Training FAQs

Trainings are open to all NIH staff (including all NIH employees, contractors, fellows, volunteers, etc.), as well as researchers and research support staff at NIH-funded institutions. Occasionally, trainings may be made available to those without NIH funding. In such cases, registration information will include relevant details.

• Introductory, intermediate, and advanced instructor-led (virtual only at this time) training with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud (GCP), and Microsoft Azure
• Office hours with AWS, Azure, and GCP
• Self-paced, on-demand training with AWS, Azure, and GCP
• Private instructor-led training (by request only) with AWS, Azure, and GCP

• Registration links are shared on the STRIDES Training Calendar.
• Registration emails are also sent via the STRIDESTraining@nih.gov distribution list.

STRIDES generally provides 2-4 training opportunities each month. Please consult the training calendar for more details.

Enrollment varies by cloud service provider and course level. Courses typically hold between 16-25 learners.

There is no limit to attendance from each NIH ICO, but enrollment is not guaranteed. Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

A learner has been added to the course roster and is expected to attend.

A learner has not been enrolled in the course, but a seat may become available prior to the first day of the course. Waitlisted learners should monitor their status in the LMS until the first day of the course. The STRIDES training team will also email waitlisted learners if a seat opens.

There is no penalty for dropping a class, but we ask that you do so as soon as possible to allow for the seat to be given to someone on the waitlist. If you are a badged employee or contractor, you manage your enrollment through the HHS LMS until one week prior to the course. Any cancellation within one week of a course starting must be in writing to the STRIDES Training Team. See the cancellation policy on the Training Page.

Requests for future trainings are collected at sign-up. There is no guarantee that a requested training will be scheduled. Please reach out to the STRIDES Training Team for additional questions on requesting trainings.

No, but Intermediate and Advanced courses do have prerequisite requirements that must be followed.

Yes, you need to have or create an AWS Training account to register for, and participate in, instructor led classroom training. If you are having trouble establishing or logging into an existing AWS Training Account, please contact the AWS Training Coordinator.

Yes, you can create an AWS Account with your NIH email address. If you already have an AWS Training account with another email address, you will have different log-in credentials for each account and two separate transcripts in the AWS system. If you would like to merge two accounts, please submit a merge request using this form.

The AWS Training account is separate from your retail account. You will be prompted to create an AWS Training account when registering for a course if you do not currently have a profile on file.

The AWS account credentials you use for AWS cloud services (e.g., console or programmatic access) are different than your credentials for AWS Training. You must set up an AWS Training account separately.

Visit AWS Skill Builder and the Learning Library for course information. There you can read descriptions, sort by skill level, format, etc.

Most trainings and courses are available free of charge unless specified otherwise. See below for additional information.

• Intramural – NIH intramural staff can take advantage of widely available subsidized training (see calendar). NIH organizations (ICs, Offices, Divisions, Labs, Teams, etc.) can request discounted private training sessions. To inquire about discounted private training, please contact STRIDESTraining@nih.gov.

• Extramural – Extramural organizations can request discounted private training sessions for their entire organization or just a subset. To inquire about discounted private training, please contact STRIDESTraining@nih.gov.

• On-demand – On-demand training with AWS is available to both intramural and extramural audiences. View the AWS on-demand learning library here.

Most AWS courses do have a lab component. As of April 2021, AWS utilizes the Qwiklabs program to facilitate in-course labs.

In most cases, materials will not be made available before the course begins. Once a course concludes, AWS allows attendees to access the labs for up to three (3) business days. Course materials (e.g., PDFs, presentations, etc.) are available to attendees after the course concludes and attendees do not lose access to these materials.

Meet the TAMs (AWS Technical Account Managers) is a monthly meeting—occurring on the first Tuesday of each month—where STRIDES participants can work with the NIH AWS TAMs directly to solve real problems and ask account-specific questions. The TAMs also present on a specific topic of interest in each meeting. These topics are derived from insights about the NIH accounts in their purview, as well as by request. Sign-up here to join these meetings.

No, these sessions are open to all, free of charge.

Many courses made available throgh STRIDES Training helps you in your pathway to AWS certification. Please refer to the course catalog and training calendar. Currently, STRIDES is not broadly supporting certification (STRIDES does not offer every course required for certification, not does STRIDES cover the cost of the certification exam). If you're interested in getting certified, contact STRIDESTraining@nih.gov.

Because AWS courses are administered centrally, attendees must sign up with STRIDES and then complete registration by completing the AWS registration form. This allows for the laboratory environments to be linked to a specific AWS Training account. A link to the AWS registration form is provided to enrolled attendees prior to the course.

No; however, we encourage you to share your feedback so that future training offerings can be improved.

Yes, you can find two training paths designed for researchers here: Azure for Researchers part 1: Introduction to Cloud Computing and here: Azure for Researchers part 2: Cloud Security and Cost Management.

Yes! Please visit Microsoft Learn for Microsoft's training materials. The schedule for instructor-led trainings can be found here. Badged NIH employees and contractors have access to the ESI portal where you can sign up for any of Microsoft’s self-paced or instructor-led courses.

No, we welcome learners at all levels and our trainings are designed to meet you where you are. As you get into more advanced trainings or certification pathways there may be prerequisites defined to help you be successful.

No, you do not need an Azure account to attend training; however, you will need an Azure account to access our hands-on labs.

No, there is no cost for our trainings.

Yes, both our self-paced training and our instructor-led trainings have hands-on labs. We also offer immersion workshops in many areas.

Yes, course materials are yours to keep.

No, certification is not required. Microsoft offers multiple certification pathways, though, if you want to earn an Azure certification.

Yes, you can build a pathway based on your interests, or Microsoft can help you build one. The self-paced trainings are modular, and you can select what is meaningful to you.

Mirosoft holds Azure Research Office Hours every Wednesday at 3 PM ET. You can drop in and interact with your peers and get support from the technical teams. Microsoft also offers specialized Office Hours and Communities Data and AI, App Dev/Dev Ops and Security.

No, there is no cost to attend Office Hours.

Yes, we have Communities and would love to see you there.

No, but Intermediate and Advanced courses do have prerequisite requirements that MUST be followed. For more information, please see the GCP Training page.

Yes, learners are only able to access the GCP training environment if they have a Google account.

Yes.

Visit the Google Cloud Skills Boost page to learn about available courses and learning paths.

Most trainings are available free of charge unless specified otherwise. See below for additional information.

• Intramural – NIH intramural staff can take advantage of widely available subsidized training (see calendar). NIH organizations (ICs, Offices, Divisions, Labs, Teams, etc.) can request discounted private training sessions. To inquire about discounted private training, please contact STRIDESTraining@nih.gov.

• Extramural – Extramural organizations can request discounted private training sessions for their entire organization or just a subset. To inquire about discounted private training, please contact STRIDESTraining@nih.gov.

• On-demand – On-demand training in GCP is available to both intramural and extramural audiences. View the GCP on-demand learning library here.

Office Hours are immersive webinars that expose attendees to deep subject matter and robust discussion. These events typically occur twice a month and topics vary month to month. Sign-up here to attend and be added to the distro list.

Yes, these events are open to all of NIH as well as to NIH-funded researchers. Sign-up here to attend and be added to the distro list.

No, these are provided free of charge.

Many courses made available through STRIDES Training help you in your pathway to Google certification. Please refer to the course catalog and training calendar. Currently, STRIDES is not broadly supporting certification (STRIDES does not offer every course required for certification, nor does STRIDES cover the cost of the certification exam). If you're interested in getting certified, contact STRIDESTraining@nih.gov.

No; however, we encourage you to share your feedback so that future training offerings can be improved.