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Exploratory analysis of biological data: data carpentry – Course and Conference Office

EMBL Course

Exploratory analysis of biological data: data carpentry

Overview

This is a two-hub course organised by EMBL in parallel at EMBL Heidelberg, Germany and at the Barcelona Collaboratorium, Spain.

Applicants are encouraged to select the location nearest to them. Those open to either location may indicate no specific preference.

Course overview

The missing step between data collection and research progress is a lack of training for researchers in crucial skills for effectively managing and analysing data, often in large amounts. This hands-on workshop teaches researchers the fundamental data skills they need to conduct their work and provides high-quality, domain-specific training covering the full lifecycle of data-driven research. The domain-specific approach allows participants to tailor the data, content, and tools to reflect the specific data and analysis needs of different areas.

Audience

The course is aimed at graduate students and other researchers in the life sciences who would like to learn good practices in data management and analysis. The course is ideally suited to students without prior experience in computational research, but some familiarity with working with tabular data on a computer is welcome

Modules

  • Data organisation and cleaning
  • Versioning with Git
  • Introduction to R
  • Data analysis and visualisation in R
  • Data analysis with applications to genomics

Learning outcomes

  • How to organise data and some practices for more effective data handling
  • To effectively clean and format data and automatically track any changes
  • To use R to handle, filter and summarise tabular data
  • To use the split-apply-combine concept for data analysis
  • To visualise the results of these analyses in R using the ggplot2 library
  • To apply all of the concepts in an exploratory analysis of a typical biological dataset

Technical requirements

Participants need to bring a laptop where they should have installed all the required software. Software requirements will be made available as part of the course information pack. An onboarding session will be offered to troubleshoot installation problems.

Participant commitment

  • There will be an onboarding session (on Monday 26 January 2026) which will bring everyone to a good starting position for the 5-day course in February 2026. 
  • Full-time attendance is required for the course duration.

What past participants say about the course

“The training at EMBL on ”Exploratory Analysis of Biological Data” stands out as one of the most valuable hands-on scientific training sessions I’ve experienced. It equips researchers with essential data skills crucial for their work, delivering top-notch, domain-specific training that spans the entire lifecycle of data-driven research.” – Francis Irabor, Benson Idahosa University, Nigeria

“I really enjoyed the course “Exploratory analysis of biological data: data carpentry”. It was a great opportunity and amazing experience to learn the use of R and how to apply it to analyze our own data in a very practical way!” – Marcos Galán Ganga, University of Barcelona, Spain

“A very well spent and highly instructive week, thanks to the excellent trainers and organizers as well as the inspiring and motivating environment at EMBL in Heidelberg. Already looking forward to visiting again!” – Christina Parassiadis, Robert Bosch Center for Tumor Diseases, Germany

Speakers

Speakers, trainers, and staff

Renato Alves

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Lisanna Paladin

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Roberto Paoli

EMBL Barcelona

Spain

Patryk Polinski

EMBL Barcelona

Spain

Daniel Santos Olivan

EMBL Barcelona

Spain

Christian Schudoma

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Jim Swoger

EMBL Barcelona

Spain

Francesco Tabaro

EMBL Rome

Italy

Scientific organisers

Renato Alves

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Lisanna Paladin

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Christian Schudoma

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Course organisers

Michelle Steinhauer

Scientific Training Officer

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Adéla Graf

Course and Conference Officer

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Laure Michelet

Administrative Officer

EMBL Barcelona

Spain

Bastien Debiève

Project Manager

Barcelona Collaboratorium for Modelling and Predictive Biology

Spain

Preliminary programme

Are you on social media? Post using #EMBLDataCarpentry and don’t forget to tag @EMBLEvents.

  • Some speakers may need to join virtually to give their lecture or Q&A, and the programme is subject to change.

