Informatics training scheme

Access to informatics support has been identified as a translational bottleneck for researchers in Manchester. To address this bottleneck, Translation Manchester is offering training to provide this expertise and upskill translational researchers.

The Informatics training scheme allows researchers to enrol in units within the postgraduate taught offer in the School of Biological Sciences and School of Health Sciences (Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health) to train in the area of bioinformatics and biostatistics. Each participant can enrol in two units of 15 or 5 credits; units on offer are a combination of live sessions and asynchronous content.

Building on the first three successful years, this expanded programme presents a great opportunity for training and upskilling for our researchers in wide ranging informatics areas. This training will positively impact individual researchers in their career progression and research groups in tackling existing research bottlenecks, thus making most of their in- house as well as relevant public data.

Dr Mudassar Iqbal – Lecturer in Health Data Sciences 
and Academic Lead of the Informatics Training Scheme

Applications for the 2023 training scheme are now closed.

We held an online information workshop on the 11th of July 2023, a video of which can be watched below. Applications for the scheme closed on 4th August 2023. The workshop provided an overview of the scheme including eligibility and the course units on offer.

 

 

If you have any questions around the Informatics training Scheme do not hesitate to get in touch with the translation@manchester.ac.uk team.

To find out more about the scheme and previous years initiatives you can read testimonials from the previous cohorts, and watch workshops from previous years, by expanding the menus below.

 

2022 Cohort

In 2022, we offered places on 86 units to 48 applicants across the Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, the Faculty of Science and Engineering as well as CRUK Manchester Institute. Participants were a mixture of PhD students and research staff (technicians, scientific officers, research associates, fellows, and lecturers) as well as clinicians.

On 12th July 2022, we hosted an information workshop where the academic lead for the Informatics Training Scheme, Dr Mudassar Iqbal, together with the Translation Manchester team, introduced the programme and provided advice to applicants in selecting relevant units. You can watch a recording of the event and download a copy of the slides below.

2021 Cohort

In 2021, we offered places on 76 units to 48 applicants across FBMH, FSE and CRUK MI. Participants were a mixture of PhD students and research staff (technicians, scientific officers, research associates, fellows and lecturers) as well as clinicians.

In a workshop held in July 2021, our academic lead Dr Mudassar Iqbal and our Translational Research Managers, introduced the programme and provided advice to applicants in selecting the relevant units. You can watch back the event below:

 

2020 Cohort

A total of 46 participants were enrolled in the Informatics Training Scheme in 2020. Thanks to the TPA award, we were able to fund 71 places within various postgraduate courses, allowing researchers across the University to unskilled in the area of bioinformatics and biostatistics. Participants were a mixture of PhD students, post doctoral research associates, clinical and non clinical research fellows as well as technicians, lecturers and professors. Read some testimonials below:

I have gained the necessary skills in the course Statistics & Experimental Design. It helped me refresh my basic and gain more comprehensive knowledge in statistics. I am now more confident in the success of my project. I am also currently applying for a fellowship, and the knowledge I gained in the Experimental Design of the course, helped me to better design my experiments and write my fellowship application in a more appropriate and comprehensive way. 

Participant 2020 Cohort

With my background being in Chemistry, I felt slightly intimidated to start a PhD that requires basic knowledge of bioinformatics and genomics. Both the courses helped me build a foundation and gave me access to resources that I can use to further bolster the same. The training I received will especially be useful towards the end of my first year as I will be working with sequencing data.

Participant 2020 Cohort

The launch workshop of the 2020 scheme was held on Zoom workshop on Thursday, 27th August 2020, and can be watched below.

2019 Cohort

The Informatics Training Scheme launched in 2019 allowing 25 participants to enrol in 42 postgraduate course units. Participants were a mix of PhD students, post doctoral researchers, research technicians and clinical research fellows. you can read a case study about the Informatics Training Scheme 2019 by following this link.

This training has helped provide a groundwork to develop my informatics skills…starting from an absolute beginner, I feel that the information provided has helped me grasp the fundamentals, which can be very difficult without guidance…it has taught me the fundamentals of coding project structure, data sharing using Git, and helped me along the path to be able to build useful programmes from scratch using python, which will be invaluable…(these skills) will be important for transitioning from basic research to larger scale translational projects

Participant 2019 Cohort