[Bphystudent] From Neurons to Networks: free 3-day ML workshop, July 27th-29th

[Navaira Sherwani]

Dear all,

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming an essential tool in scientific
research. Whether your work is experimental or computational, understanding
modern AI methods is increasingly important. The UC Riverside Biophysics
Program invites you to *From Neurons to Networks*, a free three-day
hands-on workshop designed to help researchers build a solid foundation in
machine learning.

The workshop will be led by Dr. Amun Patel and is designed for participants
with *no prior machine learning experience*. We begin with the core ideas
behind how AI works, using intuitive explanations and hands-on examples,
and gradually build toward the machine-learning methods that are
transforming scientific research. By the end of the workshop, you'll have a
solid understanding of these approaches and be ready to start exploring how
they can be applied to your own research.

*Workshop Details*

   - *Dates:* Monday–Wednesday, July 27–29, 2026
   - *Time:* 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM each day
   - *Location:* WCH 205/206
   - *Awards and Closing Session:* 3:30–5:00 PM on the final day

*What you'll learn*

*Day 1 – Foundations*
Learn the mathematics behind neural networks, backpropagation,
optimization, and loss functions, followed by hands-on implementation using
PyTorch and TensorFlow.

*Day 2 – AI for Scientific Research*
Explore several of the most widely used machine-learning architectures in
modern research, including Variational Autoencoders (VAEs), Graph Neural
Networks (GNNs), and Diffusion Models.

*Day 3 – Team AI Challenge*
Work in teams to develop a machine-learning solution to a STEM research
problem and compete for prizes. The workshop concludes with an AlphaFold
case study, discussion of advanced hybrid architectures, practical
troubleshooting strategies, and closing remarks.

Each Biophysics graduate student may invite up to *two members of their
research group*. Please have each participant register individually so that
we can plan seating and teams.

*Preparation*
Participants should be comfortable with basic Python. If you'd like a
refresher, we recommend this free Kaggle course:
https://www.kaggle.com/learn/python

*Registration*
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd6S4XIrpOIKJAATAmvW_YhJfgdKQkd6M69ywLEh2Mstie6ow/viewform

Space is limited, so please register early. Bring your laptop and charger,
and feel free to share the attached flyer with your lab.

We hope you'll join us for three exciting days of learning, coding, and
exploring how AI is transforming scientific discovery.
*Navaira Sherwani*
*Graduate Student, Biophysics*


*University of CaliforniaRiverside, CA 92521*
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