Bioinformatics course timetable
September 2023
| Fri 22 |
This week-long course is aimed at people with little or no experience using statistical analyses in research. It introduces participants to core concepts in statistics and experimental design, aimed at ensuring that the resulting data is able to address the research question using appropriate statistical methods. The interactive course gives participants a hands-on, applied foundation in statistical data analysis and experimental design. Group exercises and discussions are combined with short lectures that introduce key theoretical concepts. Computational methods are used throughout the course, using the R programming language. Formative assessment exercises allow participants to test their understanding throughout the course and encourage questions and critical thinking. By the end of the course participants will be able to critically evaluate and design effective research questions, linking experimental design concepts to subsequent statistical analyses. It will allow participants to make informed decisions on which statistical tests are most appropriate to their research questions. The course will provide a solid grounding for further development of applied statistical competencies. If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. |
| Wed 27 |
Recent technological advances have made it possible to obtain genome-wide transcriptome data from single cells using high-throughput sequencing (scRNA-seq). Even though scRNA-seq makes it possible to address problems that are intractable with bulk RNA-seq data, analysing scRNA-seq is also more challenging. In this course we will be surveying the existing problems as well as the available computational and statistical frameworks available for the analysis of scRNA-seq.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
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| Thu 28 |
Recent technological advances have made it possible to obtain genome-wide transcriptome data from single cells using high-throughput sequencing (scRNA-seq). Even though scRNA-seq makes it possible to address problems that are intractable with bulk RNA-seq data, analysing scRNA-seq is also more challenging. In this course we will be surveying the existing problems as well as the available computational and statistical frameworks available for the analysis of scRNA-seq.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
|
| Fri 29 |
Recent technological advances have made it possible to obtain genome-wide transcriptome data from single cells using high-throughput sequencing (scRNA-seq). Even though scRNA-seq makes it possible to address problems that are intractable with bulk RNA-seq data, analysing scRNA-seq is also more challenging. In this course we will be surveying the existing problems as well as the available computational and statistical frameworks available for the analysis of scRNA-seq.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
|
October 2023
| Fri 13 |
R is one of the leading programming languages in Data Science. It is widely used to perform statistics, machine learning, visualisations and data analyses. It is an open source programming language so all the software we will use in the course is free. This course is an introduction to R designed for participants with no programming experience. We will start from scratch by introducing how to start programming in R and progress our way and learn how to read and write to files, manipulate data and visualise it by creating different plots - all the fundamental tasks you need to get you started analysing your data. During the course we will be working with one of the most popular packages in R; tidyverse that will allow you to manipulate your data effectively and visualise it to a publication level standard.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
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| Wed 18 |
The Unix shell (command line) is a powerful and essential tool for modern researchers, in particular those working in computational disciplines such as bioinformatics and large-scale data analysis. In this course we will explore the basic structure of the Unix operating system and how we can interact with it using a basic set of commands. You will learn how to navigate the filesystem, manipulate text-based data and combine multiple commands to quickly extract information from large data files. You will also learn how to write scripts, use programmatic techniques to automate task repetition, and communicate with remote servers (such as High Performance Computing servers).
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
|
| Thu 19 |
The Unix shell (command line) is a powerful and essential tool for modern researchers, in particular those working in computational disciplines such as bioinformatics and large-scale data analysis. In this course we will explore the basic structure of the Unix operating system and how we can interact with it using a basic set of commands. You will learn how to navigate the filesystem, manipulate text-based data and combine multiple commands to quickly extract information from large data files. You will also learn how to write scripts, use programmatic techniques to automate task repetition, and communicate with remote servers (such as High Performance Computing servers).
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
|
| Fri 20 |
R is one of the leading programming languages in Data Science. It is widely used to perform statistics, machine learning, visualisations and data analyses. It is an open source programming language so all the software we will use in the course is free. This course is an introduction to R designed for participants with no programming experience. We will start from scratch by introducing how to start programming in R and progress our way and learn how to read and write to files, manipulate data and visualise it by creating different plots - all the fundamental tasks you need to get you started analysing your data. During the course we will be working with one of the most popular packages in R; tidyverse that will allow you to manipulate your data effectively and visualise it to a publication level standard.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
|
| Wed 25 |
Have you heard about High Performance Computing, but are not sure what it is or whether it is relevant for your work? Would you like to use a HPC, but are not sure where to start? Are you using your personal computer to run computationally demanding tasks, which take long and slow down your work? Do you need to use software that runs on Linux, but don't have access to a Linux computer? If any of these questions apply to you, then this course might be for you! Knowing how to work on a High Performance Computing system is an essential skill for applications such as bioinformatics, big-data analysis, image processing, machine learning, parallelising tasks, and other high-throughput applications. In this course we will cover the basics of High Performance Computing, what it is and how you can use it in practice. This is a hands-on workshop, which should be accessible to researchers from a range of backgrounds and offering several opportunities to practice the skills we learn along the way. As an optional session for those interested, we will also introduce the (free) HPC facilities available at Cambridge University (the course is not otherwise Cambridge-specific).
