Population Genomics
This course brings together an international collection of lecturers and course participants to study techniques for the analysis of population genomic data.
The course is offered every other year (i.e. every even year).
Topics include population genetic theory, introduction to command line, data formats, coalescence/population demography, analysis of population structure, adaptive evolution and inferring selection, gene-environment interactions, landscape genomics, and the analysis of admixture/hybridisation.
This is an intensive one-week course with lectures (including discussions) and hands-on exercises, Monday to Friday. About half the time will be devoted to lectures, and the other half to exercises. Lectures and exercises are 35 hours in total, and self-study is estimated to 30 hours. Preparation time for written report (home exam) is estimated to 35 hours. The total workload is thus about 100 hours.
The course consists of two sessions per day:
· Session 1: welcome, practicalities, course introduction
· Session 2: introduction to command line (unix), data formats, data conversion
· Session 3: population genetic theory
· Session 4: introduction to R
· Session 5: analysis of population structure
· Session 6: population history, demographic inference, coalescence
· Session 7: genomic basis of adaptive evolution and inference of selection
· Session 8: landscape genomics, gene-environment correlations
· Session 9: admixture and introgression/hybridization
· Session 10: Open lab and introduction to the home exam
Students bring their own laptops with the last version of R and RStudio installed. Some R packages will also be needed. The students will receive a reading list and software installation instructions before the start of the course and are expected to prepare well.
Evaluation
The evaluation will be report-based. The students will analyze a population genomic dataset (preferably their own data or data related to their own research topic), interpret and write a report. The students deliver the report within a month after the end of the course.
After having completed the course, the students should:
Knowledge:
- have acquired in-depth understanding of topics, theories, processes, tools and methods used in population genomics.
Skills:
- have acquired the tools and abilities to conduct population genomic analyses, including data quality control, analyses, and interpretation of results.
General competencies:
- be able to exchange views and experiences with evolutionary and molecular biologists and contribute to the development of good practice;
- develop an understanding of modern scientific research in population genomics.
