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Software Carpentry - R

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About this event

What to expect

Learn to harness the power of R for scientific data analysis in this comprehensive two-day Software Carpentry workshop, designed specifically for researchers with little to no programming experience. Whether you're a PhD student analysing experimental data or a research fellow exploring new datasets, this beginner-friendly course will equip you with essential skills in one of the world's most popular languages for statistical computing and data visualization.

What You'll Master

This hands-on workshop covers the complete R workflow for scientific research:

  • Getting Started: Install and configure R and RStudio on your own machine, navigate the RStudio interface, and understand how R handles different data structures (variables, vectors, dataframes, and data types)
  • Data Management: Import datasets into R and learn best practices for organizing and managing your research data
  • Data Exploration & Preparation: Use the powerful dplyr package to clean, filter, transform, and summarize your data
  • Data Visualization: Create publication-quality plots and charts using ggplot2, one of the most versatile visualization packages available
  • Reproducible Research: Write, save, and re-run R programs to ensure your analyses are reproducible and shareable

The curriculum is built around common scientific tasks in data analysis, making it immediately relevant to your research work. By the end of the workshop, you'll have the confidence to tackle your own data analysis projects in R.

Course Format & Accessibility

This online workshop runs over two half-day sessions (09:30–12:30 each day), allowing you to learn intensively while still managing other commitments. The interactive format provides opportunities to practice new skills and ask questions in real-time. If you can't attend the live sessions, recorded versions of previous courses are available through Canvas for self-paced learning.

The course is open to both research staff and research students at all career stages. The only prerequisite is a basic understanding of files and directories (including the working directory concept) — no programming experience required.

Ongoing Support

Your learning doesn't end with the workshop. The University of Birmingham's Advanced Research Computing team offers extensive ongoing support including an active R user group with resources and expert contacts, help from the Research Software Group for spe

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