Eat, sleep, code, repeat : tips for early-career researchers in computational science

Abstract

This article is intended as a guide for new graduate students entering the field of computational science. With the increasing influx of students with diverse backgrounds joining the ever-popular field, the aim of this short guide is to help students navigate through the various computational techniques that they are likely to encounter during their studies. Here, we cover a broad spectrum of techniques, including Bash scripting, scientific programming, and machine learning, among other fields. This paper is structured into nine sections, each introducing a different computational method. To enhance readability, we have adopted a casual and instructive tone throughout and included relevant code snippets. Please note that due to the introductory nature of this article, it is not intended to be exhaustive; instead, we direct readers to a list of references to expand their knowledge of the techniques discussed within the paper. Finally, readers should note this article serves as an extension to our student-led seminar series, with additional resources and videos available at https://computationaltoolkit.github.io/ for reference