This course targets people with little or no VHDL & FPGA experience. (If you already have a year or two's experience, then this course is not appropriate for you). It has capacity for 15 students, and involves a mix of lab sessions & lectures.
The course is for STFC-funded and self-funded PhD students only. (Postdocs & staff should not apply). Thanks to an STFC summer school grant, the teaching costs & Didcot hotel accommodation are free. Furthermore. STFC will reimbourse students for their UK travel & food costs.
All participants should register via indico. The school will be oversubscribed, so check if your registration is approved.
During registration, you'll be asked if you want free night-time accommodation during the school at Southern Wood Lettings , which is 0.5 miles from Didcot town centre (see Didcot map). The accommodation doesn't provide food, but offers cooking facilities if you wish to prepare your own. Southern Wood Lettings will Email you the week before the course with check-in details.
We've organised taxis between Southern Wood Lettings & the RAL main gate (R75) for the 11 people who requested it. The taxi times departure times are:
- Southern Wood Lettings to RAL main gate: 08:40 on 11th July
- Southern Wood Lettings to RAL main gate: 08:50 on 12th July
- Southern Wood Lettings to RAL main gate: 08:50 on 13th July
- Southern Wood Lettings to RAL main gate: 08:50 on 14th July
(The earlier start on 11th is to give time for registration at the RAL main gate).
- RAL main gate to Southern Wood Lettings 16:50 on 11th July
- RAL main gate to Southern Wood Lettings 16:50 on 12th July
- RAL main gate to Southern Wood Lettings 16:50 on 13th July
- RAL main gate to Didcot train station Open Booking on 14th July.
(One of you should phone RAL transport 01235 445317 on 14th July to time(s) and number of taxis required for the Open Booking on 14th July. Please share taxis to minimise the cost). The taxi driver will phone one of the students in the course, Giovanna Salvi, if they have problems finding you. You can phone RAL transport if there are problems.
The taxis will leave promptly and will not wait! If you miss the taxi, you can catch the 98 bus to/from the "Harwell Campus" stop (= RAL), but this takes much longer to arrive.
After your indico registration is approved, you will also have to register for this course via the Europractice training course page https://www.europractice.stfc.ac.uk/training/course_details.cfml?CourseInstanceID=418 , where you can also find the course agenda. The course admin team will Email you, asking you to do this1 or 2 months before the course starts. (Anyone not already registered by indico will be rejected).
The teaching will take place on the RAL site (room 2.08 on floor 2 of building R68). A map showing you the inside of the RAL site is map_inside_RAL .
A map & advice to help you travel to RAL is map_to_RAL . If you arrive by train, "Didcot Parkway" train station is most convenient. We'll arrange taxis from RAL back to Didcot station at the end of the course.
STFC STUDENT TRAVEL AND SUBSIDENCE
After the course, all students are required to complete the a survey https://stfc.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/2023-student-feedback-form .
STFC and self-funded students can then claim the cost of travel and any additional meals required that are not already provided by the school. Students will be required to keep all receipts for purchases that they wish to claim back from STFC and these receipts must be dated and itemised. The UKRI T&S policy UKRI Business Expense claims, Business Travel and Subsistence Policy (Page 11) indicates what you may and may not claim for. Do not claim for your hotel, since RAL/PPD has booked and paid for the hotel already. Claim by completing & submitting by Email one of the two Word document links here: claim_with_UK_bank_account or claim_with_foreign_bank_account , to the STFC contact named in the form susan.blackwell AT stfc.ukri.org , together with a photo of your receipts.
