SC26 WINS Call for Participation

Apply here.

Submission deadline: January 31, 2026

The WINS program is seeking qualified candidates in their early- to mid-career to join the SCinet volunteer workforce for the Supercomputing 2026 Conference (SC26), to be held in Chicago, Illinois, November 15-20, 2026. WINS strives to have diverse representation of organizations and applicant backgrounds in the cohort each year.  Selected candidates will receive full travel support and mentoring by well-known engineering experts in the research and education community before, during and after the conference.

** Early to mid-career candidates employed in the IT field are encouraged to apply.**

Each year, expert volunteers from academia, government, and industry come together to design, construct, and operate SCinet, a unique multi-terabit-per-second network built to support attendees’ revolutionary demonstrations that have become the hallmark of the SC conference. SCinet takes a year to plan, a month to build, a week to operate, and just one day to tear down.

Opportunities

SCinet provides an ideal “apprenticeship” opportunity for engineers and technologists looking for direct access to the most cutting-edge network hardware and software, while working side-by-side with the world’s leading network, software, and systems engineers and top network technology vendors.

More than 18 teams comprise SCinet, all focused on specific areas of expertise involved in setting up and operating a research network. Selected candidates will be matched with a mentor and team based on interest and background. Learning and training opportunities include (but are not limited to):

* Operating and maintaining traditional IT services for SCinet

* Installing fiber optic network connections

* Installing and configuring wireless access points

* Installing and configuring wired network devices for conference meeting rooms

* Managing internet routing protocols

* Configuring wide-area network connections to national telecom providers

* Supporting conference attendees, high performance computing, and high-performing network demonstrations

* Participating in cybersecurity activities focused on prevention, detection, and countermeasures to protect the resources of the conference.

* Marketing Communications in support of SCinet activities.

* Project management including liaising with multiple SCinet Teams

Professional Development with SCinet

The primary objective of the program is to provide the opportunity for early to mid-career candidates to participate in SCinet.  In addition to matching the selected participants with the appropriate SCinet team, the program provides travel funds for attending sprints, staging, setup, and live support of the SC conference as a SCinet volunteer.  Travel could include up to four weeks (or some portion of these four weeks) depending on the SCinet team needs. SC26 will take place in Chicago, Illinois. Participation in the program requires travel to Chicago for the following dates (not including travel days):

* SCinet Sprints: Monday May 4th – Friday May 8th 2026 (optional)

* SCinet Staging: Sunday October 25th – Friday October 30th 2026

* SC26 Conference Setup/Show and SCinet teardown: Sunday November 8th – Saturday November 21st 2026

Participation may require work over weekends during Staging, Setup, and Show, and can be more than 8 hours per day.

Participants also receive a complimentary conference registration, which includes the world’s leading technical program on all facets of high performance computing and networking.

WINS Selection Criteria

Candidates will be reviewed by a panel of experts from the research and education community for current job relevance, stated support from the applicant’s employer, ability to attend the conference (WINS will provide the travel funding but the participant must be able to set aside time to travel and participate), areas of interest (see application form), desire to participate in SCinet.

Project Measurement

After completion of the conference, participants are asked to report on their experiences, including: which parts of the training were new or useful, which learning experiences were effective or valuable, and other targeted questions that will help drive the future of outreach efforts. This reflection will be shared with their home institution, the SC conference leadership, the WINS Management Team, and program contributors.

About WINS

Funding is provided through direct funding from Indiana University, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and support from other project contributors.  Information on all contributors can be found here – https://winsworkforce.it/contributors/.

Past funding was provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF grant numbers 164098, 144064, 2331094).

Access the 2026 WINS Application from the WINS website:

Submission deadline: January 31, 2026 at 11:59 PM AoE

Award notifications will be sent by early March 2026