Who is this course for?

This collection is for any principal investigators/group leaders working in the life sciences who would like to start learning about bioinformatics, data management and the bioinformatics resources their group may require. It is particularly for you if you are starting to think about how to support your group as they generate, analyse and extract insights from their data.  

It is designed to introduce you to the concept of bioinformatics, give you an overview of data management and publicly available resources, and help you start to think about the role of programming for life sciences data analysis. 

Elements of the collection will also help you think about what bioinformatics-related competencies your group may need and how you can guide them through management of data the group generates. As you work through the collection there are some questions and suggestions to help you think about how to apply your learning.

You may wish to proceed through every page of the course in turn, however if there is a particular section you are interested in, you can jump directly to it using the navigation on the left hand side of each page.

The collection is based on the live three-day course that has run previously at EMBL-EBI. The materials from this course are also available.

What will I achieve?

By the end of the course you will be able to:

• Discuss what bioinformatics is
• Describe the role of a bioinformatician
• List some publicly available data resources
• Lead your group in the creation of data management plans
• Identify some bioinformatics competencies required by your group

What resources do I need?

There are no particular resources required for this collection. However, some of the suggested extra work requires the use of one of the programming languages R or Python. 

DOI: 10.6019/TOL.BioinformaticsPIs-t.2023.00001.1

Course contents

How and when to access the course

All our courses are designed with flexibility in mind. You can access them for free at any time, just click on the “Enter Course” button.

It is up to you how you use the course; you can either study the full course or you can focus on sections that are relevant to you. To jump between sections, use the navigation bar on the left or the arrows at the bottom of the page. You can also choose whether to complete the course in one go, or over several visits.

The average time to read through the main body of the course about 1 day (not including exercises and external links). The time may vary depending on your prior knowledge and how you choose to work through the course.

Making the most of the course

Learning something new takes time and practice. We encourage you to:

• Use the activities and quizzes to help you check your learning, recall and apply key concepts. Look out for these icons:-

• Revisit sections as and when you need them. Bookmark relevant pages in your browser or use the navigation panel to jump the relevant section.

Getting help and providing feedback

If something isn’t working or if you have a question get in touch by contacting us at trainonline@ebi.ac.uk

Tell us what you thought about the course (both good and bad!) using the “Feedback and help” button found at the top of each page.

Your feedback helps us ensure we are providing training that is relevant and useful for you.

For help and support on EMBL-EBI resources you can contact the helpdesk directly.

Learn more

You can explore other training on offer from EMBL-EBI on our website. We offer online courses, webinars, face-to-face courses and offsite training.