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Biology for a Better Tomorrow - A digital series in Partnership with CWP

Introduction to Reproducible Analyses in R, February 2025

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Date
12.02.25 - 13.02.25
Start time
12.02.25 10:00
End time
13.02.25 12:00
Where
Online via Zoom

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* This course contributes to the Royal Society of Biology's Industry Skills Certificate


This course is running over two sessions, 10:00 - 12:00 on 12th and 13th February.

Overview

Learning to use R programming language can seem daunting at first, but for biologists, it is an essential skill that significantly improves the reproducibility and transparency of research. Using R for data analysis can streamline workflows, handle large and complex datasets efficiently, and ensure your research methods are reproducible.
This hands-on course provides an introductory experience in R programming language, with a focus on tidy data principles and creating reproducible analyses. Over the course of two sessions, participants will explore real-world biological datasets and learn relevant programming grammars and verbs through the use of key packages from the tidyverse to import, tidy, and analyze data. By the end of the course, researchers will have a strong foundation in R programming, equipping them to craft clean and highly readable R codes that perform basic data analysis independently.

Who is this course for?

This entry-level course is suitable for researchers and scientists who are new to R and interested in improving the reproducibility of their work. No prior coding experience is required, and the course is designed to be approachable for all levels. The course will run over two days, with two 2-hour sessions. Participants will work remotely on their own laptops, and instructions for installing R and RStudio will be provided before the course begins.

Prerequisites

No previous experience with R or programming is necessary. The course will be delivered remotely, so participants will need R and RStudio installed on their computers before the sessions begin. Installation instructions and course materials will be provided in advance.

Learning Outcomes:

  1. By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
  2. Understand the concepts of working directories, and absolute and relative paths, and set up projects in R.
  3. Import data from common external formats (e.g., .csv and .xlsx).
  4. Download and install R packages (primarily from CRAN but also other sources e.g Bioconductor)
  5. Gain familiarity with key tidyverse packages, including dplyr and ggplot2.
  6. Tidy and prepare data for analysis using dplyr.
  7. Create a variety of plots (e.g., histograms, bar plots, scatter plots, box plots) using both base R and ggplot2.
  8. Conduct basic statistical analyses in R, including descriptive statistics, chi-squared tests, and ANOVAs.
  9. Become familiar with Quarto notebooks and understand their role in enhancing reproducibility in data science.

Course Tutors

Dr Jenny Wilshaw is a Senior Data Scientist at the Royal Veterinary College, with a background in veterinary surgery and a focus on clinical data science. She uses data-driven approaches to generate insights and develop practical solutions in veterinary practice.

Dr Collette Taylor is a researcher focussing on canine cancer epidemiology at the Royal Veterinary College. With a background in veterinary medicine, she focuses on disease epidemiology and works with electronic health records to produce research outcomes that benefit veterinary practitioners.

Dr Ruby Chang is an Associate Professor of Statistics at the Royal Veterinary College. She is a Chartered Statistician and has led the development of postgraduate students' analytical skills and statistical knowledge as well the good practice in data processing and analysis.

Certification and Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

A certificate of attendance will be provided after the event.
We evaluate all of our training events, to make sure that we maintain a high quality of training.

This event has been approved by the Royal Society of Biology for purposes of CPD and can be counted as 12 CPD points.

Professional Registers

This course supports registers competencies and has been identified as supporting competency development for: Registered Scientist (RSci).
Competency area:
  • Application of knowledge and understanding

Fees

Members - £120 + VAT
Non-members - £240 + VAT

Get in touch with training@rsb.org.uk to access these rates:
  • Members of Member Organisations, SCAS members - £180 +VAT
  • Non-members who have completed a membership application and made payment - £120 + VAT


Contact

For further information about the course please contact Emily Lunn, training and registers officer, at training@rsb.org.uk or on 020 3925 3447.

Refunds

Unfortunately, the Royal Society of Biology is unable to offer refunds on training courses that have been attended. We do, of course, welcome and encourage any feedback from a course and will continue to improve the service we offer.

Terms and Conditions

By booking to attend this event, you are confirming you have agreed to the RSB's Terms and Conditions which can be found here.