North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies

ESDS Advanced

A four-week applied intensive: learn to do science faster with agentic tools, build and launch your own agentic workflow, build and tune deep learning models, and put foundation models to work in your research — with the judgment to trust the results.

Weeks 1–2: July 20–24 & July 27–31, 2026 · Weeks 3–4: winter 2026–27 (dates TBD) · Veach-Baley building, Asheville & remote via Zoom · Free for NOAA/NCICS participants

Register for the courseStart the course
Part 1

Getting Started

What this course is, how it runs, who it is for, how to register, and how to get set up before day one.

  1. Welcome & Overview

    The goal of the course, the three concrete capabilities you leave with, who it is for, and how to register.

  2. Logistics & Format

    Dates, location (Asheville + Zoom), daily rhythm, cost and equipment, attendance, and how to get help.

  3. Team Participation

    Team projects are optional — how teams work, who they are for, and how to use team time to accelerate your own NCICS/NOAA projects.

  4. Prerequisites

    What you need before each week — from "no prerequisites" for the first two days to scientific programming experience for foundation models.

  5. Setup & Day 0 Checklist

    Accounts, installs, and verification steps to complete before July 20 — plus an optional setup session on July 17.

Part 2

Week 1 — Agentic Cowork Tools

Open to everyone: do research, reporting, and scientific programming faster with Claude, Claude Cowork, and Claude Code — validating as you go.

  1. Week 1 Overview

    Overview and goals for Week 1

  2. Week 1 Schedule

    Day-by-day timing, Zoom links, materials, and topics for July 20–24, 2026.

  3. Week 1 Resources

    References, links, and other resources for Week 1.

Part 3

Week 2 — Agentic Systems

Build and launch your own agentic system: REACT loops and harnesses, observability, memory, security, and production management.

  1. Week 2 Overview

    Overview and goals for Week 2

  2. Week 2 Schedule

    Day-by-day timing, Zoom links, materials, and topics for July 27–31, 2026.

  3. Week 2 Resources

    References, links, and other resources for Week 2.

Part 4

Week 3 — Deep Learning

Architect, build, train, and tune deep learning models for Earth systems science — and validate them rigorously with leakage-free cross-validation. Held in winter 2026–27 — dates TBD.

  1. Week 3 Overview

    Overview and goals for Week 3

  2. Week 3 Schedule

    Day-by-day schedule will be posted when winter dates are announced.

  3. Week 3 Resources

    References, links, and other resources for Week 3.

Part 5

Week 4 — Foundation Models in Research

Build on the deep learning core: evaluate models rigorously, build on foundation and other pre-trained models, and incorporate them intelligibly into your research. Held in winter 2026–27 — dates TBD.

  1. Week 4 Overview

    Overview and goals for Week 4

  2. Week 4 Schedule

    Day-by-day schedule will be posted when winter dates are announced.

  3. Week 4 Resources

    References, links, and other resources for Week 4.