Data Science for Biologists

Catalog description

This laboratory course will introduce students to the fundamentals of biological data analysis using modern-day "data science" techniques. Students will learn novel statistical methods (i.e. permutation tests) that leverage the power of "big data," data visualization theory and approaches, as well as data modeling approaches for biological data using the "tidyverse" suite of packages in the R programming language. Notably, this course assumes no prior knowledge of programming, in R or otherwise. Additional emphasis will be placed on skills heavily used in data science careers, including data cleaning, management, visualization, and professional communication. Students will have the opportunity to pursue independent scientific questions through a final individual or group project.