Short Abstract: Why did the Bioinformatics.ca ‘Bioinformatics’, ‘Genomics’, and ‘Proteomics’ workshops disappear from the series? Will there be a forthcoming workshop in epigenetics or clinical informatics? Over the past sixteen years of continuing education workshops in bioinformatics, Bioinformatics.ca has seen the introduction and retirement of numerous workshops. Here we explore what the drivers are for the introduction of new workshops in bioinformatics and what the reasons are for either the transformation or retirement of a workshop. Understanding the factors that contribute to the lifecycle of a bioinformatics workshop is critical for continuing education programs, like Bioinformatics.ca, to stay viable, up to date, and relevant.

Short Abstract: How should the next generation of genomics scientists be trained whilst simultaneously pursuing high quality and diverse research? CGAT, the Computational Genomics Analysis and Training programme, was set up in 2010 by the UK Medical Research Council to complement its investment in next-generation sequencing capacity. CGAT was conceived around the twin goals of training future leaders in genome biology and medicine, and providing much needed capacity to UK science for analysing genome scale datasets. In this poster we outline the training programme employed by CGAT and describe how it dovetails with collaborative research projects to launch scientists on the road towards independent research careers in genomics.

Short Abstract: DNA Subway is an educational bioinformatics platform developed by the iPlant Collaborative (NSF #DBI–0735191). It bundles research-grade bioinformatics tools, high-performance computing, and databases into workflows with an easy-to-use interface. “Riding” DNA Subway lines, students can predict and annotate genes in up to 150kb of DNA (Red Line), identify homologs in sequenced genomes (Yellow Line), identify species using DNA barcodes and phylogenetic trees (Blue Line), and examine RNA-Seq datasets for differential transcript abundance (Green Line). By combining bioinformatics with a wet-lab ‘hook,’ we are able to offer educators a path to supporting a variety of inquiry-based learning experiences using student-generated data. Products of student research can be exported, published, and utilized in follow-up experiments. Examples from The Urban Barcode project (http://www.urbanbarcodeproject.org/) and RNA-Seq for the Next Generation project (http://www.rnaseqforthenextgeneration.org/) highlight how DNA Subway can be leveraged for distributed science and course-based research experiences. DNA Subway is freely accessible online at dnasubway.iplantcollaborative.org.

Short Abstract: The SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, via its Training and Outreach group, provides and coordinates training on various bioinformatics-related domains and with different skill levels. In addition to long-established block-courses and one-day workshops, as well as e-learning modules, SIB is offering a new series of "First Steps with" courses to address an increasing demand for basic training on specific topics in bioinformatics.

Indeed, next generation -omics technologies require extended skills in computational biology, which many scientists and PhD students lack. Our “First Steps with” one-day courses target beginners with no programming background and aim to provide basic skills on particular topics required by new technologies, focussing mainly on large-scale data analysis.

The first course of the series "First Steps with UNIX", has been taught several times and based on participants’ feedback, provided relevant training through real-world practicals. The second course, "First Steps with R", has already received long waiting lists, illustrating the high demand for such beginners’ courses. Participants appreciated being introduced to this powerful programming environment and its basic usage.

Such a series of introductory courses represents a necessary first step but participants will require more training and practice to fully exploit these tools for their own research. To pursue its training efforts, SIB plans to develop new courses of this series (such as Perl or Python), and to offer intermediate courses or follow-ups on existing basic training. This will enable researchers to continue improving and using bioinformatics' skills in their daily work.

Short Abstract: Online learning is increasingly being sought by a diverse range of trainees looking to develop their professional skills and fill gaps in their knowledge. Training in this mode overcomes the time, budget and geographical restrictions associated with face-to-face training, but presents a number of challenges for course development and delivery. Train online (www.ebi.ac.uk/training/online) is a free web-based learning resource produced by EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI). It was designed to primarily support the wider use of EMBL-EBI resources, but increasingly provides life scientists with conceptual understanding of bioinformatics.

