Foundations of Bioinformatics Micro-credential Essential data literacy for analysing your sequencing data

Schedule

A six-week, beginner-friendly pathway designed to build essential sequencing data literacy, computational confidence and reproducible bioinformatics practice.

All sessions are part of the Foundations of Bioinformatics Micro-credential.

Assessment & Completion

Participants are expected to engage with the weekly learning activities, practical workshops and final research-focused capstone task.

  • Attend weekly sessions
  • Complete weekly learning and feedback activities
  • Participate in hands-on bioinformatics exercises
  • Complete a final mini capstone project using a real or example sequencing dataset

Participants who meet the completion requirements receive a Certificate of Completion.

Week 1: Sequencing Data Foundations

Week 1 Theory
  • Introduction to DNA and RNA sequencing workflows
  • Compare Illumina, Nanopore and PacBio sequencing platforms
  • Understand reads, FASTQ files and sequencing metadata
  • Recognise how sequencing data move from laboratory generation to analysis
  • Identify common bioinformatics analysis pathways

Week 2: Linux & Bioinformatics Computing Environments

Week 2 Hands-on Workshop
  • Understand Linux as a bioinformatics computing environment
  • Navigate directories and work with files from the command line
  • Understand local computing, WSL and HPC concepts
  • Organise sequencing data for reproducible analysis
  • Develop confidence working in a terminal environment

Week 3: Software, Environments & Reproducibility

Week 3 Hands-on Workshop
  • Understand bioinformatics software installation and dependencies
  • Use Conda environments to manage software
  • Understand containers and portable computational environments
  • Recognise the role of PATH and executable programs
  • Document software and environment choices reproducibly

Week 4: Sequencing Quality Control

Week 4 Hands-on Workshop
  • Interpret sequencing quality scores and FASTQ structure
  • Understand FastQC outputs
  • Recognise common sequencing data quality issues
  • Understand trimming and filtering decisions
  • Document quality-control steps reproducibly

Week 5: Bioinformatics Workflow Planning

Week 5 Workshop
  • Understand the logic of a bioinformatics workflow
  • Map biological questions to appropriate analysis steps
  • Recognise pathways for genomics, microbiome and transcriptomics datasets
  • Plan file inputs, outputs and analysis checkpoints
  • Communicate analysis requirements with collaborators and bioinformaticians

Week 6: Capstone Project & Research Analysis Roadmap

Week 6 Capstone Workshop
  • Organise a real or example sequencing dataset and metadata
  • Assess data quality and interpret key outputs
  • Select an appropriate analysis strategy
  • Build a reproducible workflow plan
  • Develop a roadmap for subsequent domain-specific analysis