Training & Consulting
Advanced computing resources are most effective when researchers have guidance on how to design workflows, manage data, and adapt research software for scalable computing environments.
The Center for Computational Sciences (CCS) provides consulting and training to help University of Kentucky researchers effectively use campus and national cyberinfrastructure resources. CCS staff work directly with faculty, students, and research staff to support computational workflows, research software, and data-intensive projects across many disciplines.
On this page
- What is Research Computing Consulting?
- When should I request consulting?
- Consulting Areas
- Training Opportunities
- How CCS Works With Researchers
What is Research Computing Consulting?
Research computing consulting focuses on helping researchers design and implement computational workflows that can operate effectively at scale.
This work often involves:
- adapting research workflows to run on shared computing infrastructure
- improving performance and efficiency of computational analyses
- organizing research software environments for reproducible workflows
- managing data generated during computational research
- identifying appropriate infrastructure resources for different stages of a project
CCS works with researchers throughout the research lifecycle, from early experimentation through large-scale computational studies.
When should I request consulting?
Researchers may benefit from consulting with CCS when:
- computational workflows begin to exceed the capabilities of local systems
- research software needs to be adapted to run on shared computing infrastructure
- computational experiments must scale to large datasets or large numbers of jobs
- research projects require structured data workflows across multiple systems
- research groups want to improve reproducibility and sustainability of computational analyses
Early engagement is often beneficial. Consulting with CCS during the planning stages of a project can help research groups design workflows that scale effectively as research expands.
Consulting Areas
CCS provides expertise across several areas of computational research and data-intensive workflows.
Scaling Computational Workflows
Many research projects begin with scripts or analyses developed on local systems. As projects grow, these workflows often need to scale to shared computing infrastructure.
CCS helps researchers adapt and organize computational workflows to run efficiently on research computing systems.
This may include:
- adapting workflows for high-performance computing environments
- designing job strategies for large computational workloads
- improving efficiency of research pipelines or simulation workflows
- helping research groups move from exploratory analysis to large-scale computation
Explore our guides on Nextflow
Research Software and Reproducible Computing
Modern computational research frequently relies on complex software environments and research pipelines.
CCS supports researchers in developing computational workflows that are organized, reproducible, and sustainable over time.
This may include:
- organizing research software environments
- supporting container-based or portable computational workflows
- structuring computational pipelines and analysis workflows
- improving long-term reproducibility of computational research
See the complete list of Research Software available
Research Data Workflows
Data-intensive research requires careful planning for how datasets are stored, moved, and accessed during computational workflows.
CCS can assist researchers in designing workflows that integrate data management with computational analysis.
This may include:
- planning data workflows across research computing systems
- managing large datasets generated during computational research
- transferring data between campus and external research infrastructure
- sharing research datasets securely with collaborators
Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Computing Workflows
Many research projects increasingly rely on machine learning, accelerated computing, or large-scale computational experiments.
CCS helps researchers adapt these workflows to run effectively on shared infrastructure and scale computational experiments beyond local systems.
How to Run TensorFlow on LCC
Run Local LLMs on Your Laptop/Desktop
Training Opportunities
CCS also provides training programs designed to help researchers develop practical skills for computational research.
Training activities may include:
- onboarding sessions to introduce researchers to the research computing environment and tools
- introductory workshops on research computing systems
- training sessions focused on computational workflows and data management
- seminars highlighting new research computing tools or capabilities
These activities help research groups become familiar with available infrastructure and develop the skills needed to scale computational workflows effectively.
Training opportunities are announced periodically throughout the academic year.
View our Events & Workshops Page
View our ARCHIVE of Past Events
Request a Training Session
How CCS Works With Researchers
Researchers commonly engage CCS through several types of interaction:
- consultation meetings to discuss computational approaches
- training workshops and instructional sessions
- support requests related to research computing systems
In some cases, CCS staff may work more closely with research groups to help develop sustainable computational workflows for complex research projects.