Online tutorial
Polygenic scores and the PGS Catalog
Predicting genetic risk and traits
Time to complete:
3 hours
This course includes:
Written by:
- Santhi Ramachandran
- Joel T Gibson
- Benjamin Wingfield
- Laura Harris
- Samuel Lambert
Last reviewed:
March 2026
All materials are free cultural works licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, except where further licensing details are provided.
Share this course with:
Polygenic scores (PGS) can be used to predict an individual's genetic predisposition to a heritable trait or disease. In this tutorial you will learn about PGS and the PGS Catalog, an open database of existing scores that can be reused and applied in research and clinical settings.
Who is this course for?
This course is for researchers interested in developing, validating, or applying polygenic scores to assess genetic susceptibility to inherited traits and diseases. An undergraduate-level knowledge of biology would be an advantage. If you are new to the field, we recommend starting with the following introductory courses to familiarise yourself with some of the key concepts and terms used in this course:
What will I achieve?
By the end of the course you will be able to:
- Describe what polygenic scores (PGS) are and how they are developed
- Recognise the purpose and major functionality of the PGS Catalog
- Identify the types and scope of the data contained in the PGS Catalog and how scores can be calculated in new samples
- Search the PGS Catalog to identify scores developed for particular traits
- Find where to get help and support on the PGS Catalog
DOI:
10.6019/TOL.PGScatalog-t.2025.00001.1
Course contents
- What is the PGS Catalog?
- What are polygenic scores?
- PGS development and evaluation
- What can I do with the PGS Catalog?
- How to search the PGS Catalog?
- Accessing data from the PGS Catalog
- Calculating and reusing existing PGS
- How to submit data to the PGS Catalog
- Summary
- Try it yourself
- Quiz: Check your learning
- Your feedback
- Get help and support on the PGS Catalog
- References
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 is 3 hours (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:-
Activities |
Quizzes |
Videos |
- 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.
