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Introduction to Data Science

This series of workshops is designed for undergraduate researchers and students who are new to working with biological data. No programming experience is required to start — each module builds on the previous one, taking you from raw spreadsheet data through reproducible analysis and visualization.

  • Data Organization in Spreadsheets

    Learn how to structure, clean, and document tabular data so it can be used by any tool and any collaborator. Covers the cardinal rules of tidy data, ten common spreadsheet mistakes, metadata, and exporting to open formats.

    ~90 minutes  ·  Available now

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  • Managing Data & Projects for Genomics

    Apply data tidiness principles to the scale and complexity of genomics research. Learn how to organize files and directories for reproducible work, plan NGS projects, and track data through bioinformatics pipelines.

    ~90 minutes  ·  Available now

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  • Introduction to R & RStudio

    Get started with R — the statistical computing language used throughout biology and data science. Learn to navigate RStudio, write your first scripts, and load and explore the datasets from this course series.

    ~120 minutes  ·  Available now

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  • Introduction to Data Visualization in R

    Learn the grammar of graphics and build publication-quality plots using ggplot2. Covers choosing the right chart type, customizing appearance, and common visualizations for biological data.

    ~120 minutes  ·  Available now

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Who This Series Is For

These workshops are designed for undergraduate students, early-stage graduate students, and researchers who work with biological data but have not yet had formal training in data management or computational analysis. If you have ever struggled with a messy spreadsheet, wondered how to share data with a collaborator, or wanted to make a figure in R — this series is for you.

How to Use This Series

Work through the modules in order — each one builds on skills from the previous. The course pages stay available after in-person sessions so you can revisit any section, finish exercises at your own pace, and bring any questions you may have to the CGDS Core office hours.

Questions? Contact the CGDS Core — CGDS@mdibl.org