Hacky Hour

Queensland currently has Hacky Hours at six universities.

Hacky Hour occurs regularly (mostly weekly) and its aim is to help researchers (staff and students) with research-related IT problems.

Hacky Hour is free, informal and all researchers are welcome to drop in for advice, or offer their IT expertise to help others.

Researchers attend Hacky Hour to ask or answer research-related IT questions. Popular topics for discussion include high performance computing (HPC), cloud computing, general programming, R, Python, data processing, data storage, and data management.

Check the relevant Hacky Hour's Twitter feed, if there is one, for updates as occasionally a Hacky Hour is cancelled for a particular week when the regular IT experts are unavailable. Note that UQ's Hacky Hour is held outside, so it is cancelled if raining. 

Please note: Most Hacky Hours end for the year in early to mid-December, and usually resume in late January or early February the following year. Check the relevant Hacky Hour's Twitter feed (if there is one) or this webpage for updates.

Want to set up a Hacky Hour at your institution?

Amanda Miotto, QCIF's eResearch Analyst at Griffith University, has created a Hacky Hour Handbook. Amanda co-founded Griffith's Hacky Hour in August 2015.

The University of Queensland

Day: Tuesdays
Time: 3pm–4pm
Location: Café Nano, St Lucia campus
Twitter: @HackyHourStLuc
Website: hackyhourstluc.wordpress.com
Contact: Dr Nick Hamilton (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Special sessions (in addition to the usual research IT questions):

  • Bioinformatics Hacky Hour: First Tuesday of the month — come and ask bioinformatics analysis, software and pipeline questions.
  • BioLab Hacky Hour: Last Tuesday of the month — experts will answer your experimental design and technical sample processing questions to get you started in the lab.

University of Southern Queensland — Springfield & online

Day: Tuesdays
Time: 12pm–1pm
Location: B153, the USQ Library Community Space, Springfield campus (or join online).
Twitter: @hackyhourUSQ
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

University of Southern Queensland — Toowoomba & online

Day: Wednesdays
Time: 12pm–1pm
Location: USQ Toowoomba Refectory, next to the blackboard (or join online).
Twitter: @hackyhourUSQ
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Griffith University

Day: Thursdays
Time: 2pm–3pm
Location: Cafe Rossa's, Nathan, or Cafe Rossa's, Gold Coast. Griffith's Hacky Hour alternates weekly between the Nathan and Gold Coast campuses. Check @hackyhourGU on Twitter for updates.
Twitter: @hackyhourGU
Website: griffith.edu.au/hackyhour
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Queensland University of Technology

Day: Thursdays
Time: 2pm–3pm
Location: Alternating weekly between The Pantry cafe, Gardens Point campus, and Beadles cafe, Kelvin Grove campus. 
Twitter: @QUTHackyHour
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CQUniversity

Day: 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month
Time: 2pm–3pm
Location:

  • The 1st Wednesday of each month is a face-to-face Hacky Hour at the Bird Cage Bar and Lounge at CQU's Rockhampton North Campus.
  • The 3rd Wednesday of each month is a virtual, online Hacky Hour. Check the schedule below for exact dates. Use this Zoom link for each virtual session. 

Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
*Note: CQU Hacky Hour will likely restart in March 2020 
 

James Cook University

Day: 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month
Time: 1pm–2pm
Location: The Science Place food court, Townsville campus
Twitter: @JCUHackyHour
Website: jcu.edu.au/eresearch/services
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.