MDAnalysis Events - Recap of 2023 and Looking Ahead to 2024
15 Jan 2024As we start the new year, we would like to reflect on the exciting events that kept us busy towards the end of 2023 and announce upcoming MDAnalysis events to look forward to in 2024. We would like to thank the Chan Zuckerberg Initaitve (CZI) and NumFocus for their support in making these events possible.
MDAnalysis UGM (User Group Meeting)
From September 27-29, 2023, 37 MDAnalysis users and developers convened in Lisbon, Portugal for the inaugural MDAnalysis UGM (User Group Meeting). Hosted at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, the event featured presentations and open discussions about using and developing MDAnalysis, followed by a hackathon. Talks covered a broad range of topics including, but not limited to, materials science applications, deep learning and multiscale modeling, drug discovery, and tools for molecular dynamics simulation analysis. Based on attendees’ votes, the following recognitions were awarded to UGM participants:
Best Talk
- First Place - Namir Oues
- Second Place (TIE) - Andres Arango, Hannah Baumann
Best Lightning Talk
- First Place - Hannah Pollak
- Second Place - Pegerto Fernández
- Third Place - Hocine El Khaoudi Enyoury
Best Poster
- First Place (TIE) - Hocine El Khaoudi Enyoury, Dimitris Stamatis
Superstar Pet (According to a pet photo contest on the #mda-pets channel on Discord)
- Pip (owned by Fiona Naughton)
The UGM provided a unique opportunity for MDAnalysis users and developers to interact with other and exchange ideas. Notably, these discussions were key to informing our recently announced roadmap towards MDAnalysis v3.0.
For more details, we invite you to check out the MDAnalysis/UGM2023 GitHub repository, where many of the UGM presentation and hackathon materials may be accessed.
Save the Date for the 2024 MDAnalysis UGM
We are aiming for the UGM to become an annual event and have already begun planning for this year’s meeting. We are therefore excited to announce that the 2024 MDAnalysis UGM will take place August 21-23, 2024 in London, UK!
Additional details about registration and a call for proposals will be communicated soon. In the meantime, save the date and keep an eye out for additional announcements on our blog and UGM website page, as well as on our X (formerly known as Twitter) and LinkedIn accounts.
MDAnalysis Online Training Workshops
More than 70 people joined us live on October 25, 2023 for a free online workshop, during which 4 instructors (@fiona-naughton, @ianmkenney, @micaela-matta, @richardjgowers) introduced the MDAnalysis package and demonstrated use cases through interactive tutorials; the recording is now available on our YouTube channel. @micaela-matta led the first lecture/tutorial on the Basics of MDAnalysis, and @richardjgowers led a lecture/tutorial on positions, distances, and trajectories; all instructors helped answer participant questions throughout the workshop. Prior to the workshop, @ianmkenney answered participant questions during an optional installation troubleshooting block. All workshop materials and installation instructions are publicly available on the MDAnalysis/MDAnalysisWorkshop2023 GitHub repository.
We will soon be announcing a series of additional workshops taking place in 2024. These workshops are planned to accommodate both beginner and more advanced MDAnalysis users across differing time zones. We are also working on some exciting collaborations to offer workshops on more specialized topics! Stay tuned for updates on our blog, X, and LinkedIn pages.
