CS101E Python for Biologists, Level 1
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Contents |
Objectives
This course teaches biologists how to use Python as a programming language to automate routine data management tasks in biological research and solve difficult data-related computational problems. Data could be DNA or amino acid sequence, microarray data, images, mass spectrometry data, LIMS data, or any other kind of biological information.
Instructor
Syllabus
The course is divided into 4 sessions. The 5th session is reserved for project discussion and any other issues the students may want to discuss. There will be quizzes and homework assignments after every lecture.
- Day 1: Installation issues and simple exercises that illustrate how to create and execute simple Python programs using variables and the print statement. The Python interpreter and editor will be introduced.
- Day 2: Fundamentals of programming with Python, such as operators (mathematical, conditional, logical), file input/output, loops (if-then-else, for, while), etc.
- Day 3: Functions, hashes and object oriented programming
- Day 4: Installation of Python packages such as iPython, NumPy (Numeric Python), and Biopython. Some basic tasks in these packages will be covered. Project discussion.
Scheduled courses
If you are interested in an upcoming course, register using instructions below. (Access to completed courses is available to enrolled students only, because of privacy and confidentiality issues.)
- Upcoming courses
- Completed courses
- Ongoing courses
Registration
Registration for courses at Bioinformatics.Org takes two steps:
- Step 1
- If you haven't already done so, create an on-line account to access the educational section of our website. Please note that the registration for our educational system is separate from that of the main website; you will require another account.
- Step 2
- Register for the course by making a payment using either the on-line registration form (click on the name of the course where it appears in the list of upcoming courses; use this form only for PayPal payments and credit card payments via secured PayPal), or by sending in the registration form (PDF; use this form if paying by US checks, credit card or corporate purchase order).
Please also check the course tuition rates and discounts.
Registration deadline: When full
Tuition & discounts
- Live instruction held on-line
- For-profit & government: $500 USD
- Non-profit & self-pay: $300 USD
- Live instruction held on-site
- For-profit & government: $600 USD
- Non-profit & self-pay: $400 USD
- On-demand instruction held on-line
- For-profit & government: $300 USD
- Non-profit & self-pay: $200 USD
Additional discounts are available as follows:
- Professional members: 20% discount
- Limited scholarships may also be available for those residing in low-income economies (please inquire).
Logistics
The necessary software, lecture notes and exercises will be provided.
Live instruction held on-line
On-line/live courses use the WebEx on-line meeting system. Access information will be provided prior to the start of the course. Unless otherwise noted, each lecture begins at 16:00 GMT and runs for about an hour, depending on the topics covered.
For those who cannot attend the lectures at those times, the lectures will be recorded and placed on the course website as AVI video files each day, within one day. Students will also be able to communicate with the instructor and other students via the course forums. Lecture attendance is therefore not required.
Since this will be an interactive, hands-on workshop, all attendees will need a computer with a broadband Internet connection (1 Mbps or faster is strongly recommended for those watching the live lecture), a sound card with speakers, a modern Web browser, and Java. A microphone and webcam are not required but may be used.
Certification
This course is certified by the Bioinformatics Organization, Inc., the largest international affiliation in the field, and it will count as 3 "Continuing Scientific Education" (CSE) units (one unit per contact hour) within the Organization. Students completing the course will receive a certificate attesting to that.
Additional information
Please contact us for questions or additional information.
