Reflecting on a nationwide bioinformatics training programme
Since 2017 Genomics Aotearoa and NeSI (New Zealand eScience Infrastructure) have collaborated to provide bioinformatics and genomics training free of charge to researchers in Aotearoa New Zealand. Following the format of The Carpentries (an internationally recognised training institution), we have run more than 100 workshops in-person and online, reaching more than 2,000 total attendees. The training programme includes a portfolio of beginner workshops covering R programming, the command line, and working on servers, as well as specialized genomics topics such as RNA-seq data analysis, long-read genome assembly, single-cell RNA-seq, and pangenome graphs.
The workshop portfolio was developed by over 30 experts from 15 institutions, including both international collaborators and local contributors who have taught internationally. The training programme is itself a valuable resource which has provided support to community initiatives (e.g., IndigiData Aotearoa), fosters relationships with the private sector (e.g., collaborative conferences), and offers teaching and training opportunities to Postdocs and PhD students.
This talk will showcase some of the key outputs of the training programme, highlight opportunities for researchers in Aotearoa who want to engage in bioinformatics training, and invite discussion on how we best serve the community going forward.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tyler McInnes In 2022 Tyler McInnes joined Genomics Aotearoa in the position of Bioinformatics Training Coordinator where he oversees the training programme workshop portfolio, collaborating with subject matter experts in developing and instructing workshops. Prior to joining Genomics Aoteaoroa Tyler worked as a Teaching Fellow, where he developed an intervention programme to teach students critical study skills and improve pass rates. From 2019 to 2022 Tyler worked with various groups of students, delivering weekly and fortnightly workshops which supported students in learning paper content and developing skills such as: public speaking, creating and interpreting diagrams, critical assessment of questions, and many more.
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For more information about the eResearch NZ / eRangahau Aotearoa conference, visit:
https://eresearchnz.co.nz/
