This course provides an introduction to the use of bioinformatics in biological research, giving you guidance for using bioinformatics in your work whilst also providing hands-on training in tools and resources appropriate to your research.

You will initially be introduced to bioinformatics theory and practice, including best practices for undertaking bioinformatics analysis, data management, and reproducibility. 

You will be required to review some pre-recorded material for their group project prior to the start of the course.

Group projects

A major element of this course is a group project, where you'll be placed in small groups to work together on a challenge set by trainers from EMBL-EBI and external institutes. This allows you to explore the bioinformatics tools and resources available in your area of interest and apply them to a set problem, providing you with hands-on experience relevant to your own research. The group work will culminate in a presentation session involving everyone on the final day of the course, giving an opportunity for wider discussion on the benefits and challenges of working with biological data.

Groups are mentored and supported by the trainers who set the initial challenge, but the groups will be responsible for driving their projects forward, with all members expected to take an active role. Groups are pre-organised before the course, and all group members will be sent some short “homework” in preparation for your project work prior to the start of the course.

Basic outlines of the projects on offer this year are given below. In your application, you must indicate your first and second choice of project, based on which you think would benefit your research most. Not all projects may be offered, and final decisions on which projects will be run during the course will be made based on the number of applicants per project.

Most of the projects cover mammalian data sets, however, in many cases, the methods and approaches taught are transferable to data from various species.

The projects are currently under development.