Next steps

Overview

Teaching: 15 min
Exercises: 0 min

Questions

• Where can I get further help on using ARCHER2?

• What other training is available to me?

• How can I get access to ARCHER2 for my research?

Objectives

• Be aware of the available ARCHER2 documentation.

• Be aware of what other training is available.

• Be aware of the ARCHER2 access routes.

ARCHER2 Service Desk

Contacting the ARCHER2 Service Desk is the easiest way to get in touch with the service to ask any questions you have or report issues with your use of the service. You can contact the ARCHER2 Service Desk at: support@archer2.ac.uk.

If you have a particular issue that you would like to discuss in more depth with an expert from the ARCHER2 CSE service you can book a callback from them at a time of your convenience Please contact the service desk if you want to book a callback with a description of what you want to discuss and your preferred time(s) for a callback.

Documentation

The ARCHER2 service has extensive documentation available at:

• ARCHER2 Documentation

This documentation covers:

• Quickstart Guides to using ARCHER2 for users who wish to use pre-installed software and users who want to compile and develop their own software.
• ARCHER2 User and Best Practice Guide covering all aspects of the service with basic information to allow you to use the service effectively for your research and more advanced technical topics to help you improve your use of the service.
• Information on the research software and software libraries available on the service.
• Information on how to use the EPCC SAFE web administration tool.

ARCHER2 Training

There is also lots of training available through the ARCHER2 service covering many different topics and to suit many different levels. Following on from this course, you may be particularly interested in:

• Using package X efficiently on ARCHER2 - these are a series of courses covering some of the major modelling and simulation software packages used on ARCHER2 that cover how to get the most out of the ARCHER2 system when using that particular software.
• Software/Data Carpentry - improve your software and data analysis skills with these official Carpentries courses.
• Reproducible computational environments using containers - this course provides an introduction to the use of Containers in a research setting.

Details of courses, the upcoming schedule and information on how to register can be found on the ARCHER2 training pages.

Getting access to ARCHER2 for your research

There are a number of different routes to obtain access to ARCHER2 resources.

The simplest and easiest way to get access to small amounts of resource to test ARCHER2 for your research is via the ARCHER2 Driving Test. The Driving Test is a short online quiz that, once completed, gives UK-based researchers the ability to apply for a small amount of ARCHER2 time for use for their research.

Other potential access routes include:

• Access Through the EPSRC/NERC Scientific Consortia - Time for projects within consortia remits. Often the simplest method of getting access if your research is in the remit of one of the consortia.
• ARCHER2 pump-priming - Small amounts of time to test ARCHER, provide proof of concept, or obtain scaling information for full applications (EPSRC remit science only).
• ARCHER2 resources via research grants - larger amounts of time associated with the research project proposed. How this works depends on the grant awarding body.
• UKRI Access to HPC resource calls - large amounts of resource for up to a year.

More information on these access routes is available on the ARCHER2 access page

eCSE: help with improving and adding functionality to research software

The ARCHER2 embedded computational science and engineering (eCSE) programme provides funding for you or a research software engineer (RSE) of your choice to improve or add functionality to research software on ARCHER2. To find out more about the eCSE programme and how to apply, see the ARCHER2 eCSE pages

Acknowledging ARCHER2

Key Points

• ARCHER2 has a lot of documentation available.

• There are lots of training opportunities available.

• You can get access to ARCHER2 resources via a number of different routes.