cookieImage
2025-2026 / BIOL0029-1

Practical genomics

Duration

10h Th, 30h Mon. WS

Number of credits

 Master in bio-informatics and modelling, research focus5 crédits 

Lecturer

Denis Baurain, Marc Hanikenne

Coordinator

Marc Hanikenne

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

High throughput sequencing technologies have revolutionized Biology. Analyzing the data they generate requires the implementation of bioinformatic tools and the use of high-performance computers.

This course provides a practical approach to illustrate concepts and tools for analyzing genomic data. It is composed of different modules:



  • Module 1. Assembling a genome
  • Module 2. Introduction to the use of high performance computers (HPC)
  • Module 3. Introduction to Markdown reporting
  • Module 4. RNA-Seq data analysis
  • Module 5. Analysis of genomic sequence variants
 

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

By the end of the course, students will have acquired basic practical knowledge for the analysis of high throughput sequencing data. The course involves intense use of the command line, interaction with a computing cluster, and the use of popular analysis pipelines.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Concepts from the module 'Toolbox : nucleic aci technologies (BIOC0726-1)' acquired at the end of block 1 of the Master BBMC or BIM are required to take the course. Similarly, the practical skills of the courses INFO0960-1 (Command-line interfaces and tools for biologists) and INFO0962-1 (Scripting interfaces for biological software) are also required.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Each module starts with a brief theoretical introduction, before moving to computer practicals in a dedicated computer room.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Blended learning


Additional information:

Modules 1 to 3 are organized face-to-face. For modules 4 and 5, students work independently and a meeting of 1 hour per week is scheduled with the teachers to discuss the progress of the work and problems encountered.

Course materials and recommended or required readings

Course notes, PowerPoint slides and datasets to be analyzed are made available to students through myULiège.

Written work / report

Continuous assessment


Further information:

Half (50%) of the grade is subject to continuous assessment during the in-person sessions.
The following points are assessed:

- Attendance at in-person sessions and weekly progress discussions (25%);

- Active participation in these sessions (25%).

The analyses conducted in modules 4 and 5 are the subject of a written report summarizing the objectives, the analyses implemented and the results, using Markdown technologies (50% of the overall grade).

The Professors will only consider the reports for which material proof of the realization of the analyses is available and/or if the student attended more than 50% of the weekly progress discussions.

Reports will have to be submitted by the end of January at the latest.

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

The course is taught in English. The material is written in English.

WARNING: Each M-BIM student must have a laptop on which one can install the Linux operating system (e.g., Ubuntu LTS). Virtual machines running in VirtualBox are not adequate solutions, but WSL2 on a recent version of Windows is possible, as is dual-boot with Windows.

https://canonical-ubuntu-wsl.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/guides/install-ubuntu-wsl2/

It's also possible to use a recent Apple Mac.

Contacts

Prof. Marc Hanikenne
Institut de Botanique B22 (P70)
marc.hanikenne@uliege.be 

Prof. Denis Baurain
Institut de Botanique B22 (P70)
denis.baurain@uliege.be 

Association of one or more MOOCs