15th September 2026, 10am - 4:30pm
University of Surrey, Guildford, UK and University of Sheffield, UK
This in-person hackathon will give Research Infrastructure Engineers (RIEs) hands-on experience of running Slurm on Kubernetes using Slinky. Participants will work in small teams to deploy or explore a pre deployed Slinky environment, run jobs through Slurm that execute on Kubernetes, and investigate how this approach could support container-based workloads.
The day will focus on practical experimentation and shared learning: teams will try things out, break them, fix them, and discuss where Slinky might (or might not) fit into real research infrastructure.
Prior to the hackathon there will be a pre-event webinar (open to non-hackathon participants too), which will introduce the core concepts of Slinky. This will ensure that on the day itself, participants can make the most of the dedicated exploration time.
Who is the hackathon for?
The hackathon is suitable for RIEs at any stage of their career who work with Slurm based HPCs, including those with experience of Kubernetes and Slinky who would like to share their knowledge and dedicate time to explore these tools further in a non-production environment. Teams will be made up of participants with a range of different experiences to support peer-to-peer learning.
Why participate?
- Gain hands-on experience running and monitoring jobs via Slurm that are executed on Kubernetes using Slinky
- Experiment with resource requests and scheduling behaviour, observing how Slurm resource specifications translate into Kubernetes pod scheduling and how this affects utilisation and performance
- Collaborate with experts and other RIEs
- Contribute to knowledge-sharing across institutions and teams
Hackathon Logistics and Schedule
The hackathon will take place across two locations; the University of Surrey and Sheffield University. Registrants will be asked which location they would like to attend. The hackathon will start at 10am with registrations and refreshments available from 9:30am. Lunch will be provided and the hub is able to assist with travel costs for those coming from UKRI eligible institutions.
09:30–10:00 – Arrival and Coffee
10:00–10:30 – Welcome and Hackathon Goals
10:30–10:45 – Team Formation and Ice Breaker
10:45–12:45 – Start Hacking
12:45–13:30 – Lunch
13:30–13:45 – Quick Mid‑Day Feedback
13:45–15:00 – Hacking Session
15:00–15:30 – End‑of‑Day Team Reports
15:30–16:15 – Expert Q&A
16:15–16:30 – Wrap‑Up
Registration
Please complete the registration form, registration closes 4th September 2026 12:00. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis, with a review of registrants to ensure suitability. We have had a lot of interest in this hackathon and may need to limit registrations per institution to ensure all institutions can participate.
If you're attending the Sheffield location then we're hosting a co-design day on the 16th September where you can come and get involved in the ACIT Hub's plans for training.
All ACIT hub events are covered by our code of conduct by registering and attending you agree to support us in making our events professional, comfortable, safe and accessible for all participants.