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
|
| Thu 26 |
Have you heard about High Performance Computing, but are not sure what it is or whether it is relevant for your work? Would you like to use a HPC, but are not sure where to start? Are you using your personal computer to run computationally demanding tasks, which take long and slow down your work? Do you need to use software that runs on Linux, but don't have access to a Linux computer? If any of these questions apply to you, then this course might be for you! Knowing how to work on a High Performance Computing system is an essential skill for applications such as bioinformatics, big-data analysis, image processing, machine learning, parallelising tasks, and other high-throughput applications. In this course we will cover the basics of High Performance Computing, what it is and how you can use it in practice. This is a hands-on workshop, which should be accessible to researchers from a range of backgrounds and offering several opportunities to practice the skills we learn along the way. As an optional session for those interested, we will also introduce the (free) HPC facilities available at Cambridge University (the course is not otherwise Cambridge-specific).
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
|
| Fri 27 |
Have you heard about High Performance Computing, but are not sure what it is or whether it is relevant for your work? Would you like to use a HPC, but are not sure where to start? Are you using your personal computer to run computationally demanding tasks, which take long and slow down your work? Do you need to use software that runs on Linux, but don't have access to a Linux computer? If any of these questions apply to you, then this course might be for you! Knowing how to work on a High Performance Computing system is an essential skill for applications such as bioinformatics, big-data analysis, image processing, machine learning, parallelising tasks, and other high-throughput applications. In this course we will cover the basics of High Performance Computing, what it is and how you can use it in practice. This is a hands-on workshop, which should be accessible to researchers from a range of backgrounds and offering several opportunities to practice the skills we learn along the way. As an optional session for those interested, we will also introduce the (free) HPC facilities available at Cambridge University (the course is not otherwise Cambridge-specific).
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
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This award winning course is intended to provide a strong foundation in practical statistics and data analysis using the R software environment. The underlying philosophy of the course is to treat statistics as a practical skill rather than as a theoretical subject and as such the course focuses on methods for addressing real-life issues in the biological sciences. There are three core goals for this course:
R is an open source programming language so all of the software we will use in the course is free. In this course, we explore classical statistical analysis techniques starting with simple hypothesis testing and building up to linear models and power analyses. The focus of the course is on practical implementation of these techniques and developing robust statistical analysis skills rather than on the underlying statistical theory. After the course you should feel confident to be able to select and implement common statistical techniques using R and moreover know when, and when not, to apply these techniques.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
|
November 2023
| Fri 3 |
This award winning course is intended to provide a strong foundation in practical statistics and data analysis using the R software environment. The underlying philosophy of the course is to treat statistics as a practical skill rather than as a theoretical subject and as such the course focuses on methods for addressing real-life issues in the biological sciences. There are three core goals for this course:
R is an open source programming language so all of the software we will use in the course is free. In this course, we explore classical statistical analysis techniques starting with simple hypothesis testing and building up to linear models and power analyses. The focus of the course is on practical implementation of these techniques and developing robust statistical analysis skills rather than on the underlying statistical theory. After the course you should feel confident to be able to select and implement common statistical techniques using R and moreover know when, and when not, to apply these techniques.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
|
| Mon 6 |
This workshop will focus on the theory and applications of metagenomics for the analysis of complex microbiomes (microbial communities). We will cover a range of methods from the fastest, simplest and cheapest amplicon-based methods up to Hi-C metagenomics techniques that give highly detailed results on complex microbial communities. In addition to the theory, we will introduce several bioinformatic software packages suited for the analysis of metagenomic data, quality control and downstream analysis and interpretation of the results.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
|
| Fri 10 |
This award winning course is intended to provide a strong foundation in practical statistics and data analysis using the R software environment. The underlying philosophy of the course is to treat statistics as a practical skill rather than as a theoretical subject and as such the course focuses on methods for addressing real-life issues in the biological sciences. There are three core goals for this course:
R is an open source programming language so all of the software we will use in the course is free. In this course, we explore classical statistical analysis techniques starting with simple hypothesis testing and building up to linear models and power analyses. The focus of the course is on practical implementation of these techniques and developing robust statistical analysis skills rather than on the underlying statistical theory. After the course you should feel confident to be able to select and implement common statistical techniques using R and moreover know when, and when not, to apply these techniques.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
