Hands-on experience in computational genomics
Academic Year:
2015 - 2016 (June 1, 2015 through May 31, 2016)
Funding Requested:
$500.00
Project Dates:
-
Overview of the Project:
Advances in data generation have revolutionized all aspects of biology. In particular, the advent of affordable high-throughput sequencing has transformed biological research into a data-intensive, quantitative field. There is a large and growing need to train researchers and other professionals in the basic, practical skills necessary to meet this challenge. Toward these ends, we have developed a new course, Human Genetics 551: Computational Genomics, targeted towards graduate (masters and Ph.D level) students without an existing background in computer programming or statistics. This is a population of students that is not well served by existing classes. This audience will benefit immensely from practical, hands-on experience analyzing real-world genomic data sets. We are requesting $500 to facilitate usage of the FLUX computer cluster for course projects focused on analysis of real data. The FLUX system is a campus-wide computing resource and features a pay-as-you-go usage model. We anticipate that most students will utilize FLUX in their own future research endeavors, thus necessitating the incorporation of FLUX into our course design. If awarded, the $500 grant will be used to purchase ‘on-demand’ computing resources for student use during the semester. Please see http://arc-ts.umich.edu/resources/compute-resources/ for more information on the FLUX environment.