Prospectus

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Integration: Biological Data Sharing

Course
2024-2025

Admission requirements

Not applicable.

Description

This course explores the use, reuse and reproducibility of data in biomedical science. Biomedical data exists in large and ever-growing distributed data repositories. It is generally produced to answer a specific research question, but it can be reused and integrated to find new insights.

As the volume and variety of biological data grows, we face new challenges in recording, publishing and sharing scientific results in a way that will allow further integration and exploitation. Consequently, data integration, management and reuse are central concerns in bioinformatics.

The FAIR data principles, which state that data should be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable, provide a conceptual framework for enabling easier discovery and reuse of biomedical data.

The course will cover:
1) the principles and applications of FAIR data (i.e. that data should be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable),
2) the use of semantic web tools and technologies which facilitate making data FAIR (i.e. standards, ontologies and knowledgebases),
3) the importance of provenance in FAIR data collection, analysis and aggregation
4) computational methods to improve reuse and also reusability in science

Course Objectives

  • Make use of global public bioinformatics data resources, identifying and linking data to answer biomedical research questions

  • Explain the FAIR data principles (i.e. that data should be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) and the role FAIR plays in data reuse in bioinformatics

  • Explain the role of ontologies and the semantic web in FAIR data integration

  • Explain the role of workflows in reproducible and FAIR analyses

  • Discriminate between different data collection and management approaches

Timetable

The most recent timetable can be found on the student website:

In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.

Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.

Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.

Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.

Mode of Instruction

  • Lectures

  • Practical classes

  • Presentation

Assessment Method

  • Two practical assignments Assignment 1: Assessing the FAIRness of published data (30%) Assignment 2: Reanalysing enrichment analysis results (40%)

  • Practical classe participation (10%)

  • Presentation (20%)

Students need to obtain a grade of 5.5 or higher on each assignment and the presentation to pass the course. During the exam resit period, there will be an opportunity to retake assignments, but the retake assignments must be completed and submitted within 1 week. The teacher will inform the students how to register for retake assignments during the lectures.

Reading list

  • Scientific papers from conferences, workshops and journals.

Registration

As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.

In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.

There are two enrolment periods per year:

  • Enrolment for the fall opens in July

  • Enrolment for the spring opens in December

See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.

Note:

  • It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.

  • Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.

  • Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.

Contact

Onderwijscoordinator Riet Derogee

Remarks

Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.