Intersect Australia Research Digital Skills Training Program – 2023 Report
Intersect, a leading provider of digital skills training for researchers in the Australasian region, has released its 2023 report on the impact of its technology-focused training courses.
With a mission to help researchers become more efficient and effective in their research, Intersect provides an extensive range of technology-focused training to researchers and higher degree research (HDR) students across Australia.
In 2023, Intersect facilitated training for 5,834 individuals across 314 courses, totaling 242.5 training days. Intersect members are located in NSW, VIC, SA, and ACT, where the majority of the training program takes place.
The courses ranged from awareness to advanced levels, covering categories such as Research Computing, Programming, Data Science, Data Analytics, Machine Learning (ML) & Artificial Intelligence (AI), Statistics, Data Visualisation, Data Collection, and Data Management.
Intersect’s expertise extends across various disciplines including, but not limited to: ICT, Data Science, Linguistics, Engineering, Statistics, Bioinformatics, Health & Medical Sciences, Materials Science, Sports Science, Spatial Analytics, Computational Chemistry, Numerical Modelling, Behavioural Science, and Social and Political Sciences.
Intersect members are located in NSW, VIC, SA, and ACT, where the majority of the training program takes place. However, the Intersect training courses are also attended by HDR students and researchers from other states and territories, such as Western Australia (WA), Tasmania (TAS), and Queensland (QLD), as well as in national organisations mainly due to the NCI-Intersect Training Partnership. The NCI-Intersect training partnership includes running a series of training courses aimed at users who may be new to NCI’s high-performance computing environment, as well as experienced users looking for a refresher.
Most attendees (2,663) were from New South Wales (NSW) universities, organisations, and government departments, with 1,092 and 1,097 HDR students and researchers from Victoria (VIC) and South Australia (SA), respectively. The fourth-largest cohort was from national organisations, with approximately 698 attendees, followed by the ACT with 231 attendees.
To evaluate the quality of the training delivery, Intersect asks attendees to complete a course evaluation survey at the end of each course, where a Net-Promoter Score (NPS) is also measured.
In 2023, Intersect received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with a Net promoter Score (NPS) of +74, based on 1,879 responses (~32% of attendees). The average scores for training quality metrics exceeded 9.2 out of 10, reflecting excellent participant satisfaction.
Intersect’s commitment to excellence in providing digital skills training to researchers is evident in its high-quality courses and excellent feedback from participants.
Its continuous efforts to revise, update, and expand its course catalogue ensure that researchers always have access to the most relevant and useful research training.