Day 1 – Monday 2 February 2026

Time
Berlin / Barcelona
Programme
10:45-11:00In Heidelberg: Bus transfer from ISG Hotel
11:00-11:15Welcome and house notes and course overview
11:15-12:30Flashtalks
12:30-13:30Lunch
13:30-14:15Lecture: Data organization and cleaning
14:15-14:35Coffee break
14:35-16:05Lecture: Data organization and cleaning (continued)
16:05-16:20Coffee break
16:20-17:50Lecture: Data organization and cleaning (continued)
17:50-18:50Social networking / Q&A
18:50-19:50Dinner
20:00-20:15In Heidelberg: Shuttle bus to ISG Hotel

Day 2 – Tuesday 3 February 2026

Time
Berlin / Barcelona
Programme
08:40 – 08:55In Heidelberg: Bus from hotel to EMBL HD
09:00 – 11:00Practical session: Versioning with Git (using RStudio)
11:00 – 11:30Coffee break
11:30 – 12:30Practical session: Versioning with Git (using RStudio)
12:30 – 13:30Lunch break
13:30 – 15:00Practical session: Introduction to R
15:00 – 15:30Coffee break
15:30 – 16:50Practical session: Introduction to R
16:50 – 17:10Coffee break
17:10 – 18:30Practical session: Introduction to R
18:30 – 19:30Dinner
19:30 – 19:45In Heidelberg: Shuttle bus to ISG Hotel

Day 3 – Wednesday 4 February 2026

Time
Berlin / Barcelona
Programme
08:40 – 08:55In Heidelberg: Bus from hotel to EMBL ATC Entrance
09:00 – 11:00Practical session: Data manipulation with dplyr
11:00 – 11:30Coffee break
11:30 – 12:30Practical session: Data manipulation with dplyr
12:30 – 13:30Lunch break
13:30 – 15:00Practical session: Data visualisation with ggplot2
15:00 – 15:30Coffee break
15:30 – 16:50Practical session: Data visualisation with ggplot2
16:50 – 17:10Coffee break
17:10 – 18:30Practical session: Data visualisation with ggplot2
18:30 – 19:30Dinner
19:30 – 19:45In Heidelberg: Shuttle bus to ISG Hotel

Day 4 – Thursday 5 February 2026

Time
Berlin / Barcelona
Programme
08:40 – 08:55In Heidelberg: Bus from hotel to EMBL
09:00 – 09:50Lecture: Data visualisation with ggplot2
09:50 – 10:00Short coffee break
10:00 – 10:50Practical session: Data analysis with applications to genomics
10:50 – 11:20Coffee break
11:20 – 12:20Practical session: Data analysis with applications to genomics
12:20 – 13:20Lunch break
13:20 – 14:50Practical session: Data analysis with applications to genomics
14:50 – 15:20Coffee break
15:20 – 17:00Practical session: Data analysis with applications to genomics
R
17:00 – 17:30In Heidelberg: Shuttle bus to city centre
17:30 – 19:00Free time
19:00 – 20:30Dinner in the city centre

Day 5 – Friday 6 February 2026

Time
Berlin / Barcelona
Programme
08:40 – 08:55In Heidelberg: Bus from hotel to EMBL
09:00 – 10:30Practical session: Data analysis with applications to genomics
10:30 – 11:00Coffee break
11:00 – 12:00Practical session: Data analysis with applications to genomics
12:00 – 13:00Lunch break
13:00 – 14:00Debrief and wrap-up
14:00 – 14:30In Heidelberg: Shuttle bus to Heidelberg main train station

Practical information

Registration fees and motivation letter

The course is limited to 15 participants in each hub (Heidelberg and Barcelona). For selection purposes, please note that your application will not be considered without a letter of motivation.

Registration fees

our registration for this course includes:

  • Admission to the event
  • Possibility to submit an abstract (if applicable)
  • Meals and coffee breaks
  • Course materials
  • Access to the e-learning platform
  • A letter to support your visa application (for more information, check the ‘Travel and accommodation’ tab)

Accommodation and travel are not included in the fees — participants are expected to book and pay their own expenses.

Academia€450
PhD Student€450
Industry€775

Confirmation and payment

The registration fee should be paid only after acceptance to the course. The results will be announced approximately 2-3 weeks after the application deadline.

Cancellation policy

If you are no longer able to take part in the course, please inform your course contact responsible for this event. Your registration and the submitted motivation letter will be deleted.

Please also check our Terms and Conditions for the cancellation policy.

Motivation letter submission

After you have logged in and successfully registered, you will receive an email asking you to submit your motivation letter. Click on the link provided and enter your motivation letter in the text box provided. Alternatively you can submit your motivation letter by clicking on the link on the confirmation page directly after registering.

Instructions

  1. Include your relevant skills, experience and qualifications showing why you would be suitable for the course when answering the questions.
  2. Explain why you would like to attend, including what you can contribute and how you think you will benefit from the course.

