Dear Geo.X community,
I would like to announce the following Geo.X ECS Community grant event: Geodynamic World Builder Hackathon. Please find more information on this event below. It will take place the 19th through the 24th of January 2025.
The deadline for filling in the application form is December 15th, but we will start accepting applications starting on November 18th. This may mean that all spots may be filled by the 18th, so please apply early.
What is the Geodynamic World Builder (GWB)?
The GWB is an open source community planetary structure creator (https://github.com/GeodynamicWorldBuilder/WorldBuilder). The World Builder can currently already be used to set thermal, compositional and anisotropic grains initial conditions and velocity, which can be prescribed to tectonic features like continental plates, oceanic plates, plumes, slabs and faults. It is written in C++, but has wrappers for C, C++, Fortran and Python. It has been used in a variety of research applications, from global models (see for example https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JB025877 and and https://geodynamics.org/resources/gwb/citations) to regional subduction modeling (for a 3D Cascadia setup example, please see this link: https://tube.mfraters.net/w/m1wAn2T84F8W4CVzVuRoKx) to modeling individual fault systems. You can find more information on the GWB in the manual: https://gwb.readthedocs.io.
What is the goal of the hackathon?
The goal of this hackathon is to provide a focused coding retreat of around 6 days (5 night) near Berlin/Potsdam for around 15-20 people, during which we will discuss and implement improvements, new features and couplings. Examples of improvements or new features are writing new plugins for temperature, composition, grains or velocity, implementing new plugin systems or implementing new feature types. Examples of codes which can use new or improved integration are ASPECT, CHIC, GOLEM and/or GAIA. Another example project is working on a complex benchmark between these different codes. Please note that you should have a clear project in mind to work on during this hackathon, which you should write down in the statement of interest. You are encouraged to contact the organizers (fraters@gfz-potsdam.de) if you are not sure what would make a good project or if you would like to get feedback on your statement of interest. Furthermore, note that the GWB is an open source community code, and by the end of the hackathon you are expected to have contributed in some form to the project.
What experience do you need?
We expect the participants to vary a bit in their familiarity with scientific software development, the usage of git and GitHub, and with how to use and develop for the Geodynamic World Builder. For this reason we will provide during the first day some hands-on tutorials on these topics. Basic familiarity with these topics/concepts, especially C++ are important to be able participate. Please also write your experience with these topics in your statement of interest.
Logistics:
The dates are the 19th to the 24th of January 2025. Expect to arrive late afternoon/early evening on the 19th, and leave in the morning on the 24th. We will meet in a seminar house in the surroundings of Berlin/Potsdam. Lodging and food costs will be fully covered by Geo.X. Please note that this event will contain beds in shared rooms. You are also expected to perform assigned tasks such as kitchen duty.
U.S. Travel Support
Travel support for a limited number of U.S. based early career participants is available through the Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics (CIG). See the CIG event page for more information on how to apply.
Kind regards,
Menno Fraters
