A global perspective on evolving bioinformatics and data science training needs

Abstract

Bioinformatics is now intrinsic to life science research, but the past decade has witnessed a continuing deficiency in this essential expertise. Basic data stewardship is still taught relatively rarely in life science education programmes, creating a chasm between theory and practice, and fuelling demand for bioinformatics training across all educational levels and career roles. Concerned by this, surveys have been conducted in recent years to monitor bioinformatics and computational training needs worldwide. This article briefly reviews the principal findings of a number of these studies. We see that there is still a strong appetite for short courses to improve expertise and confidence in data analysis and interpretation; strikingly, however, the most urgent appeal is for bioinformatics to be woven into the fabric of life science degree programmes. Satisfying the relentless training needs of current and future generations of life scientists will require a concerted response from stakeholders across the globe, who need to deliver sustainable solutions capable of both transforming education curricula and cultivating a new cadre of trainer scientists.

Blended Bioinformatics Training in Resource-Limited Settings: A case study of challenges and Opportunities for Implementation

“…Especially for bioinformatics, there are huge, urgent, unmet training needs [Attwood et al, 2017] exacerbated by the breadth of the discipline and its rapid evolution [Mulder et al, 2018], notwithstanding difficulty of curricula design to learners of diverse backgrounds [Bishop et al, 2014], and the shortage in experienced qualified trainers [Attwood et al, 2017]. Therefore, various international efforts were exerted to bridge this skills gap, like GOBLET, ELIXIR, BD2K TCC and H3ABioNet.…”

“…Therefore, various international efforts were exerted to bridge this skills gap, like GOBLET, ELIXIR, BD2K TCC and H3ABioNet. These efforts focused on short face-to-face and online courses which is preferable by researchers in their later career stages [Attwood et al, 2017].…”

“…The rapid advancements in genomics and molecular biology research and applications necessitates adequate, up-to-date and complimentary training in biology and computer science [Attwood et al, 2017, Mulder et al, 2018.…”

Community-Driven Data Analysis Training for Biology

“…The need for such training cannot be overstated: while the majority (>95%) of researchers work or plan to work with large datasets, most (>65%) possess only minimal bioinformatics skills and are not comfortable with statistical analyses [1,2]. This overwhelming need drives the demand, which, at present, greatly exceeds supply [3]. In a recent survey [4] over 60% of biologists expressed a need for more training while only 5% called for more computing power.…”

SQMtools: automated processing and visual analysis of ’omics data with R and anvi’o

“…The democratization in the use of meta'omics is however hindered by the inherent complexity of high-throughput sequencing results, which need to be processed and analyzed by specialized personnel. Life science graduates often lack training in basic data science skills (Attwood et al, 2017), and while large research groups might be able to hire one or more dedicated bioinformaticians, this is often not the case for smaller groups. There is thus a need for tools that allow life science researchers to reliably analyze meta'omics data with minimal training.…”