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Inspiring Students

Through camps, internships, and training programs, the ALCF helps students gain valuable experience with HPC and AI, opening the doors to potential career paths in computing.

Joseph Insley addressing a group of students in an Argonne computing camp
ALCF's Joseph Insley gives an overview of scientific visualizations to a group of students participating in an Argonne computing camp.

ALCF Student Summer Program

Every summer, the ALCF welcomes a new class of student researchers who work alongside staff mentors to tackle research projects that address issues at the forefront of scientific computing. In 2025, the facility hosted more than 60 students ranging from high school seniors to Ph.D. candidates. Students contributed to ALCF projects using advanced edge computing, benchmarking graph neural networks for science on AI accelerators, bi-directional in situ analysis and visualization using virtual reality, and advancing research in brain algorithms. For a recap of the 2025 summer student experiences, read the article on our website.

Science Discovery Camp

Argonne held its annual Science Discovery Camp, a weeklong STEM course for seventh- and eighth-graders taught by the Argonne Learning Center and ALCF staff. Twenty-five students learned Python coding fundamentals (prior programming experience was not a prerequisite), experimented with robotics, and met scientists who use code to solve problems. The group also toured Aurora, the ALCF Visualization Laboratory, and the Rapid Prototyping Lab. For more details, visit the camp website.

Student demonstration at the lab's annual Big Data Camp
Argonne’s John Domyancich leads hands-on activities demonstrating how neural networks and classification models are used for data analysis at the lab’s annual Big Data Camp.

Crabtree Institute Group Undergraduate Summer Internships

The ALCF and the University of Illinois Chicago continued their partnership through the George Crabtree Institute for Discovery, hosting two groups of undergraduate computer science students over the summer. Each group, composed of three to five students, worked with an ALCF staff mentor on a challenge project to solve a problem for ALCF Operations. Students presented their work in final presentations to relevant stakeholders at the end of the summer. One student, who built a student onboarding website for CELS interns, was kept on through fall 2025 because of her impressive work over the summer.

Coding for Science Camp

Aimed at high school students, Argonne’s Coding for Science Camp features programming activities that link computational science with current scientific challenges. Over the course of the week-long camp, the students enhance their problem-solving and teamwork skills through hands-on activities, while discovering how computing is useful and often essential to solving problems in science. They also get an opportunity to interact with Argonne staff members to explore the diverse career pathways that require coding skills. For more details, visit the camp website.

Big Data Camp

Argonne’s annual Big Data Camp introduced high school juniors and seniors to the advanced tools used by professional data scientists. Students learned techniques for probing and analyzing massive scientific datasets. Participants were also introduced to the foundational concepts underlying artificial intelligence and machine learning, and why supercomputers are critical for using these tools effectively. This camp was organized by Argonne’s Educational Programs and Outreach staff and taught by ALCF scientists and visualization experts. For more details, visit the camp website.

Introduce a Generation to Engineering Day

ALCF staff members regularly serve as mentors and volunteers for Argonne’s Introduce a Generation to Engineering Day (IGED) program. The annual event gives eighth-grade students a unique opportunity to explore STEM careers alongside Argonne’s world-class scientists and engineers. Participants hear inspiring talks by Argonne staff members, tour state-of-the-art research facilities, connect with mentors, engage in hands-on experiments, and compete in a team engineering challenge.

AI4Science Series: Advanced Topics in AI for Science

Building on the success of the ALCF Intro to AI-Driven Science on Supercomputers series and feedback from past participants, the ALCF hosted a five-week webinar series exploring advanced topics in AI for science. The program was designed for undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at U.S. universities and community colleges who already have familiarity with foundational AI concepts introduced in the Intro series. Each week introduced an advanced AI topic through lectures and hands-on exercises, along with research talks highlighting how these techniques are used in computational science. Held October 14–November 11, 2025, the program trained nearly 100 attendees from more than 50 institutions, including community college students, undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs from fields spanning computer science, materials science, and biology. Visit the series website for more information and access to past materials.

Argonne Intro to HPC Bootcamp

Held in August 2025, the Argonne Introduction to High-Performance Computing Bootcamp was a one-week residential, immersive program designed for STEM students to learn fundamental HPC concepts while applying computational and data science tools to complex application problems. The bootcamp brought together 60 participants from across scientific disciplines, supported by peer mentors and national laboratory staff, as they learn foundational concepts in HPC and AI and applied them to projects focused on real-world energy challenges. Participants also had the chance to learn about internship and career opportunities in HPC and the national labs. For a recap of the 2025 bootcamp, read the article on our website.