We will use the Cocalc platform for our synchronous lab sessions. You should have received an invitation to Cocalc at the email address you used to register for this SISMID course. Alternatively, you can go directly to cocalc.com to sign up for a free account using the same email that you used for your SISMID course registration.

The Cocalc lab sessions will be based in Python and will use Jupyter notebooks. We have created a Lab 0 to provide an introduction to the Cocalc platform and a review of Python, Jupyter notebooks, and some basic network terminology. Please take the time to complete it so you’re ready for the synchronous lab sessions. If you are well-versed with Python and Jupyter notebooks, this shouldn’t take long.

To complete Lab 0, navigate in Cocalc to: Your Projects → SISMID 2026: Spatial and Metapopulation Modeling → Labs → Lab 0 Introduction to Python and Cocalc. The version of the Lab 0 assignment in your Cocalc account is your copy, so it can be edited and annotated as needed.

1
Go to Cocalc.com and sign up or sign in using your SISMID registration email address.

2
After signing in, go to Your Projects.

3
Your Projects page should show a project with your name and SISMID 2026. Click on this project. If you don’t see this, contact Shweta Bansal at shweta.bansal@georgetown.edu.

4
Once within the SISMID 2026 Project page, you’ll see a Labs directory. Click on it.

5
Within the Labs directory, you’ll see a Lab0 — Introduction to Python directory. Click on it.

6
Finally, you’ll arrive at the Lab 0 contents. The file with the lab assignment is the *.ipynb file. Click on it to access the assignment!

Pre-session materials — Page 2 →