Biologists need data analysis skills to be able to interpret, visualise and communicate their research results. While Excel can cover some data analysis needs, there is a better choice, particularly for large and complex datasets. 

R is a free, open-source software and programming language that enables data exploration, statistical analysis, visualisation and more. The large variety of R packages available for analysing biological data make it a robust and flexible option for data of all shapes and sizes. 

Getting started can be a little daunting for those without a background in statistics and programming. In this workshop we will equip you with the foundations for getting the most out of R and RStudio, an interactive way of structuring and keeping track of your work in R. Using biological data from a model of influenza infection, you will learn how to efficiently and reproducibly organise, read, wrangle, analyse, visualise and generate reports from your data in R.

Topics covered in this workshop include:

• Spreadsheets, organising data and first steps with R

• Manipulating and analysing data with dplyr

• Data visualisation

• Summarized experiments and getting started with Bioconductor

Lead Trainers: Dr Saskia Freytag (Laboratory Head, Personalised Oncology Division, WEHI), Dr Maria Doyle (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre), Dr Brendan Ansell (WEHI).

Format

This online workshop will take place over a series of three-hour sessions. You must attend all four sessions in order to get the most out of the workshop. Expert trainers will guide you through each of the topics and provide activities and take home exercises to help you put your new skills into action. Support will be provided via Slack between sessions.

Date/time: 1, 8, 15, and 22 June 2022: 2 - 5pm AEST/ 1:30-4:30pm ACST/ 12-3pm AWST

1 June 2022: Spreadsheets, organising data and first steps with R

8 June 2022: Manipulating and analysing data with dplyr and joining tables

15 June 2022: Data visualisation

22 June 2022: Summarized experiments and getting started with Bioconductor

Participants must attend all four sessions

Learning outcomes

By the end of the workshop you should be able to:

• Organise your data for effective use

• Use RStudio to structure your work in R and run R packages

• Make use of objects, vectors and functions in R

• Load, inspect and manipulate data in R

• Use dplyr and tidyr and packages to manipulate and reshape data

• Produce and customise scatter plots, box plots, line plots, etc. using ggplot

• Combine data spread across multiple tables

• Use the SummarizedExperiment package to store and handle omics data

• Have some familiarity with Bioconductor 

• Identify sources of help and support from the R community

​​Who the workshop is for
This workshop is for Australian life science researchers who are using, or intend to use, R to analyse their data.

This workshop is suitable for absolute beginners or those who wish to go back to basics to ensure they are using R and RStudio effectively. No prior knowledge of R is required.

How to apply

This workshop is free but participation is subject to application with selection. 

Applications close at 11:59pm AEST Wednesday 11 May 2022.

You must be associated with an Australian organisation and provide an appropriate organisational email address for your application to be considered.

Applications will be reviewed by the organising committee and all applicants will be informed of the status of their application (successful, waiting list, unsuccessful). Successful applicants will be provided with a Zoom meeting link closer to the date.

Applications are now closed

This event is part of a series of bioinformatics training events. If you'd like to hear when registrations open for other events, please subscribe to Australian BioCommons.

Cover image: R logo reproduced under CC-BY-SA 4.0