|
| Mon 13 |
This workshop will focus on the theory and applications of metagenomics for the analysis of complex microbiomes (microbial communities). We will cover a range of methods from the fastest, simplest and cheapest amplicon-based methods up to Hi-C metagenomics techniques that give highly detailed results on complex microbial communities. In addition to the theory, we will introduce several bioinformatic software packages suited for the analysis of metagenomic data, quality control and downstream analysis and interpretation of the results.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
|
| Tue 14 |
This workshop will focus on the theory and applications of metagenomics for the analysis of complex microbiomes (microbial communities). We will cover a range of methods from the fastest, simplest and cheapest amplicon-based methods up to Hi-C metagenomics techniques that give highly detailed results on complex microbial communities. In addition to the theory, we will introduce several bioinformatic software packages suited for the analysis of metagenomic data, quality control and downstream analysis and interpretation of the results.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
|
| Fri 17 |
The aim of this course is to familiarize the participants with the primary analysis of RNA-seq data. This course starts with a brief introduction to RNA-seq and discusses quality control issues. Next, we will present the alignment step, quantification of expression and differential expression analysis. For downstream analysis we will focus on tools available through the Bioconductor project for manipulating and analysing bulk RNA-seq.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
|
| Tue 21 |
The Ensembl Project provides a comprehensive and integrated source of annotation of, mainly vertebrate, genome sequences. This workshop offers a comprehensive practical introduction to the use of the Ensembl genome browser as well as essential background information. This course will focus on the vertebrate genomes in Ensembl, however much of what will be covered is also applicable to the non-vertebrates (plants, bacteria, fungi, metazoa and protists) in Ensembl Genomes.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
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| Wed 22 |
The Ensembl project provides a comprehensive and integrated source of annotation of mainly vertebrate genome sequences. This workshop is aimed at researchers and developers interested in exploring Ensembl beyond the website. The workshop covers how to use the Ensembl REST APIs, including understanding the major endpoints and how to write scripts to call them.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
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| Thu 23 |
Many experimental designs end up producing lists of hits, usually based around genes or transcripts. Sometimes these lists are small enough that they can be examined individually, but often it is useful to do a more structured functional analysis to try to automatically determine any interesting biological themes which turn up in the lists. This course looks at the various software packages, databases and statistical methods which may be of use in performing such an analysis. As well as being a practical guide to performing these types of analysis the course will also look at the types of artefacts and bias which can lead to false conclusions about functionality and will look at the appropriate ways to both run the analysis and present the results for publication. Course materials are available here.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
|
| Fri 24 |
The aim of this course is to familiarize the participants with the primary analysis of RNA-seq data. This course starts with a brief introduction to RNA-seq and discusses quality control issues. Next, we will present the alignment step, quantification of expression and differential expression analysis. For downstream analysis we will focus on tools available through the Bioconductor project for manipulating and analysing bulk RNA-seq.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
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This course introduces concepts about reproducibility that can be used when you are programming in R. We will explore how to create notebooks - a way to integrate your R analyses into reports using Rmarkdown. The course also introduces the concept of version control. We will learn how to create a repository on GitHub and how to work together on the same project collaboratively without creating conflicting versions of files.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
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December 2023
| Fri 1 |
The aim of this course is to familiarize the participants with the primary analysis of RNA-seq data. This course starts with a brief introduction to RNA-seq and discusses quality control issues. Next, we will present the alignment step, quantification of expression and differential expression analysis. For downstream analysis we will focus on tools available through the Bioconductor project for manipulating and analysing bulk RNA-seq.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
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This course will teach you how to use molecular data to construct and interpret phylogenies. We will start by introducing basic concepts in phylogenetic analysis, what trees represent and how to interpret them. We will then cover how to produce a multiple sequence alignment from DNA and protein sequences, and the pros and cons of different alignment algorithms. You will then learn about different methods of phylogenetic inference, with a particular focus on maximum likelihood and how to assess confidence in your tree using bootstrap resampling. Finally, we will introduce how Bayesian methods can help to estimate the uncertainty in the inferred tree parameters as well as incorporate information for more advanced/bespoke phylogenetic analysis.
If you do not have a University of Cambridge Raven account please book or register your interest here. Additional information
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