Welcome to Nestling¶
Most people start research without being formally taught the practical side: how to find and read papers, how to manage code, how to prepare a journal club talk. These things are picked up gradually, often by trial and error, and rarely as well as they could be.
Nestling is a collection of short guides, examples, and templates to help with exactly that. It is designed to complement your work with your supervisor, not to replace that conversation.
Before you begin: three questions for your supervisor
- Which track should I start with?
- Do I need to run the code examples locally, or just read the lessons?
- How often should we check in as I work through this?
Getting Started¶
If you are new, begin here:
- How to Use This Repo: what is in Nestling and how to navigate it
- Environment Setup: only needed if you plan to run the code examples
Learning Tracks¶
Each track is self-contained. Start with whichever one your supervisor directs you to, or the one closest to what you need right now.
| Track | What you will learn | Start here if… |
|---|---|---|
| ArXiv & Reading Papers | Finding, reading, and managing research papers | You have been asked to read papers and don't know where to begin |
| Journal Club | Presenting and discussing papers with peers | You have an upcoming journal club presentation |
| Writing Papers | Structure, style, and LaTeX for physics papers | You are drafting your first report or paper |
| Git & GitHub | Version control and collaborative coding | You are joining a project that uses code |
| Coding Practices | Project layout, documentation, and testing | You are writing research code for the first time |
| Plotting | Scientific visualisation with matplotlib | You need to produce figures for a report or paper |
| Working with LLMs | Using AI tools responsibly in research | You want to use AI assistants and do it well |
| Code of Conduct | Community standards and expected behaviour | You are joining the group or want to understand how conflicts are handled |
Templates¶
Ready-to-use starting points for common research tasks are in Templates.
A note on this resource
Nestling is maintained by a researcher, not a professional educator. The content reflects personal experience and, in places, personal opinion. There will be mistakes, and your supervisor's guidance always takes priority over anything written here. Feedback is genuinely welcome: if you spot an error or have a suggestion, open a GitHub issue: it takes two minutes and helps everyone who comes after you. Contributions are welcome too, and if you are working through the Git & GitHub or Coding Practices tracks, submitting a fix or a new lesson is a great real-world exercise. See CONTRIBUTING.md to get started.