{"id":1341,"date":"2025-07-18T15:19:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T14:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/?p=1341"},"modified":"2025-07-18T15:19:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T14:19:00","slug":"reflections-on-the-iccs-summer-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/reflections-on-the-iccs-summer-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflections on the ICCS Summer School"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this month, SPECIAL team member Wenyao Gan had the opportunity to attend the ICCS summer school in Cambridge. The ICCS summer school was an inspiring and intensive programme that did far more than just teach technical skills. Designed and hosted by the Institute for Computing for Climate Science (ICCS), the school brought together an interdisciplinary group of researchers, software engineers, and climate scientists to explore the intersection of computing and climate science.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aims of the Summer School<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The ICCS summer school was built around a clear and ambitious goal: to provide hands-on training in research software engineering (RSE), machine learning, high-performance computing (HPC), and scientific programming, while fostering collaboration across disciplines. In addition to structured workshops, participants had the chance to engage in one-on-one discussions with ICCS RSE staff to receive targeted code support.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Learning That Goes Beyond the Technical<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One of the most impactful aspects of the summer school was the emphasis on good coding practices within scientific research. Through the RSE Skills workshops, participants were able to explore version control, modularity, and code testing, skills that are critical for developing robust, reusable, and reproducible scientific software.<\/p>\n<p>Technical highlights included:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Basic machine learning implementation using PyTorch<\/li>\n<li>Git and GitHub workflows for collaborative development<\/li>\n<li>Fundamentals of differentiable programming and HPC<\/li>\n<li>Practical debugging techniques<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-1345\" style=\"letter-spacing: 0.08px\" src=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"553\" height=\"511\" srcset=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_2.jpg 393w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_2-300x277.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 553px) 100vw, 553px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Figure 1: Presentation at the ICCS summer school<\/em><\/p>\n<p>When asked what her main takeaway was from the summer school, Wenyao shared:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201c<em>This summer school didn\u2019t just teach techniques, it inspired me to look at things from a research software engineering perspective.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Influence on Future Work<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The summer school has already star<span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.08px\">ted to shape the way Wenyao approaches her work. The tools and workflows explored, particularly those related to version control, collaborative coding, and automated testing, will directly contribute to improving the reproducibility and robustness of her research. Exposure to emerging techniques like FTorch, differentiable programming, and AI-enhanced software engineering opened up exciting new directions for future projects, especially in climate and computational science.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Among the many excellent sessions, the keynote by Prof. Tamsin Edwards was a particular highlight. Her talk on sea level rise projections for the IPCC covered the use of Gaussian Process emulation, Bayesian calibration, and improvements for IPCC AR7 projections. This talk demonstrated the real-world impact of applied computational science in climate research.<\/p>\n<p><strong>An Exceptional Setting<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The ICCS summer school was held at the University of Cambridge providing participants an opportunity to enjoy the summer school in this unique and historic setting. Formal dinners, visits to Madingley Hall and Sidney Sussex College, a walking tour of the city and a poster session provided informal networking opportunities.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1342 alignnone\" style=\"letter-spacing: 0.08px\" src=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"412\" height=\"732\" srcset=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_3.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_3-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_3-576x1024.jpg 576w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_3-768x1365.jpg 768w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_3-864x1536.jpg 864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 412px) 100vw, 412px\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-1343\" style=\"letter-spacing: 0.08px\" src=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"412\" height=\"733\" srcset=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_4.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_4-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_4-576x1024.jpg 576w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_4-768x1365.jpg 768w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_4-864x1536.jpg 864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 412px) 100vw, 412px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Image 2: The sights of Cambridge, left, an intricate ceiling seen on campus and right, one of the for<\/em><em style=\"letter-spacing: 0.08px\">mal dinners Wenyao attended during the summer school.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It was great to see other members of the LEMONTREE project (one of the projects the SPECIAL team are heavily involved in) attending the ICCS summer school as well.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-1344\" style=\"letter-spacing: 0.08px\" src=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"824\" height=\"621\" srcset=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_1.png 1405w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_1-300x226.png 300w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_1-1024x772.png 1024w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_1-768x579.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 824px) 100vw, 824px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Image 3: ECRs of the LEMONTREE project attending the ICCS summer school. From left to right: Wenyao Gan, Boya Zhou, Ruijie Ding, Wenjia Cai, Yuzhi Zhu and Akash Verma.