ORC Regularly Scheduled:
New User Tutorials
Currently, new users have to complete a New User tutorial module on blackboard. After submitting the account request form, you will receive an email with details on how to access the New User Tutorial module. Only once you complete the module, including the completion form with the required information, does your account get activated and you’re able to submit jobs on the cluster.
ORC Walk-In Office Hours
The current schedule for the ORC Walk-In Office Hours held regularly in Merten Hall 3112 are:
* Mondays: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
* Tuesdays: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
* Wednesdays: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
* Thursdays: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Virtual office hours are held every Friday between 2:00PM – 3:00PM. We encourage everyone using the cluster to take advantage of these hours, particularly students working on class projects and those who are new to utilizing the cluster. If these times don’t work, then appointments can be made to hold sessions online or at different times. Please submit a help request if you need to arrange a different time.
ORC by Appointment
ORC can offer one-on-one or small group tutorials covering several topics, including SLURM job submission, Python, and R. Please submit a help request to set up an appointment.
ORC Workshop Series
Every semester, the ORC conducts a series of workshops that cover useful topics on the cluster usage. Below is the list of planned workshops in the series for Fall 2025:
| ORC Workshops for Fall 2025 | |||
| ORC Webinars | Description | Date | Times |
| Introduction to Slurm and Running Jobs in Batch Mode | This workshop will be a detailed introduction to the cluster environment and using the job scheduler, SLURM, to run jobs interactively and in batch mode from the shell. | 09/11/2025 | 11:00AM – 12:00PM |
| Open OnDemand: Interactive Web Dashboard for Working on the Cluster | This workshop will be a detailed introduction to the Open OnDemand web dashboard that can be used to run apps and other jobs on the cluster interactively. | 09/18/2025 | 11:00AM – 12:00PM |
| Running VS Code from OOD | This workshop will cover correctly connecting to the cluster and using Visual Studio, both locally installed and the app from OOD | 09/18/2025 | 11:00AM – 12:00PM |
| Managing Python Packages with Conda and Python Virtual Environments | This workshop will go into the different ways Python packages can be managed in the cluster environment using Conda and Python virtual environments both in batch mode from the command line and with Jupyter Notebooks and Jupyter Lab on the cluster. | 09/25/2025 | 11:00AM – 12:00PM |
| Running GPU Jobs Efficiently on the Cluster | This workshop covers an introduction to the different GPU resources we have on the cluster and how to set up, run and monitor your GPU jobs in the most efficient way. | 10/02/2025 | 11:00AM – 12:00PM |
| Running and Monitoring Multi GPU Jobs on the Cluster | This workshop will go over running and monitoring multi-gpu jobs based on Python Multi GPU training with DDP | 10/09/2025 | 11:00AM – 12:00PM |
| Running R on Hopper/ Biostats Workflows | Running jobs and using R on the Cluster | 10/16/2025 | 11:00AM – 12:00PM |
| MySQL on Hopper | Setting up and running MySQL databases on the cluster | ||
Past Workshops
Access the recordings of previous workshops here
To register for the workshops, interested cluster users can fill out this registration form: ORC Workshop Registration
Other GMU Training and Workshops
Mason Libraries hosts many workshops and training sessions many of which may be of interest to research computing users. The sidebar on this page contains a selection of upcoming library-sponsored workshops. You can view the full calendar at the Mason Libraries’ site. You must register for these workshops, this can be done from the Library Calendar page.
Training and Workshop External to Mason
ACCESS
The ACCESS project has a very active list of training opportunities and workshops. You can find the current list of training events on the ACCESS Events and Training page. ACCESS training is generally free and open to all, although you must create an ACCESS account to be able to register.
The Carpentries
The Carpentries is a non-profit organization whose goal is to foster the necessary skills for robust, open, and reproducible research. There are separate organizations dedicated to different fields such as software, data, and library science. The Carpentries workshops are usually presented on-site. If there is sufficient interest, we can arrange for Mason to host workshops.
A list of training events run by the Software Carpentries can be found on the Software Carpentry website. Likewise, a list of Data Carpentry training events can be found on the Data Carpentry website.