2023 in review: A milestone year with our first office hour

As we are wrapping up the year, it's a great moment to look back at what we have achieved in 2023

New team members

Our team has grown, welcoming two new team members at the start of the year: Magnar Bjørgve and Bente Barge. Both Magnar and Bente have a background in theoretical chemistry and hands-on experience with research software, enriching our group with their knowledge and fresh perspectives.

Office hours

We started the year with our first office hours, which we held on January 25th. Since then, we have been available for researchers and students to drop by with their programming challenges most Wednesdays. The consistent turnout underscores a clear need for this service on campus. This format has proven to be a great way to attract new users and to communicate with UiT researchers and students. The feedback from our users has been incredibly encouraging, and we are proud of what we have achieved so far!

Projects

Each challenge brought to us has been a learning opportunity, both for the user and for ourselves. Our users are associated with a range of departments at UiT, including the Department of Language and Culture, the Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, the Department of Physics and Technology, the Department of Chemistry, and the School of Business and Economics. Throughout the year, we initiated a total of almost 20 projects, ranging from helping users with Python environments, to building graphical user interfaces, to translating a legacy Visual Basic program to Python. As the year is coming to an end, we still have 3 exciting projects in the pipeline.

What's next for 2024?

As we enter 2024, our aim is to expand our reach and impact within the UiT community. We're excited about welcoming new users and launching into innovative projects. Building on our experiences from the past year, we are confident that we can continue to provide a valuable service. While continuing our established office hours, we're also looking forward to engaging in long-term projects beyond office hours.