Users of Train online range from those with little or no experience of bioinformatics through to more experienced bioinformaticians. Each has their own specific requirements from the training provided and this, coupled with unique learning styles presents challenges for the provision of material that is both informative and engaging.

To address these challenges, Train online offers variety in the learning resources provided. These range from short courses and webinars that provide a brief overview of a resource, to more detailed walkthroughs which guide users through a resource in more detail, with the inclusion of guided examples. To increase engagement and retention within the courses we are developing more mixed content, including exercises, short videos, annotated screenshots, quizzes and case-studies.

We aim to create an interactive experience that caters for different learning styles; where users create an individual learning experience by accessing relevant training resources anywhere, anytime and dipping in and out of courses depending on their requirements and interests.

Short Abstract: A goal of ELIXIR – the pan-European research infrastructure for biological information – is to train scientists to use available computational resources to aide their research. For this, they need access to disparate training materials, scattered across Europe’s life-science sectors. ELIXIR's TeSS (Training eSupport System) was designed as a portal for discovering, packaging and disseminating training resources, automatically aggregating training information primarily from from ELIXIR Nodes. It provides at-a-glance views of ELIXIR nodes, allowing them to promote their latest news, events, activity highlights, etc. and contribute to the catalogue of training resources (tutorials, guides, etc.). The portal also aggregates information from 3rd-party content providers (e.g., GOBLET, Software Carpentry, the European Bioinformatics Institute), making attributed links to their resources. Using TeSS, training resources may be combined into bespoke collections of complementary materials – ‘packages’ – allowing users to gather resources of relevance to a topic of interest (sequence analysis, NGS, 3D-modelling, etc.) and to create custom lessons, modules or courses. To facilitate navigation through the plethora of resources available, TeSS also offers data- or activity-oriented views via ‘workflows’: i.e., interactive, visual representations of routine data-analysis tasks (database searching, sequence alignment, structure prediction, etc.) with links to relevant training resources and events. Tighter coupling between ELIXIR’s core databases/tools and their cognate training resources will be facilitated via links between TeSS and ELIXIR’s tools/services registry, and BioCatalogue and BioSharing initiatives.

The alpha version of TeSS, released in March 2015, is available at https://tess.oerc.ox.ac.uk.

Short Abstract: Year on year, the demand for bioinformatics training and skills has steadily increased. The breadth of audiences soliciting bioinformatics training has also increased, expanding from primarily wet-lab scientists to include high-school teachers and students, as well as junior faculty and seasoned academics. These trends are being experienced globally. The Global Organisation of Bioinformatics Learning, Education and Training (GOBLET) is a network of bioinformatics trainers and initiatives whose goal is to provide a global, sustainable support and networking structure for capacity development in bioinformatics. Over the past year, GOBLET has put forward numerous bioinformatics training programs to meet the growing global demand for such training. Presented here are some of the GOBLET training enterprises, which have taken place at various ISMB conferences, science-teacher association conferences and other venues around the world. We share lessons learned in organizing and presenting these sessions, and discuss the impact they have had on further outreach efforts.

Short Abstract: Introduction. Over the last decade, the exponential increase in the use of next generation sequencing (NGS) applications has led to a high demand for researchers who are capable of analysing such data. Consequently, demand for training in this area has increased; researchers with experience in this analysis are often tasked with training other scientists and have to dedicate a significant portion of their time to prepare lectures and practicals, time which is already limited by their research projects.
Aim. To tackle this issue, we wanted to create a system for NGS trainers to exchange teaching experience and materials, therefore not only greatly reducing the time required to put together lectures and practicals, but also promoting exchange between NGS trainers across the globe in an effort to create a community of NGS trainers, to share best training practices and to improve their teaching in order to equip scientists with the skill set needed to analyse and interpret their data.
Results. We here present a platform for trainers to upload their courses’ materials using the “Git” versioning software as a back-end, according to a common set of descriptors. The descriptions are uploaded as markdown files using a set of pre-defined keywords to categorise the materials. A simple user interface allows trainers to search for the descriptive files using such keywords and retrieve specific modules from the materials repository. Information about the repository is available at: https://bioinformatics.upsc.se/ngs-training and its content will also be accessible through the Goblet training portal.

