1:39 p.m.
Dear Life Science Community,
We are pleased to announce an upcoming workshop titled “Data Visualization for Biological
Sciences<https://events.hifis.net/event/3045/overview>”, to be held online via Zoom
from 18 to 20 November 2025.
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🗓️ Overview & Goals
In this practical, interactive course, you'll learn to create engaging, scientifically
accurate visualizations specifically tailored for biological research. Using programming
tools like R and Python, along with graphic editing software such as Inkscape, you'll
gain essential skills for clearly and effectively visualizing genomic and biological
data.
Some prior programming experience is required for this course. Our aim is not to dive
deeply into every coding detail, but rather to equip you with practical skills to adapt
existing visualization scripts for your own data. Participants will collaborate in small
groups (3-4 participants per group, about 10 groups), creating visualizations from
provided datasets that cover topics like allele frequencies, mutation patterns, and other
genomic data.
Additionally, participants are encouraged to explore AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini for
coding support, troubleshooting, and inspiration, as they work on their visualizations.
We'll discuss effective and responsible ways to use such tools, addressing both their
advantages and potential pitfalls.
Each session concludes with group discussions and instructor-led feedback to help refine
visualizations and deepen understanding of best practices, visualization design
principles, and publication standards.
This course is designed for PhD students, postdocs and early-career researchers in
biology, bioinformatics, and related fields. While the concepts and skills taught are
broadly applicable across the life sciences, our use cases and datasets are primarily
drawn from genomics.
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📋 What to Bring / Requirements
* A laptop (Windows, macOS or Linux) with R and Python installed. Alternatively,
Google Colab can be used for Python and R exercises.
* Access to your preferred AI assistant (e.g. ChatGPT, Gemini, or another system) for
coding support and troubleshooting (or a Google account)
* Inkscape (a free, open-source vector graphics editor)
Prerequisite: Some programming experience is expected.
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🕒 Schedule Highlights
* Tue, Nov 18, 10:00–17:00 — Foundations & Basic Plotting: scatter plots, bar
plots, violin plots, boxplots, histograms; data handling and annotations.
* Wed, Nov 19, 10:00–17:00 — Advanced Techniques: dimensionality reduction (PCA),
annotated heatmaps (e.g. via ComplexHeatmap in R), color theory, layout strategies.
* Thu, Nov 20, 10:00–17:00 — Publication-Ready Graphics: polishing visualizations,
using Inkscape, handling DPI and formats, assembling multi-panel figures
Registration deadline: 02 November 2025
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If you are interested, please consider applying soon, as spaces are limited:
https://events.hifis.net/event/3045/registrations/2993/
We hope you can join us for this exciting opportunity to improve your data visualization
skills!
Best regards,
Carmen Paulmann
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Dr. Carmen Paulmann
Project Manager
Computational Biology for Infection Research
Head of Department: Prof. Alice McHardy
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research GmbH
Inhoffenstrasse 7
38124 Braunschweig
Germany
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Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung GmbH | Inhoffenstraße 7 | 38124 Braunschweig |
www.helmholtz-hzi.de
Vorsitzende des Aufsichtsrates: Frau MinDir'in Prof. Dr. Veronika von Messling,
Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt
Stellvertreter: MinDirig Rüdiger Eichel, Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft
und Kultur
Wissenschaftlicher Geschäftsführer: Prof. Dr. Josef Penninger - Administrativer
Geschäftsführer: Christian Scherf
Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH)
Sitz der Gesellschaft: Braunschweig
Handelsregister: Amtsgericht Braunschweig, HRB 477
Unsere Hinweise zum Datenschutz finden Sie hier:
https://www.helmholtz-hzi.de/de/service/datenschutz/
<https://www.helmholtz-hzi.de/de/service/datenschutz/>