KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER: Training for Scientists

Providing training in statistics, bioinformatics and mathematical modelling has been a major part of BioSS activities for the past two decades. The core of our training effort has been a programme of intensive one or two day courses which have taken place in laboratories equipped with computer access, usually at the participants' site or nearby. In recent years we have extended our training provision to include other types of activity. The courses we have developed can be grouped into the following areas:

elementary and specialist statistical techniques;
statistical methods in molecular biology;
the principles of mathematical modelling.

Practical sessions are based on software packages that are widely used by client organisations.

If you wish to register for a course, please book on-line. For enquiries, you can contact Muriel Kirkwood or Graham Horgan

Presentations on specialist topics

Many specialised topics are not suitable for the format of a full training course, but can be better communicated in a seminar format. This allows the presenter to introduce the concepts, illustrate how appropriate software may be used, demonstrate some examples and interpret the results. Time can also be allowed for discussion with participants about issues relevant to their own work. We have made such presentations on the topics of false discovery rates and extreme value theory, and one on the use of wavelet methods is planned.

Workshops

Extract from web-based module
in mathematical modelling-screen shot

Whereas the seminar presentations are suitable for one-way knowledge transfer from BioSS specialists, workshops provide a forum in which scientists already working with particular concepts and methods can share their experiences. The role of BioSS staff on these occasions is to facilitate the discussions and contribute the specialised knowledge they have acquired. Successful workshops have already been held on Bayesian methodology and on species abundance modelling, and a workshop on pathways and network inference is being prepared.

Online training modules

The Internet provides a powerful medium through which training information can be made available on a flexible basis, and BioSS took an early lead in this approach. The SMART training modules initially developed 10 years ago (www.bioss.ac.uk/smart) continue to attract worldwide interest and are very highly ranked by Internet search engines. More recent developments have included the production of comprehensive online training in statistical methods for risk analysis, aimed at scientists working on large-scale environmental risk assessment. We anticipate that Internet-based training will play an increasing part in BioSS knowledge transfer.

Extract from web-based module in mathematical modelling, demonstrating the qualitatively different behaviour of stochastic and deterministic models of predator-prey systems.

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