Short Abstract: As the rate of biological data generation continues to outstrip the rate at which life scientists are able to perform analyses and add biological meaning, providing high quality training in bioinformatics and computational biology is now more important than ever. To this end, identifying learning methods that contribute to successful training is critical. Here, we report findings from a pilot study, where we explored the impact of project-based learning in the context of a five-day training course, our Bioinformatics Summer School that took place in June 2014.
To overcome the challenge of designing a training course that was able to develop the competencies of an increasingly heterogeneous audience of life scientists, we created a course where participants with common goals were able to work together. Participants were grouped according to common research interests, and were challenged to work together on realistic research scenarios that were relevant to their work. Despite the short time scale of the course, the participants made excellent progress in addressing the problems set and gained experience of a wide range of tools and resources directly applicable to their research.
To determine the impact of the course two surveys were undertaken; one at the end of the course and another 6 months later. In both surveys participants responded positively to the problem-based learning approach. Participants indicated that they had continued to use both the resources and methods learnt after the course, demonstrating long-term impact of this approach.

Short Abstract: The vast amount of data generated in life science is being driven by continual improvements in methods and platform technologies. These data will need to be analysed and transformed into knowledge and hypotheses if we are to fully realise new discoveries and breakthroughs. For this, scientists will need to be empowered through data infrastructure, analysis tools, training and opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations. To facilitate this, the pan-European ELIXIR initiative seeks to enable the use of Big Data within life science, by developing easily accessible and sustainable infrastructure that incorporates biological data and tools from across Europe.

To both promote and facilitate interdisciplinary training, an ELIXIR wide Training Coordination Group (TrCG) has been established, with representation from each member state. The mission of this group is to establish an interactive ELIXIR-wide training community that coherently and effectively delivers ELIXIR-related training across Europe.

By establishing this training community, ELIXIR has a unique opportunity to harmonise training across Europe whilst aligning national training strategies within an overarching pan-European strategy. ELIXIR has identified training needs within it’s member states and simultaneously mapped existing training expertise. This expertise will be used to support and develop national capabilities through collaboration within ELIXIR and beyond. This is a powerful approach that is expected to have an enormous impact on training delivery in Big Data across Europe.

Short Abstract: To fully realise the potential of genomic medicine and of other high-throughput molecular approaches to the prediction, diagnosis and management of disease, it will be necessary for both the current and the future generation of healthcare professionals to work more closely with bioinformatics data and systems – and with bioinformaticians. Depending on the role of the individual, training needs vary from awareness of the role of bioinformatics in the clinic to the development and implementation of new methods to analyse and interpret clinical bioinformatics data. To analyse training needs and map these to currently available training, we have used LifeTrain’s principles to draft a competency framework for bioinformatics as it relates to genomic medicine. We refined the framework by seeking input from five or more practitioners or experts in each specified role. Our goal is to develop this draft competency matrix into a flexible tool – both to enable training professionals to identify gaps in existing training programmes so that they can be rapidly filled, and to enable individuals to plan their professional development by finding training that plugs competency gaps. As a proof of principle we have performed a preliminary mapping of the matrix to three training programmes developed by Health Education England.

Short Abstract: The need for just-in-time bioinformatics training for biologists is well-established. However the jury is still out when it comes to formal education in bioinformatics. Bioinformaticians are called to apply computational methods to life science data with the view of contributing to biological discoveries – a scientific task, but they are also often required to design and implement new methods and infrastructure for life science computing – a task that draws on engineering skills and mindset. Putting the two together into one degree is difficult especially at the undergraduate level given the breadth of foundational knowledge required.
UNSW has for the last 14 years offered a degree in Bioinformatics engineering with a strong engineering core. This degree is now being complemented by a Bachelor of Science in bioinformatics that aims to train biologists with a strong computational focus. The two degrees share common courses but each has a distinct emphasis and target audience.