Welcome to the MDA Workshop Website
Motivation - The Genetic Diversity Centre has helped students and researchers with designing, preparing, and analysing amplicon based sequencing projects for many years now. Thanks to our comprehensive protocols, state-of-the-art laboratory and trained staff, it is merely a matter of days to produce microbiota data sets. Even the data processing takes only hours to transform raw paired-end reads into OTU-count-tables. The last part, the data analysing and interpretation, is for many users generally the most difficult and therefore the most time-consuming aspect of amplicon sequencing projects. Although the literature, numerous R packages and code-junks could provide ideas, the adaptation to one's own project aims turns out to be often problematic. The most exquisite figure and the fanciest of analysis is of limited use if the method and motivation behind it is murky. A better understanding of the data analysis will give you more confidence, provide better and more possibilities, increase creativity, and at the end it is more fun.
Focus - This is the second time the GDC is hosting a 3-days microbiota data analysis workshop to offer help with the different aspects of the data analysis of amplicon sequencing projects. Although we will talk about experimental design, library preparation and data preparation, the focus of this workshop is on a better understanding of microbiota data analysis in R with a strong emphasis on reproducibility.
Format - There are plenty of copies-and-paste courses out there. Microbiota data analysis is not a standardised procedure and needs adjustments according to question and data structure. This workshop will provide the background needed to better understand the different methods.
The GDC would be happy to see you at the workshop!
Because we would like to understand what we do!