of M Spatial Forum and Borchert Lecture: Save the Date! This year's Spatial Forum and Borchert Lecture will be held on November 15. The 2023 Borchert Lecture will be presented by presented by Dr. Nadine Alameh, the CEO of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). The annual Borchert Lecture series features notable speakers in geographic information science.

9. MSI Operations: MSI staff are now working under a hybrid model; not all staff are working on-site full time. All MSI systems are operational and can be accessed remotely.

To request technical assistance with your MSI account, contact the Helpdesk:

10. Job Available at MSI:

11. Useful Webpages: Looking for help with using MSI? One of these pages may have the information you need: