All Graduate School of Life Sciences courses

The Ensembl Plants project offers a single and integrative collection of interfaces for accessing and comparing genome-scale data for 38 species (release 24, November 2014). Our Genome Browser allows visualization and analysis of plant genomic sequences including gene annotation, genetic variation and comparative genomics. Tools for downstream genomic analyses such as VEP (Variant Effect Predictor) and BioMart (data export) will be also covered in this workshop. In addition to our Browser and web tools, the publicly available data in Ensembl Plants can be accessed programmatically via our Perl and REST APIs, downloaded FTP or accessed through MySQL queries. Users can view their own data in the context of the reference sequence and datasets.

This course covers state-of-the-art tools and methods for NGS RNA-seq and exome variant data analysis, which are of major relevance in today's genomic and gene expression studies. Further information is available here.

Please note that if you are not eligible for a University of Cambridge Raven account you will need to book by linking here.

How do you make your research palatable to the press? Do you stumble and fumble when in front of a camera? Are you protective about your research, wary of handing over all your hard work to a journalist? Join Dr Eliza Filby, founder of GradTrain and lecturer at King's College London for this one-day media training course especially designed for researchers interested in engaging with the media at all levels.

Many basic numeric messages are inadequately communicated because of poor presentation. This course illustrates some of the problems and demonstrates ways to improve the reception of messages by different target audience. This one-day course is the foundation to all presentations of statistical information. The basic principles of presenting information in tables, charts, maps and text are explained. These are illustrated and then reinforced through practical exercises.

The course is for anyone who is involved in communicating statistics to non-statisticians, or who reports on data within organisations, to specific communities and to the general public where a message is being delivered.

Download the poster at http://www.gradschl.lifesci.cam.ac.uk/GRASP/clear-vision-poster/view

This day-long training course consists of a mixture of taught and interactive practical elements intended to show participants how to get the best out of Twitter for research purposes.

Please note that this course requires you to have an existing working knowledge of Twitter. In order to apply you must fill in an application form available at the following address

https://cambridge.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/come-fly-with-me-application

You own your own research right? Well it depends...

This session will explore the sometimes complicated world of copyright and what can happen when publishing work through formal routes such as journals or through more informal routes such as pre-print servers. The session will also introduce concepts such as third party copyright and rights retention, as well as how licensing tools such as Creative Commons can be used to not only help maximise the reach of research but also navigating reusing other people's work.

PLEASE NOTE that this course will be taught live online, with demonstrators available to help you throughout if have any questions. All lecture components will be recorded and uploaded to the course Moodle page so that you will be able to access that information even if technical or time zone restrictions means that you aren't able to join us for the live sessions.

This virtually delivered course is intended to provide a strong foundation in practical statistics and data analysis using the R or Python software environments. 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:

1. Use R or Python confidently for statistics and data analysis
2. Be able to analyse datasets using standard statistical techniques
3. Know which tests are and are not appropriate

Both R and Python are free software environments that are suitable for statistical and data analysis.

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 or Python and moreover know when, and when not, to apply these techniques.

This series of lectures provides a basic introduction to neurobiology. If you are a new graduate student working in another area but think your research might benefit from some understanding of neurobiology, this is for you. If you have done an undergraduate course in neuroscience of any kind, this is NOT for you.

As scientists, your skills of critical thinking are well developed in hypothesis testing, observation and empirical experiment. This workshop will incorporate other modes of logic and reason into your scientific thinking. The focus of discussion will be social and ethical issues in biotechnology.

You will develop:

• Knowledge of critical thinking, with respect to logic and argument development
• Skills in application of critical thinking using case studies and debate involving bioethics

Developing your critical thinking and recognising how human elements impact on scientific enquiry will support you in making more appropriate decisions in the direction of your scientific projects.

PLEASE NOTE

This course compromises of two compulsory sessions. In the first session you will learn the skills and in the second you will apply them. There is also an optional follow-up session where you can meet with members of your group to discuss how you have applied the skills in your research.

Trainer:

Caroline Broad is a Philosophy graduate, with seven years experience working in the bio science industry and 15 years delivering skills development workshops.

As scientists, skills of critical thinking are well developed in hypothesis testing, observation and scientific projects. This workshop will incorporate other modes of logic and reason into scientific thinking.

This workshop will consist of a set of debates on current bioethical issues. We will then analyse and evaluate the presence and impact of critical thinking within those debates

PLEASE NOTE: This course consists of two half day sessions, with a week between sessions.

A workshop of two half-day sessions that are one week apart, developing:

• Knowledge of critical thinking, with respect to logic and argument development
• Skills in application of critical thinking using case studies and debate involving bioethics

Developing your critical thinking and recognising how human elements impact on scientific enquiry will support you in making more appropriate decisions in the direction of your scientific projects.

As scientists, your skills of critical thinking are well developed in hypothesis testing, observation and empirical experiment. This workshop will incorporate other modes of logic and reason into your scientific thinking. Once these skills have been looked at, they will be use on example discussions in the areas of social and ethical issues in biotechnology – including reproductive cloning and use of bio-information. Please note that these are example topics for practicing the skills and are not the topic of the course.

Workshop leader: Caroline Broad is a Philosophy graduate with a passion for the practical applications of critical thinking; especially in the global, highly technical world we now live in; Caroline has spent ten years working in biotechnology field, previously as an employee for AZ owned MedImmune. She is a visiting lecturer at the Royal Veterinary College, teaching Advanced Concepts in Bio business; delivers workshops to post-docs at Imperial College in Innovation skills and creative problem solving.

Achieving clarity in writing is not just about what’s written on the page – that is merely the final stage in a long and complex process. It actually starts with the interpretation of the question… From a linguistic perspective writing is actually rather straightforward, but the clarity of the ‘end product’, particularly in academic writing, is very much dependent on the clarity of all the stages that precede it. This session will examine this process and explores strategies to help you improve the clarity of your writing.

Over the course of a PhD, students will create and use large amounts of different types of data. This course is designed to help students manage their data effectively, and to make them aware of some of the legal and ethical issues involved in dealing with data.

The design and analysis of experiments is an essential first step before doing any research; this short seminar will help you develop a clear understanding of what you need to consider when planning experiments and will help to maximize your productivity. Please note that this course is aimed at ecologists but the principles can be applied to experimental design in many other areas.

This new half-day workshop has been designed to explore the ideas and techniques to unlock your hidden potential as a researcher with clarity, vision and creative leadership. We willl explore the importance of a creative approach to your research - and its communication - by understanding the nature of creativity, how and where to apply creative thinking and activities (for instance, by setting a new dynamic in departmental meetings!) and finally how creative practices lead to personal change and technical and scientific innovation.

You are encouraged to attend with an open mind 'beginners mind' and a willingness to discuss real issues and problems that would benefit from a creative solution. You will be encouraged to compete a short action plan to focus on next steps in the creative process.

What is required to develop efficient and productive working relationships?

In this workshop we explore research that provides insight into individuals’ different working styles and how to exploit individual strengths to create an effective team. We explore the research of Meredith Belbin and his team role theory using practical exercises to confirm your team role strengths.

• Understand the facets of an effective team
• Belbin team role insight
• Learning styles and communication techniques
• An insight into individual motivations and drivers

Trainer: Caroline Broad is a Philosophy graduate, with seven years experience working in the bio science industry and 15 years delivering skills development workshops.

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There is a growing research base on how to approach influencing in a positive and ethical way. In this workshop you will practice techniques to improve your influencing skills and develop your natural influencing style.

Great ideas need people to get behind them. Teams need to be motivated towards their objectives. Academics and funders need to be convinced of your project’s worth.

We will explore the power of language, rapport, consensus and reciprocity within influencing. We will practice key influencing skills that will help you develop effective committed relationship with the right people for your purpose.

Trainer: Caroline Broad is a Philosophy graduate, with seven years experience working in the bio science industry and 15 years delivering skills development workshops.

If you cannot lead yourself, how can you influence others or be a productive member of a team?

Join us for an intensive 1-day, experiential workshop exploring the core elements of leading self and others positively and effectively. We start with self-leadership: purpose, values and how well I live them, and what gets in the way? It includes mental and neurophysiological tools for reducing fear (a.k.a. stress, tension), accessing presence/ the zone (often referred to in current trends as dynamic "mindfulness") all leading to increase the ACT of leadership - Awareness, Connection and Transformation - for self and others.

Having established this firm foundation, we build the capacity for open, productive, adult-to-adult interactions with others with emotional intelligence, trust, delegation and handling conflict.

If you cannot lead yourself, how can you influence others or be a productive member of a team?

Join us for an intensive 1-day, experiential workshop exploring the core elements of leading self and others positively and effectively. We start with self-leadership: purpose, values and how well I live them, and what gets in the way? It includes mental and neurophysiological tools for reducing fear (a.k.a. stress, tension), accessing presence/ the zone (often referred to in current trends as dynamic "mindfulness") all leading to increase the ACT of leadership - Awareness, Connection and Transformation - for self and others.

Having established this firm foundation, we build the capacity for open, productive, adult-to-adult interactions with others with emotional intelligence, trust, delegation and handling conflict.

This course will take a complete look at the final year of your PhD. From the core elements of the thesis and viva and the often forgotten administrative tasks that must get done, on to looking at who you have become and what career path you may take.

We are running a series of focus groups to gain a better understanding of the entrepreneurship and enterprise landscape at Cambridge for STEMM postgraduates. We welcome everyone to come along and share their experiences and thoughts about this subject with us. Whether you have previously gained entrepreneurship and enterprise experience or thought this is an area to build on as part of your post graduate training, your contribution to these sessions would be most valuable.

This session will be held online via zoom. Joining instructions will be sent to participants two days before the scheduled focus group.

A crash course in what you need to know about scientific writing. This lecture is aimed at those writing scientific papers, but many of the principles apply equally to writing a doctoral dissertation. The examples given are mostly in the area of of Biochemistry research, but applicable to many others.

A full day session including group and individual work, enabling you to think about what a challenging conversation is, whether you need to have one, how to navigate it, if and when you and then how to help avoid further escalation of a difficult situation.

A participative session involving group and individual work delving into how giving and receiving feedback can be a useful development tool, helping you to be heard effectively and potentially the reducing the need for challenging discussions.