2020: GitHub / website (inc., Astropy, Pandas, Altair, Git/Github, linear regression, resampling, and debugging)

2021: GitHub / website (inc., Astropy and Pandas)

2022: GitHub / website (inc., Astropy and Pandas)

2023: GitHub / website

2024: GitHub / website

2025: GitHub / website

Welcome to the 2025 AstroPGH Python Boot Camp for summer undergraduate students and early PhD students new to Python. This 3 day program is designed to help you learn the basics of using Python for astrophysics and physics research.

Boot Camp

Installation and Setup

Python

Please install Python 3 before the Boot Camp. I recommend using Miniconda for Python 3.12. Here are Miniconda installation guides:

• Windows
• macOS/linux

To avoid licensing issues, we want to switch the conda channel from defaults to conda-forge. Here’s a step-by-step guide to do this: Miniconda + conda-forge setup guide (though please use python 3.12).

Then install the following packages by copy and pasting the following lines into the terminal:

conda install numpy scipy pandas matplotlib astropy jupyter ipython
conda install -c conda-forge jupyterlab
pip install ipympl

If you have trouble with installing Jupyter Lab, see Jupyter Lab installation guide.

From the terminal, launch Jupyter Lab (see Staring Jupyter Lab guide for more details):

jupyter lab

Test Your Conda Installation

1. Open a new Anaconda prompt or terminal.
2. Type ipython into the terminal to open an interactive python session (the prompt should say In [1]:).
3. Copy this code:

   import numpy
   import scipy
   import matplotlib
   import astropy
   import pandas
   

4. Type into the iPython shell the word paste, and press enter.
5. If no errors are raised, you’re ready for bootcamp. You may close the terminal window.

If you are having difficulties with installation, please do not hesitate to reach out to Brett Andrews on Slack or via email.

Instructors

• Collin McLeod: Python Basics
• Tori Bonidie: Data Structures
• Lorena Mezini: Functions and Modules
• Cullen Abelson: Matplotlib
• Lauren Elicker: Numpy 1a
• Nathalie Chicoine: Numpy 1b
• Travis Court: Numpy 2a
• Jake Magee: Numpy 2b
• Finian Ashmead: Numpy 3a
• Marcos Tamargo-Arizmendi: Numpy 3b
• Chris Hernandez: Numpy 4a
• Julissa Sarmiento: Numpy 4b

Schedule

Time (ET)	Monday (5/19)	Tuesday (5/20)	Wednesday (5/21)
10:00-11:15	Python Basics	Numpy 1a	Numpy 3a
11:45-1:00	Data Structures	Numpy 1b	Numpy 3b
2:00-3:15	Functions and Modules	Numpy 2a	Numpy 4a
3:45-5:00	Matplotlib	Numpy 2b	Numpy 4b

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation grant number AST-2009251. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed on this website are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the participating institutions.