Applications are OPEN until May 28th 2013 (latest deadline for applicants)
Early decisions available for thos who request them.

*BPB13*
*Bioinformatics using Python for Biologists*
with Allegra Via and Kristian Rother

                     Is OPEN for applications

Course poster available at:
http://gtpb.igc.gulbenkian.pt/bicourses/posters/BPB13.pdf

 IMPORTANT DATES for this Course
   Deadline for applications: May 28th 2013
   Notification of acceptance dates:
        EARLY:  May 13th 2013 (on special request, see Application)
        NORMAL:  May 29th 2013
   Course date: June 3rd to June 7th 2013

Course website
http://gtpb.igc.gulbenkian.pt/bicourses/BPB13

Suitability:
This course is suitable for scientists that feel the need to overcome the difficulty of not knowing how to program. Since 2010, it has been highly successful.

Description

Python Python is an object-oriented programming language that is ideal for biological data analysis. The course will start from zero knowledge, and will cover all basic concepts of Python, including variables, calculating, reading and writing files, control flow, modules, functions, exceptions. All examples and practical sessions will focus on solving biological problems.

In particular the sessions will cover:
- working with DNA and protein sequences
- data retrieval from files and their manipulation
- running applications, such as BLAST, locally and from a scrip
- finding motifs in sequence
- parsing Swiss-Prot files, PDB files, ENSEMBL records, blast output files, etc.
- Biopython

The course will be highly interactive and the students will continuously put theory into practice while learning. By the end of the course, the participants will have a good understanding of Python basics and will have acquired the skills to manage any type of bioinformatics database record and to run applications from scripts. Basic Unix/linux skills will be provided at the beginning of the course.
Target Audience

End-users of bioinformatics databases and tools that aim at developing hands-on capabilities for biological data analysis, ie writing their own or adapting somebody else's Python scripts in an autonomous way.
Course Pre-requisites

Basic familiarity with bioinformatics data resources such as Uniprot/Swiss-Prot, Blast, ENSEMBL, PDB, etc. The course is directed to biologists with little or no programming experience and aims at making them capable to use Python to autonomously manage and analyse biological data.