GridKa School 2009

Starting in 2003, the International GridKa School is one of the leading summer schools for grid computing and e-science. It is taking place at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe.

The school is geared towards:

grid novices, advanced users and administrators,

scientists and other users of grid,

graduate students, PhD students and post-docs involved in grid computing.

About 50% of the school consist of hands-on tutorials and workshops, giving participants the possibility to gain actual expertise on different kinds of middleware, applications and techniques. Because these tutorials are offered in parallel tracks, GridKa school practicals cover topics well suited for beginners, experienced users and grid administrators. The high grade talks and presentations give an up-to-date overview on important and interesting grid subjects.

I am visiting the school for the first time, since I am somewhat a newcomer to the grid computing business. Today there is a day with many presentations waiting for me. After a Welcome talk by the organizer (Dr. Christopher Jung) of GridKa School, there’ll be a 'Grid Introduction' (this sounds good for me). In the afternoon we will learn 'How to access huge amounts of data on the grid?' and about 'Data Preservation and long term analysis'. I am quite curious about the first day!

Tonight after the visit of the GridKa Computing Centre, there is a social event taking place: we get to eat 'Tarte Flambee' (an Alsatian speciality made from a very thin layer of pastry topped with sour cream, chopped onions and bacon)…I am also looking forward to this :).