Announcing The First OpenMined Bootcamp

Always working towards our mission to make the world more privacy-preserving by lowering the barrier-to-entry to Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs), we are very excited to announce the OM Learning Team's first bootcamp!

This “beta” bootcamp will give participants an introduction to Privacy-Preserving Machine Learning (PPML) and the OpenMined library PySyft. It will cover the first half of the PySyft tutorials, will have a maximum enrollment of 15 people, and will be completely free.

Beta Bootcamp Setup

Start Date: Friday, July 24.
End Date: Sunday, August 23.
Duration: 4 weeks of learning.
Content: Short introduction to the concepts of PPML. Notebooks 1 - 8 of the PySyft tutorials.
Teaching Method: Weekly live sessions conducted by Tech Leaders.
Final Project: Optional final demo project.

Beta Bootcamp Prerequisites

• Experience with Python programming.
• Good understanding of Deep Learning (DL) concepts.
• Familiarity with the DL framework PyTorch.
• Interest in learning PPML.
• Some time commitment.

Applying to the Beta Bootcamp

As this is a beta bootcamp, we are keeping the maximum enrollment limited to 15. Our goal in doing this is to have a high learner-to-“teacher” ratio which will allow us, from the feedback received, to iterate and offer a high caliber learning experience in our following bootcamps that will have a substantially higher number of openings.

So, if you have the listed prerequisites, please fill out the application form below to apply to be one of the 15 participants of the beta bootcamp.

Applications Open: Friday, July 10.
Applications Close: Wednesday, July 15.
Participants Announced: Friday, July 17.

APPLY HERE

Also, make sure you join the #edu_learners channel in the OpenMined Slack workspace to keep up with all the announcements regarding the OM Learning Team’s bootcamps. If you aren’t yet a member of the OM Slack workspace, you can join here.

Finally, please don't worry if you are not selected to participate in this bootcamp! There are many more bootcamps coming very soon that will be less exclusive.

FAQs

1. Will I have to pay something to participate in the bootcamp?
   No. The bootcamp is free for all those selected.
   
   
2. Will I receive a certificate if I complete the bootcamp?
   No. You will not receive a certificate when you complete the bootcamp. However, you will learn a lot about PPML and if you complete the optional final project you will have a nice project to add to your portfolio.
   
   
3. Why should I apply?
   You should apply if you have experience with Python programming, a good understanding of DL, some familiarity with the Deep Learning framework PyTorch and an interest in learning PPML. You should also be able to commit a few hours weekly to studying during the 4 weeks of the bootcamp.
   
   
4. Will you have other bootcamps?
   Yes! We are planning to have many more bootcamps in the future so stay-tuned by joining the learners channel #edu_learners and by keeping up with the announcements in the #announcements channel for the OM Slack workspace.
   
   
5. Will all your bootcamps have the requirement of knowing ML and DL?
   Some of them will have this requirement, but not all. The requirements will depend on the topics covered during the bootcamp. However, we hope to soon be able to offer bootcamps that cater to absolute beginners, meaning people new to Data Science and/or Deep Learning.
   
   
6. What kind of support will be available during the bootcamp?
   During the bootcamp, you will be attended to by members of the OpenMined Learning Team who will answer your technical and non-technical questions and make sure you understand all the topics covered and come out of the bootcamp having learned everything there is to learn. Additionally, if you wish to receive one-on-one mentorship to get started with OpenMined, fill out this form.
   
   
7. Why are you accepting only 15 people?
   We are only accepting 15 people for this beta bootcamp to make sure that we offer the best learning experience quality possible with our limited human resources. Future bootcamps will have much higher enrollment caps.

If you have more questions about this initiative, please post them in #edu_learners. Alternatively you can also send a private message to the Lead of the Learning Team, Yemissi Kifouly (Slack: @Yemi).

We cannot wait to learn with you!

Note: If you wish to join the organizing team, the Learning Team, and participate in the development and organization of future bootcamps, sign up here.