There are 26 additional questions that you are required to answer before submitting the motivation letter.

Please note:

  • The limit of 2000 characters refers to manually typed text and excludes spaces. If an error occurs try using a different web browser (preferably Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox).
  • If you copy-paste the text into the form, hidden formatting might still be included which may cause the text to exceed the 2,000 character limit resulting in an error message. We recommend you clear all formatting before pasting in the text.
  • If you have special symbols in your text, make sure you are using Unicode characters, otherwise these will not be recognised.

For detailed instructions, please watch our video on how to submit a course motivation letter.

Further details

For further information about registration and motivation letter submission please refer to the FAQ page.

Financial assistance

Financial assistance

Limited financial assistance is provided by the EMBL Advanced Training Centre Corporate Partnership Programme and EMBO in the form of registration fee waivers, travel grants, and childcare grants.

Your place in the meeting is only confirmed by paying the registration fee, which is mandatory even when receiving a fee waiver.

Registration fee waiver

The fee waiver will cover the registration sum that you have paid to attend the course.

Travel grant

The travel grant will cover the cost of travel (airfare, train, bus, taxi, accommodation, visa) and is provided up to specified caps which are normally as follows:

– up to €400 for participants travelling to an EMBL Course within Europe.

– up to €1000 for participants travelling to an EMBL Course from outside Europe.

The organisers may reduce the grant cap to accommodate more participants. Recipients will be notified of their travel cap amount when they are informed of the outcome of their application. Original receipts must be provided with your signature for all costs incurred within two months of completion of travel. Scanned copies cannot be accepted.

Childcare grants

There is the possibility to apply for a childcare grant to offset child care costs incurred by participants, speakers, trainers and organisers when attending a course. Eligible costs include (but are not limited to) fees for a babysitter or child-care facility and travel costs for a caregiver. Please note that priority will be given to early-stage researchers. There is a limited amount of funding available for the childcare grants and funds will be distributed amongst eligible applicants.

Application

You can apply for financial assistance in the submission portal by the abstract deadline. Read the instructions on how to apply for financial assistance. Only submissions for financial assistance will be accepted. Presentation abstracts cannot be submitted here and will be declined. 

In your application you will be asked to summarise your current work,  answer questions regarding why your lab cannot fund your attendance, and how your attendance will make a difference to your career. Application for financial support will not affect the outcome of your registration application.

*For some events, applications for Childcare Grants will still be done by email. Information about the grant will be sent out shortly after the abstract/motivation letter deadline. Please contact the event Conference Officer if you have any questions.

Selection

A selection process will take place with the results announced by email to all applicants / submitters. We aim to announce 3 weeks (21 days) after the abstract submission deadline but delays may occur.

Selection results do not impact your admission to the meeting. Selection for registration fee waivers and travel grants is based on scientific merit, your current work or study location, the reasons for needing financial support, and the impact this event will have on your career.

Childcare grants will be allocated in the same timeframe (6-8 weeks before the event start date). Please note that priority will be given to early-stage researchers.

Further details

Check out this list of external funding opportunities

For further information about financial assistance please refer to the FAQ page.

Accommodation and travel

Visa

We can send you a registration confirmation to support your visa procedure (not an official invitation letter). Please contact the Conference Officer responsible for your event. For more information, please see here.

Travel

If you are travelling to Heidelberg via aeroplane, train, car, or long-distance bus, you can find useful information here.

Hotel

Accommodation is not included in the registration fee. Participants are expected to book and pay for their own accommodation.

Heidelberg Hub participants

A combination of single and twin rooms will be pre-reserved at the ISG hotel a short drive from EMBL Heidelberg for the participants to book independently. After the selection process, those chosen can contact the hotel directly to secure their reservation using a provided booking code. We recommend that all course participants in Heidelberg stay at the designated hotel for the duration of the course, as the shuttle bus will depart from there.

Barcelona Hub participants

No rooms are being prebooked; accommodation must be arranged by participants themselves, according to individual preferences. The training location is very central and conveniently located for public transport.

More information on the hotel booking process will follow after the participant selection.

Local transport

In Heidelberg, due to the remote location of the EMBL Heidelberg Campus, a shuttle bus will go from the ISG hotel to EMBL and back, mornings and evenings. A bus schedule and location of the bus stops will be made available prior to the meeting.

