Train-the-Trainer: Course Design and Delivery for Bioinformatics Trainers

Course Overview/description:

H3ABioNet, Wellcome Connecting Science and the European Bioinformatics Institute are hosting a Train-the-Trainer workshop. The aim of the workshop is to empower trainers and educators focused on bioinformatics and data science to design, develop, and deliver effective training in their field of expertise. Trainers will learn how to plan, design, and deliver training in bioinformatics to impart skills to students, professionals, and future experts.

Objectives:

• Provide instruction, coaching and feedback (theory and practice) to prepare participants to effectively design and deliver training to others in bioinformatics skills.
• Promote participation and involvement using group work and presentation
• Promote interpersonal     skills,     collaboration,     and     networking through       community development, mentorship, and expert support.
• Raise awareness of creation and use of open and accessible training
• Enable trainers to evaluate their teaching/learning. 

Keywords: Genomics, Bioinformatics, Education, Training

Skill level of training: Beginner

Language: English

Credential awarded: letter of completion

Type of training: online

Prerequisites: Trainers and educators who have an understanding of the topic they wish to teach (bioinformatics, genomics, data science).

Learning objectives/outcomes:

After this workshop participants should be able to:

• Apply theoretical and pedagogical concepts to learning
• Describe the pipeline for effective design and development of
• Define factors that influence training design and promote
• Design a short training course on a specific
• Plan training evaluation using appropriate
• Critically review the design of bioinformatics

Venue of workshop: Zoom

Dates for the workshop: 22 November – 8 December 2022, Tuesday and Thursday, 14h00 – 17h00 CAT.

Workshop organisers: Nicola Mulder, Alice Matimba, Dusanka Nikolic, Verena Ras, Benjamin Moore, Piv Gopalasingham, Isabela Malta, Sarah Morgan, Sindiswa Lukhele.

Registration opens: 30 September 2022

Registration closes: 21 October 2022

Notification date: 11 November 2022

Link to application form: Train the Trainer Participant Registration Form 

Workshop Sponsors: H3ABioNet, Wellcome Connecting Science, and the European Bioinformatics Institute.

Intended Audience: Applicants must be individuals involved in genomics or bioinformatics and interested in developing their skills in effectively training others in specific topics.

Course schedule:

Course Overview/description: 

Next generation sequencing (NGS) has become an essential tool in genetic and genomic analysis. It is increasingly important for experimental scientists to gain the bioinformatics skills required to analyse the large volumes of data produced by next generation sequencers. This course will equip participants with the essential informatics skills required to begin analysing NGS data and apply some of the most commonly used tools and resources for sequence data analysis.

The programme will cover prominent sequencing technologies, algorithmic theory and principles of bioinformatics, with a strong focus on practical computational sessions using sequence analysis techniques and tools applicable to any species or genome size. A variety of applications will be covered from post-sequencing analysis - QC, alignment, assembly, variant calling and RNA-Seq.

This course will apply a blended learning format consisting of locally coordinated classrooms referred to as “remote classrooms”. Click here for more information. Please note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the local classrooms will likely run virtually, using Zoom and downloadable virtual machines.

Would you like to enroll in the course in 2022?

Please apply to take the course by clicking here

Applications close 21 February 2022 at midnight (CAT)

Intended Audience:

Applicants should be postdoctoral scientists, senior PhD students, junior faculty members or clinicians/healthcare professionals actively engaged in or soon to commence research involving next generation sequencing data analysis.

Priority will be given to applicants who 1) currently or will soon have NGS experimental data to analyse 2) will utilise the bioinformatics techniques taught in at least two of the modules/topic areas listed in the programme outline in their experiments 3) have a clear plan/opportunity to disseminate the knowledge amongst their peers. We encourage applicants to highlight these areas in their application.

Learning objectives/outcomes: After this workshop participants should be able to:

• Use the unix command-line as a tool for data analysis
• Describe the different NGS data file formats available
• Perform QC assessment of high throughput sequencing data
• Explain the algorithmic concepts behind read alignment, variant calling and structural variant detection
• Perform read alignment, variant calling and structural variation detection using standard tools
• Analyse RNA-Seq and CHiP-seq data
• Perform a genome assembly using NGS data 

Prerequisites:

The practical sessions will be taught exclusively through Unix/Linux. Therefore, participants are required to have some previous experience using the Linux operating system. This will be essential for participants to fully benefit from the course. There are numerous online introductory tutorials to the UNIX/Linux operating system and command line, including:

• http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Teaching/Unix
• http://swcarpentry.github.io/shell-novice/

Syllabus and Tools:

The course will cover the following topics:

• Intro to Unix/Linux & running workflows
• Introduction to NGS Technologies
• NGS data pre-processing and QC
• Alignment to reference sequences
• Variant calling and annotation
• ChipSeq
• RNASeq
• Genome assembly

Dates for the workshop:

Tuesdays & Thursdays from 22/03/2022 until 20/06/2022 (staff training will happen ahead of this)

Classroom registration opens:

03/12/2021

Classroom registration closes:

10/01/2022

Notification date:

17/01/2022 

Participant applications:

Applications are now open and will close on 21 February at midnight (CAT).  Apply here.

Workshop organisers:

WGC WCS and H3ABioNet

Workshop Sponsors:

Wellcome Genome Campus/ Wellcome Connecting Science and H3ABioNet 

Keywords:

NGS, Data analysis, Genomics, Sequence analysis

Skill level of training:

Advanced 

Language:

English 

Credential awarded:

Letter of completion

Type of training:

Likely to be run in a virtual format

Workshop limitations:

The course aims to provide a hands-on introduction to bioinformatics for next generation sequencing, and should not be considered a complete education in the theoretical and mathematical foundations of the topics.

Workshop Programme:

The workshop will run for ~10 weeks, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from the 22nd of March until the 20th of June. 

Please apply to take the course by clicking here