what is bumblekite?
Bumblekite is an 18th century English nickname for a blackberry. We named the space as such because we see every skill acquired here - whether technical, design, or communication - as a drupelet, or what we internally affectionately call “a little blackberry”. Together, these drupelets form a rich whole, just like a delicious blackberry.
this is bumblekite
Experimental
For us, learning is a process that assumes the creation of a new, shared value, as much as it contains the changes and destruction of preconceived notions of what machine learning, life sciences, and education are. This is why Bumblekite is constantly inventing and reinventing itself.
Collaboration
We believe that whenever one person teaches, two people learn. No person or their skills are above anyone else’s in our learning space - our preferred interaction mode is that of collaboration, because to us, learning from each other is the best way to learn.
Space
Unconstrained by physical and any other boundaries - both online and offline, Bumblekite is a place for uninhibited learning and exploration, a space for those willing to make a difference, and be challenged.
Health and care
As we are continuously reminded, “health” is dependent on the dedication, passion, and hard work put in by people dedicated to caring for others. To us, healthcare isn’t limited to medical treatment only; the often ignored aspects include comfort, understanding, and mutual respect - all paramount for maintaining good personal health and vibrant communities.
Technology
A word with many different meanings. To us, it is a topic we are passionate about, as well as a crucial tool to improve human health and many aspects of our lives, including education. It gives us an opportunity to reconsider traditional ways of learning, and improve connectivity and access by, for example, bringing a learning community to your home.
we bridge the skills gaps
For health science professionals to design operational plans for the efficient and safe deployment of algorithms, it is important to have an understanding of machine learning and data science concepts, and the opportunity to collaborate with computing experts attuned to the latest developments in biosciences and patient care. Similarly, data scientists and engineers need a foundational understanding of biomedical and health sciences in order to design and implement effective, data-driven solutions in healthcare.
In the collaborative design process of a project, several key questions need to be answered, such as selecting and assembling models, organising data, scaling and interpreting solutions, and evaluating the effectiveness of algorithms in direct patient care settings.
Bridging the skills gap goes beyond teaching biology concepts to engineers and coding to healthcare professionals. In addition to the engineering expertise and domain knowledge, there is a vast range of equally important communication and leadership skills we believe are crucial to making positive contributions to our field. This is why we encourage our participants to develop proficiency in writing, design, teaching, project management and strategy development, among other key skills.
Together these elements form our skills stack:
Data, software, bio- and other engineering skills
Domain-specific knowledge
Communication skills
Community building and partner management skills
we are looking for you
There is always more to learn, and through our machine learning programme and our corresponding community, we are here to support you in all phases of your learning process. We count on our participants, with your unique inputs, to meet our efforts and make Bumblekite a memorable and valuable experience for everyone involved.
The team behind Bumblekite is committed to bridging gaps in both skills and opportunities.
Our aim is for members to learn from each other - as well as from our lecturers - through communication, collaboration and our personalised attention towards each individual’s learning process and outcomes. This approach ensures that you are supported in leveraging your existing skills in the most efficient way while obtaining new, interdisciplinary knowledge. We also aim to provide you with the tools, resources and connections necessary to continue your learning adventure long after the lectures and projects are completed.
our thinking on visual communication
In conceptualising our visual communication, we thought about how our main objective is communicated through our “delicious blackberry”, and how to further develop this idea so it reflects the variety of views and opinions that make up our team, and consequently, Bumblekite. The individual shapes are different, and uniquely recognisable, but equal in importance. This is why, together, they make up a structure, or better yet - a unique collaborative entity that is the Bumblekite learning journey.
This pattern is later reconstructed to signify fresh, and different perspectives that each participant brings from their diverse backgrounds. Again, they interact together to form a completely different experience, that is larger than just a sum of its parts. This is what Bumblekite is all about - a collaborative journey where everyone’s contributions are equally valued exactly because of the ways in which they are different.
The foundations of Bumblekite’s visual communication have been designed by Frenci Sanna and Tamara Tica.
privacy as our core value
At the very core of our quest to be at the fourfronts of technological developments in health, care and biomedicine is privacy. For us, privacy is about respect: respecting another person's choice to engage in an interaction with us and, if so, to decide what is the level of it that makes them comfortable and confident. As with every value, operationalising privacy consists of a number of actions that we take from the very beginning of building our relationship with you as a website visitor, applicant, participant and a number of our partners: lecturers, service providers for the summer school and others. More details on this topic are available in our Privacy Policy.
We strongly believe that showing our respect to your choices as they relate to building our relationship also means building the Bumblekite space around one of those ground truths that does not change as time goes by. Showcasing respect is a timeless activity.
Therefore, we are always seeking new and innovative ways to push the boundaries of what is possible in this area. If you have a suggestion, please do reach out to us! We would be eager to read it.
acknowledgements
Bumblekite began as an idea. In the summer of 2019, while attending another machine learning summer school, one of the members of our original team - and a beloved member of our community - found herself searching for similar learning opportunities where she could combine her extensive machine learning knowledge with a set of skills in healthcare and biomedical sciences. When she couldn’t find one, her search inquiry became Bumblekite.
Our journey towards transforming Bumblekite from a concept to reality would not have been possible without the generous support of dozens of people who dedicated their time and resources to support us along the way. We would like to use this Internet space to express our deepest gratitude to them. Thank you.