In Barcelona, no shuttle bus service is to be provided. Participants are expected to arrive to the venue on their own.

On-site information for Heidelberg

Catering

All meals and coffee breaks are included in the registration fee. Our catering staff will prepare a wide variety of vegetarian meals, meat and fish dishes, soups, pasta, fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as a variety of desserts.

Please wear your badge at all times when serving yourself.

No food or drinks are allowed in the training rooms.

Electricity and charging station

In most places the electricity is 220 volts AC (50 cycles). An adaptor or plug that fits the German sockets may be needed for your appliances/laptop (i.e. if American, Japanese, etc.)

Health and safety notes

Smoking is prohibited in the buildings at both sites.
Eease take a moment to read our health and safety policy.

  • Do not smoke in any EMBL building.
  • Eating and drinking is prohibited in the Auditorium and all laboratories.
  • Do not enter any restricted areas or the laboratories unless instructed to do so.

If first aid is required

  • The first aid room is located next to the ATC Registration Desk (room 10- 205).
  • Dial the Emergency number 222 from any EMBL internal phone only.
  • Be prepared to answer the following questions: Where is the accident? What happened? How many injured?
  • Emergency number 06221-387 7821 from mobile phones.
  • Please report all accidents to the conference officer at the registration desk.

In case of fire

  • Press the nearest fire alarm button or the Emergency number 222 from any internal phone.
  • A loud fire alarm will go off if an evacuation is required. On hearing the alarm leave the building immediately following the escape route and fire wardens and head to one of the meeting points
  • Do not use the lifts.

Beyond first aid

The Heidelberg University Hospital or ‘Universitätsklinikum‘ has a 24 hour accident and emergency facility and is at ‘Im Neuenheimer Feld 672’. It is a 8km or a 20 minute taxi ride away from EMBL. In a medical emergency, the ambulance service generally transports patients to this hospital.

Please remember to bring your own medication, if needed, to the conference. Note that the next pharmacy is a 4-minute drive from the EMBL, but for many medications you will be required to see a doctor to get a prescription.

Ensure in advance that your medical insurance will cover you during your visit in the event that you do need to see a doctor while in Heidelberg.

The EMBL course and conference office team are able to advise you on where to turn for emergency or non-emergency medical treatment in Heidelberg and can assist you in making appointments and / or arranging transport to get to the pharmacy or a doctor of your choice if necessary. Please note, we are not however permitted to personally accompany you off campus.

Internet

Wi-Fi is available. Log in using the EMBL-Events network and the event specific password, which will be provided on site. The eduroam network (secure, worldwide roaming access service developed for the international research and education community) is also available.

Lost and found

‘’Lost and Found’’ items are kept at the registration desks until the end of the course.

Luggage

There are lockers available on-site close to the ATC reception desk to store your luggage, which require a 2 EURO coin to operate. There is another luggage room on level E0, which is free to use but remains unlocked during events.

Nursing room

There is a nursing room available in the ATC Rooftop Lounge on level A29.

Photography

During the event, an EMBL Photographer may be taking photos. If you would not like to appear in these, please inform the photographer or a member of the Course and Conference Office.

EMBL campus map

Room for prayer, yoga, and meditation

At EMBL Heidelberg there is a room for prayer, meditation, and yoga located on level E0 behind the Auditorium. Please be respectful of others using the room.

Sightseeing

A variety of activities in Heidelberg can be found on the website of Heidelberg Marketing.

Travel to and from the venue

During the event, we provide course shuttle buses to and from EMBL. In addition, there is the public bus 39A that serves the EMBL campus and taxis can be easily booked at any time. Information on the shuttle buses can be found on the individual event website and more detailed information on travelling to EMBL can be found on our Travel Information page.

Additional information

Address:

Advanced Training Centre, EMBL Heidelberg
Meyerhofstraße 1
69117 Heidelberg, Germany

Please find additional information including FAQs, terms and conditions and travelling to EMBL on our Information for Participants page.

On-site information for Barcelona

About the Barcelona Collaboratorium

The Barcelona Collaboratorium for Modelling and Predictive Biology brings together researchers from biology, mathematics, physics, computer science, and AI to transform biological knowledge and large-scale datasets into predictive, multi-scale models spanning from molecules to ecosystems. The Barcelona Collaboratorium for Modelling and Predictive Biology is a joint initiative of the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and EMBL Barcelona.

