The challenges of delivering bioinformatics training in the analysis of high-throughput data

1. Benilton S Carvalho
   Benilton Carvalho is a Visiting Professor at the Department of Medical Genetics at the State University of Campinas in Brazil, and a Bioconductor developer since 2004. During 3 years as a Research Associate at the Department of Oncology of the University of Cambridge in UK, he has contributed to numerous courses in bioinformatics and statistics. His research efforts focus on the development of statistical methodologies and efficient computational tools for the understanding of complex traits analysed with high-throughput technologies.
2. Gabriella Rustici*
   Gabriella Rustici is the Research and Training Coordinator in the Functional Genomics group at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) in Cambridge, UK. She earned her PhD in Genetics from Cambridge University in 2004, working on transcription profiling of the fission yeast cell cycle, and since joining the EMBL-EBI in 2007, she has focused on training and educating the life science community to use bioinformatics resources for the analysis and interpretation of high-throughput data.

1. ↵*Corresponding author. Gabriella Rustici, Functional Genomics Group, EMBL-EBI, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton CB10 1SD, UK. Tel.: +44-1223-492539; Fax: +44-1223-494468; E-mail: gabry@ebi.ac.uk

• Received January 28, 2013.
• Accepted March 2, 2013.

Abstract

High-throughput technologies are widely used in the field of functional genomics and used in an increasing number of applications. For many ‘wet lab’ scientists, the analysis of the large amount of data generated by such technologies is a major bottleneck that can only be overcome through very specialized training in advanced data analysis methodologies and the use of dedicated bioinformatics software tools. In this article, we wish to discuss the challenges related to delivering training in the analysis of high-throughput sequencing data and how we addressed these challenges in the hands-on training courses that we have developed at the European Bioinformatics Institute. 

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