Day 1 — Monday, July 20, 2026
Course kickoff and how LLMs and agents work
9:00–9:30 AM
Course Introduction
30 min- Welcome and introductions
- Course objectives
- Course timeline
- Projects and project structure
- Logistics, accounts, and access
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9:40–10:30 AM
How LLMs Work
50 min- A working mental model of large language models
- Tokens, context windows, and sampling
- Capabilities and failure modes
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10:40–11:30 AM
From Models to Agents
50 min- What makes a system “agentic”
- Tools, loops, and environments
- Respecting Agent capabilities, boundaries, and constraints
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11:35 AM–12:00 PM
Introduction to Context Engineering
25 min- What do you know that the agent needs to know
- Structuring context for better results
- Best practices for effective prompting
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1:00–2:00 PM
Team Project Time & Office Hours
60 min- Team project work time
- Office hours — get your questions answered
- Mentoring and hands-on practice
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Day 2 — Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Working with Claude
9:00–9:50 AM
Meet the Claude Family
50 min- Introduction to the Claude Model Family
- Introduction to Harnesses: Claude, Claude Cowork, Claude Design, and Claude Code
- When to use each
- Managing local and remote workflows
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10:00–10:50 AM
Context Engineering with Claude & Claude Cowork
50 min- Getting information into the system
- Structuring context and prompts for better results
- Modes and Models, Oh My!
- Retaining and using artifacts effectively
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11:00–11:50 AM
Hands-On: Produce a Project Report
50 min- Guided exercise: a polished report with Claude Cowork
- Iterating and refining results
- Validating and editing the output
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1:00–2:00 PM
Team Project Time & Office Hours
60 min- Team project work time
- Office hours — get your questions answered
- Mentoring and hands-on practice
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Day 3 — Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Supercharging your Agents: Skills, Tools, Subagents, and Workflows
9:00–9:50 AM
Using Skills and Tools
50 min- Introduction to Skills, tools, workflows, subagents, and MCP
- When to use each
- Assessing quality, safety, and reliability
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10:00–10:50 AM
Building Skills
50 min- Building Skills with Skills
- Packaging, shipping, and sharing
- Build and share your own skill
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11:00–11:50 AM
Deep Research
50 min- Deep research agents
- Strategies and techniques for effective deep research
- Leveraging research results
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1:00–2:00 PM
Team Project Time & Office Hours
60 min- Team project work time
- Office hours — get your questions answered
- Mentoring and hands-on practice
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Day 4 — Thursday, July 23, 2026
Scaling up: Claude Code
9:00–9:50 AM
Getting comfortable with Claude Code
50 min- Agents in the terminal
- Workspace structure
- Context and Claude.md
- Multi-agent coordination and communication
- Leveraging Claude Code Slash Commands, Skills, and Hooks
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10:00–10:50 AM
Resource Management and Parallelization
50 min- Monitoring resource use
- Choosing models and approaches for effective and efficient resource use
- Managing and monitoring parallel sessions and agents
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11:00–11:50 AM
Ethics, Quality & Failure Modes
50 min- Ethical considerations in AI-assisted research
- Ensuring scientific quality and reproducibility
- Failure modes in software engineering, data analysis, and writing/research
- Preempting, diagnosing, and managing failures
- Discernment and critical evaluation of AI-generated content
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1:00–2:00 PM
Team Project Time & Office Hours
60 min- Team project work time
- Office hours — get your questions answered
- Mentoring and hands-on practice
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Day 5 — Friday, July 24, 2026
Capstone: putting Week 1 together
9:00–9:50 AM
Hands-On Capstone: Putting Week 1 Together
50 min- A guided end-to-end exercise combining cowork tools, skills, and Claude Code
- Validating and polishing the result
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10:00–10:50 AM
Working Session
50 min- Apply the week’s tools to your own work, with instructors on hand
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11:00–11:50 AM
Week 1 Wrap-Up: State of the Art & Where to Go Next
50 min- State of the art in LLMs and agents
- Where to go from here
- Staying abreast of new developments
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1:00–2:00 PM
Team Project Time & Office Hours
60 min- Team project work time
- Office hours — get your questions answered
- Mentoring and hands-on practice
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Daily rhythm. Morning sessions run 50 minutes with 10-minute breaks between them; all times are Eastern. Each day closes with a 1:00–2:00 PM team project time and office hours session — time for teams to work together, for questions, and for mentoring and practice. It is open to everyone whether or not you are on a team; team participation is optional.