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Final Thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The ICCS summer school was not only a technical bootcamp but also offered a new perspective on research software engineering. It offered new tools, inspired new thinking, and built new networks. We are grateful to the ICCS for running this summer school and for giving a number of LEMONTREE early career researchers the opportunity to attend.<\/p>\n<p>Written by Wenyao Gan and Sophia Cain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this month, SPECIAL team member Wenyao Gan had the opportunity to attend the ICCS summer school in Cambridge. The ICCS summer school was an inspiring and intensive programme that&#8230;<a class=\"read-more\" href=\"&#104;&#116;&#116;&#112;&#115;&#58;&#47;&#47;&#114;&#101;&#115;&#101;&#97;&#114;&#99;&#104;&#46;&#114;&#101;&#97;&#100;&#105;&#110;&#103;&#46;&#97;&#99;&#46;&#117;&#107;&#47;&#112;&#97;&#108;&#97;&#101;&#111;&#99;&#108;&#105;&#109;&#97;&#116;&#101;&#47;&#114;&#101;&#102;&#108;&#101;&#99;&#116;&#105;&#111;&#110;&#115;&#45;&#111;&#110;&#45;&#116;&#104;&#101;&#45;&#105;&#99;&#99;&#115;&#45;&#115;&#117;&#109;&#109;&#101;&#114;&#45;&#115;&#99;&#104;&#111;&#111;&#108;&#47;\">Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":959,"featured_media":1344,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"__cvm_playback_settings":[],"__cvm_video_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Reflections on the ICCS Summer School - SPECIAL Palaeoclimate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/reflections-on-the-iccs-summer-school\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reflections on the ICCS Summer School - SPECIAL Palaeoclimate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Earlier this month, SPECIAL team member Wenyao Gan had the opportunity to attend the ICCS summer school in Cambridge. The ICCS summer school was an inspiring and intensive programme that...Read More &gt;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/reflections-on-the-iccs-summer-school\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SPECIAL Palaeoclimate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-18T14:19:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_1-1024x772.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"772\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sophia Cain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sophia Cain\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/reflections-on-the-iccs-summer-school\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/reflections-on-the-iccs-summer-school\/\",\"name\":\"Reflections on the ICCS Summer School - SPECIAL Palaeoclimate\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-18T14:19:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-18T14:19:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/#\/schema\/person\/6ae1715d9ded9f0caa51878ed800cdc9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/reflections-on-the-iccs-summer-school\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/reflections-on-the-iccs-summer-school\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/reflections-on-the-iccs-summer-school\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Reflections on the ICCS Summer School\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/\",\"name\":\"SPECIAL Palaeoclimate\",\"description\":\"Webpage of Sandy&#039;s PalaeoEnvironments and Climate Analysis research group at the University of Reading (UK)\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/#\/schema\/person\/6ae1715d9ded9f0caa51878ed800cdc9\",\"name\":\"Sophia Cain\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a4b6b71e445f4365e2434d381d6a4e6733a438e4ce1c59fbbd12a0e11cf74672?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a4b6b71e445f4365e2434d381d6a4e6733a438e4ce1c59fbbd12a0e11cf74672?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sophia Cain\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/author\/kw931720\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Reflections on the ICCS Summer School - SPECIAL Palaeoclimate","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/reflections-on-the-iccs-summer-school\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Reflections on the ICCS Summer School - SPECIAL Palaeoclimate","og_description":"Earlier this month, SPECIAL team member Wenyao Gan had the opportunity to attend the ICCS summer school in Cambridge. The ICCS summer school was an inspiring and intensive programme that...Read More >","og_url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/reflections-on-the-iccs-summer-school\/","og_site_name":"SPECIAL Palaeoclimate","article_published_time":"2025-07-18T14:19:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":772,"url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2025\/07\/wenyao_1-1024x772.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Sophia Cain","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sophia Cain","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/reflections-on-the-iccs-summer-school\/","url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/reflections-on-the-iccs-summer-school\/","name":"Reflections on the ICCS Summer School - SPECIAL Palaeoclimate","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-07-18T14:19:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-18T14:19:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/#\/schema\/person\/6ae1715d9ded9f0caa51878ed800cdc9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/reflections-on-the-iccs-summer-school\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/reflections-on-the-iccs-summer-school\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/reflections-on-the-iccs-summer-school\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reflections on the ICCS Summer School"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/#website","url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/","name":"SPECIAL Palaeoclimate","description":"Webpage of Sandy&#039;s PalaeoEnvironments and Climate Analysis research group at the University of Reading (UK)","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/#\/schema\/person\/6ae1715d9ded9f0caa51878ed800cdc9","name":"Sophia Cain","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a4b6b71e445f4365e2434d381d6a4e6733a438e4ce1c59fbbd12a0e11cf74672?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a4b6b71e445f4365e2434d381d6a4e6733a438e4ce1c59fbbd12a0e11cf74672?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sophia Cain"},"url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/author\/kw931720\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/959"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1341"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1346,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1341\/revisions\/1346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/palaeoclimate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}