Course Overview: The course aims to provide an introduction to the field of bioinformatics, with a focus on important bioinformatics tools, and resources. The course aims to use a combination of theoretical and practical sessions in order for participants to gain practical experience in using various tools and resources.
Intended Audience: The course is aimed at individuals from a molecular biology background who have a basic understanding of biochemistry and/or genetics and would like to become bioinformatics users. For an explanation on who 'bioinformatics users' might be, see Figure 2 in http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003496. A baseline level of the understanding of the central dogma of biology (DNA -> RNA -> Protein) is a requirement.
Keywords: Genetics, Genomics, Nucleic acids analysis
Skill level of training: Beginner
Language: English
Credential awarded: Letter of completion
Type of training: Blended/hybrid learning
Venue of workshop: Local classrooms ( usually ~50 physical/online sites across Africa). Please be aware that the course is likely to make use of a combination of both physical and online sites depending on ongoing Covid-19 restrictions.
Dates for the workshop: 05 July – 15 October 2022; Every Tuesday and Thursday from 10:30 CAT to 14:30 CAT.
Workshop organisers: Verena Ras, Shaun Aron, Sumir Panji and Nicola Mulder
Participation: The course is available to any classroom who meets the requirements and to any participant who is able to attend a physical/online classroom, provided they have been selected via the selection process. Should a classroom decide to host a face-to-face classroom, the participant must be able to attend this classroom in person for the duration of the course.
Workshop Sponsors: H3ABioNet + Local Classrooms
Classroom applications:
Registration for classrooms opens: 25 March 2022
Registration for classrooms closes: 18 April 2022
Link to classroom application form: HOST applications have now closed
Notification date for successful classrooms: 06 May 2022
Maximum number of participants that may be accepted per classroom will be capped at 40
Participant applications:
Registration for participants opens: 10 May 2022
Registration for participants closes: Friday 03 June 2022 at 11:59 pm CAT
Application instructions: Participants must select a classroom within their region and that they are able to attend physically should that particular classroom choose to go ahead as a face-to-face classroom. Please be sure to adhere to this as selecting a classroom outside of your region/location may result in your application being rejected. Please also be aware that applying for the course does not guarantee entry - you will undergo a formal selection process.
Participant application form: please click here to apply; application deadline - Friday 03 June 2022 at 11:59 pm CAT
Syllabus and Tools:
The course curriculum will cover the following main themes (subject to slight changes):
- Bioinformatics resources and databases
- Introduction to bioinformatics, biological databases and resources (NCBI and EBI), data formats, ontologies
- Linux
- Introduction to Linux, general overview of Linux environment, overview of command line interface, navigating Linux directory structure, manipulating files and directories, basic Linux commands
- Sequence alignment theory and applications
- Introduction to searching and sequence alignment, BLAST, pairwise sequence alignment
- Multiple sequence alignment (MSA)
- MSA theory, generating and interpreting MSAs using various tools, visualising and assessing MSA quality
- Genomics
- Overview of sequencing and annotation, Ensembl genome browser, Genetic variation, HapMap, 1000 genomes
- Molecular evolution and phylogenetics
- Molecular evolution, phylogenetic approaches and methods (Introduction and overview of methods)
**All modules make use of predominantly web-based tools such as NCBI, Ensembl, etc.
Prerequisites: A basic background/understanding of of biochemistry and/or genetics.
Objectives: After this workshop participants should be able to:
- Explain the use of bioinformatics
- Name the key bioinformatics techniques and tools
- Locate important biological databases and retrieve data
- Use selected tools effectively to run specific bioinformatics analyses
- Understand the strengths and limitations of the various techniques
Workshop limitations: This workshop will only provide a foundation for continued learning in bioinformatics and will not teach any advanced coding.
For more information on IBT, please visit: https://www.h3abionet.org/training/ibt