More information about on-site facilities at the Barcelona Hub will be provided after selection.

Catering

All meals (except breakfast – because participants are to arrange hotels / accommodation themselves) and coffee breaks are included in the registration fee. Our catering staff will prepare a wide variety of vegetarian meals, meat and fish dishes, soups, pasta, fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as a variety of desserts.

Please wear your badge at all times when serving yourself.

No food or drinks are allowed in the training rooms.

Electricity and charging station

In most places the electricity is 220 volts AC (50 cycles). An adaptor or plug that fits the Spanish sockets may be needed for your appliances/laptop (i.e. if American, Japanese, etc.)

Health and safety notes

Smoking is prohibited in the building.
Eating and drinking is prohibited in all training rooms. The Collaboratorium features a kitchenette and dining tables for meals.

Do not enter any restricted areas or the laboratories unless instructed to do so.

If first aid is required:

The Collaboratorium team will provide building evacuation instructions in the event of a major incident.
In case of a medical emergency, immediately inform the on-site project manager, who will coordinate emergency assistance.
The emergency number to call is 112.

Beyond first aid…

Please remember to bring your own medication, if needed, to the course.

Ensure in advance that your medical insurance will cover you during your visit in the event that you do need to see a doctor while in Barcelona.

In any case, the staff on site will assist you to get to the pharmacy and a doctor of your choice if necessary.

Internet

Wi-Fi is available on site.
Connect using the local network credentials, which will be provided upon arrival.
The eduroam network, a secure worldwide roaming access service for the international research and education community, is also available.

Nursing room

A nursing room is located on the same floor as the training room.

Photography

During the event, the Project Manager may be taking photos. If you would not like to appear in these, please inform the Project Manager.

Lost and found

‘’Lost and Found’’ items are kept at the registration desks until the end of the course.

Luggage

Lockable storage spaces with magnetic locks will be made available to you during the course.

Sightseeing

Barcelona offers a wide range of activities.
For an extensive list, please visit the official tourism office website.

Travel to and from the venue

The training venue is easily accessible by public transport. The Collaboratorium is accessible via metro lines 2 and 4.

Additional information

Address:

Barcelona Collaboratorium for Modelling and Predictive Biology
Pasqual Maragall Foundation Building
Wellington, 30, 2nd floor
08005 Barcelona, Spain

Please find additional information including FAQs, terms and conditions and travelling to EMBL on our Information for Participants page.

Technical requirements and event software

Technical requirements

Below you will find the software and technical requirements for this course. You will need admin rights to be able to install the software on your computer and we recommend you try this before the course. If you do not have admin rights, please contact your technical support team in advance to make sure the software can be installed.

  • All participants need to bring their own laptops, which will be used to remotely access EMBL virtual machines with pre-installed software.
  • All participants will be requested to install software before the course. Please make sure to bring the laptop with the installed software to the course.
  • You will need admin rights to install the software required to access the virtual machines. If you do not have admin rights, please contact your technical support team in advance to make sure the software can be installed.
  • If you have a non-standard HDMI port (other than type A), you need to bring an adaptor.

Additional software

The EMBL eCampus learning platform will be used to collaborate, communicate and network with all of the course participants. All participants will receive information on how to join shortly before the course. We recommend using Chrome, Safari or Mozilla Firefox browsers for eCampus. 

Zoom will be used for the live talks and Q&A sessions. More information will be provided closer to the start of the course.

Other information

While using the software during the course, please make sure you have nothing else using your bandwidth. We recommend using a wired connection.

Sponsors

Sponsorship opportunities

We offer a variety of event sponsoring possibilities, with the flexibility to select a set sponsorship package or combine individual sponsorship options to suit your event budget. Discounts are available for companies sponsoring multiple events at EMBL Heidelberg. View conferences, or contact sponsorship@embl.de for further information.

If you are interested in becoming a media partner of this event, please visit our media partnerships webpage.

Media kit

Want to let others know you’re attending this event? Take a look at our shareable media and feel free to use them in your social media channels or presentations.

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Date: 2 - 6 Feb 2026

Location: EMBL Heidelberg and Barcelona Collaboratorium

Venue: EMBL Heidelberg Advanced Training Centre and Barcelona Collaboratorium for Modelling and Predictive Biology (EMBL Barcelona - CRG)


Deadline(s):

Registration: 10 Nov 2025


Organisers:


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