{"id":10742,"date":"2017-09-22T15:48:09","date_gmt":"2017-09-22T13:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.embl.de\/?p=10742"},"modified":"2024-03-25T09:55:37","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T08:55:37","slug":"embl-ebi-training-symposium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/events\/embl-ebi-training-symposium\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten years of training at EMBL-EBI"},"content":{"rendered":"

Personalised training, shifting audiences and 3D hologram avatars as trainers were just some of the ideas discussed during a two-day long symposium celebrating the tenth anniversary of EMBL-EBI\u2019s Training Programme<\/a> on 14-15 September. During the event, which took place at EMBL-EBI, training experts from around the world shared their thoughts on the big challenges for bioinformatics training and how we might expect to see the field change in the next ten years.<\/p>\n

\u201cSupporting a growing and diversifying user base, which includes clinical and industrial practitioners in addition to classical researchers, adds a new set of challenges,\u201d says Cath Brooksbank, Head of Training at EMBL-EBI. \u201cNot only do we have to upscale our efforts; we also have to contend with different national systems, each with its own regulatory body. Open sharing \u2013 of training materials and of our own experiences as trainers and trainees \u2013 is our best ally here; this allows the bioinformatics training community to respond readily to new training needs and adapt them to their own context.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adapting to audiences<\/h2>\n

A popular topic during the symposium was changing audiences. \u201cThe main challenge will be catering for millennials and the generation that comes after them,\u201d said Patricia Palagi, Training Team Leader at the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics. \u201cThese are people who have grown up with the internet and learn in a completely different way to previous generations. Today, most organisations are still training in the traditional way, but we\u2019ll have to radically change that in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is also a trend to provide bioinformatics training earlier in one\u2019s career,\u201d explained Gabry Rustici, Head of the Bioinformatics Training Programme at the University of Cambridge. \u201cWe are focussing more on undergraduate students and making sure they master core bioinformatics skills as early as possible. We are also training more professionals within the healthcare system, helping them understand what they can do with bioinformatics tools. This means we have to adapt our training to make it more accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n

New themes and formats<\/h2>\n

\u201cOne of the biggest challenges for training is moving some of the traditional curriculum into more modern formats,\u201d continued Rustici. \u201cWe are seeing a huge demand for training in topics like machine learning, analysis of genomic data and image analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge over the next ten years is not just how we train people in genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and so on, but how we connect these disciplines and create a coherent and useful curriculum,\u201d said Helen Firth, Consultant Clinical Geneticist at Cambridge University Hospitals Trust.<\/p>\n

Familiar faces<\/h2>\n

Also speaking at the event were past and present training team members, who have driven the development of EMBL-EBI\u2019s training programme from a small, face-to-face initiative to a major training offering that spans a range of disciplines and formats. Amongst them was Melissa Burke, who attended a course at EMBL-EBI in 2015. She has since become a scientific training officer. \u201cI attended a talk on the Expression Atlas<\/a>, and soon after I found out they were looking for a curator to join the team, so I applied,\u201d she explained. \u201cI was a curator for a year, during which I also did some training, and I enjoyed it so much that now I\u2019m part of the training team, in charge of our Train online<\/a> platform.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past ten years, EMBL-EBI\u2019s Training Programme has grown exponentially. Today it\u2019s almost unrecognisable,\u201d concluded Cath Brooksbank, Head of Training at EMBL-EBI. \u201cWe are always changing the way we train in order to anticipate the needs of our trainees and collaborators. The Anniversary Symposium has given us some exciting ideas. We\u2019re already thinking of how to further improve our offering over the next ten years and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

To find out more about what is coming up in the training programme, visit the Training website<\/a>.<\/p>\n