About¶
Info
Expressions of interest have now closed and acceptance letters sent out to attendees.
Bioinformatics Spring School 2026 is a week long training event for researchers, supported by Genomics Aotearoa (GA) and Research Education Advanced Network New Zealand (REANNZ).
We will combine talks from researchers and hands on computational workshops (influenced by The Carpentries), covering example bioinformatic workflows.
This event is organised by:
- Dr Chloe Van Der Burg (Genomics Aotearoa)
- Matt Bixley (REANNZ)
- Professor Mik Black (Biochemistry)
- Dr Murray Cadzow (eResearch Support)
Cost?¶
This event itself will only cost your time (there isn't a $ charge) and lunches will be provided. Attendees will need to fund all other travel related expenses.
When and where?¶
- 9:30 - 16:30, 16-20 November 2026
- University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- This is an in-person event.
Preliminary Schedule:¶
Info
The workshop content is in a draft state and (mostly) available to look through already if you follow the links.
Monday:¶
- Introduction to an HPC environment
- Introduction to Unix Shell
- Indigenous genomic data considerations
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 09:30 | Welcome |
| 10:00 | REANNZ platform orientation |
| 10:40 | Break |
| 11:00 | Indigenous Genomic Data |
| 12:15 | Lunch |
| 13:00 | Unix Shell |
| 14:40 | Break |
| 15:00 | Unix Shell cont |
| 16:30 | Done |
Tuesday:¶
- Introduction to Genomic Variant Calling
- Common genomic data formats
- an example variant calling pipeline using common tools
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 09:30 | Talk |
| 10:00 | Genomic Data Carpentry |
| 10:30 | Break |
| 10:50 | Genomic Data Carpentry |
| 12:15 | Lunch |
| 13:00 | Genomic Data Carpentry |
| 14:40 | Break |
| 15:00 | Genomic Data Carpentry |
| 16:30 | Done |
Social event: Dinner
Join us at Ombrellos Kitchen and Bar on Tues 17th from 5:30pm for dinner and drinks (self-funded). A table has been booked for us, please let organiser Chloe know if you would like to come but did not previously indicate to us that you intended to.
Wednesday:¶
- Introduction to Genome Assembly
- How to assemble a genome using long reads
- Using the scheduler
- Plotting and data manipulation in R
- Creating plots with ggplot
- Data manipulation with the Tidyverse
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 09:30 | Genome Assembly |
| 10:30 | Break |
| 10:50 | Genome Assembly |
| 12:15 | Lunch |
| 13:00 | R |
| 14:40 | Break |
| 15:00 | R cont |
| 16:30 | Done |
Thursday:¶
Social event: Morning walk in the Botanic Gardens
Meet at 8 am on Thurs 19th outside the Information Centre for a leisurely morning stroll through the beautiful Dunedin Botanic Gardens. Be prepared for some hills and gravel paths! We will then walk over together to the Business School around 9 am (~15 mins walk from the Gardens). Café Aster in the Gardens is open from 8 am for those that need their caffeine fix early! Weather dependant - alternative day Friday morning.
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 09:30 | Talk |
| 10:00 | RNAseq |
| 10:30 | Break |
| 10:50 | RNAseq |
| 12:15 | Lunch |
| 13:00 | RNAseq |
| 14:40 | Break |
| 15:00 | RNAseq |
| 16:30 | Done |
Friday:¶
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 09:30 | Talk |
| 10:00 | Nanopore |
| 10:30 | Break |
| 10:50 | Nanopore cont. |
| 12:15 | Lunch |
| 13:00 | Version control |
| 14:40 | Break |
| 15:00 | Version control cont. |
| 16:30 | Done |
I'm interested! How do I apply?¶
Expressions of interest have closed for 2026.