BiBiServ Distance Education and Training

Bioinformatics is a young and dynamic field. The integration of knowledge from biology and computer science requires a significant educational effort. Our Distance Education and Training Department serves as the base for the following educational activities:

• Basic Sequence Analysis

• • A WWW-based practical course on Sequence Analysis with Distributed Resources. This course has been available since 1998. A previous version has been translated into several languages and was regularly offered at various locations. So much for history -- the course has been updated and completely remodelled in 2005.

• Advanced Sequence Analysis

• • Here are excerpts from the Advanced Course on Computational RNA Biology organized in Tübingen in 2006. These materials cover pseudoknot folding, comparative structure analysis, and miRNA target prediction, including exercises.

• Dynamic Programing

• Dynamic programming is a predominant programming technique in biosequence analysis.
  Algebraic Dynamic Programming (ADP) is a new method to design and implement, tune, test and teach Dynamic Programming algorithms.

• • About Dynamic Programming provides a gentle introduction to the technique of (algebraic) dynamic programming, and guidance with using interactive application examples

  • The Algebraic Dynamic Programming Homepage constitutes an exposition of what has been achieved with ADP, including literature, applications and current research.

• Current activities in bioinformatics education, including our local curriculum.

• History

  Here are links to educational adventures in the early days of bioinformatics, mostly outdated by the material listed above.

  • Notes of a first course on Systematic Dynamic Programming in Bioinformatics, presented as a tutorial at ISMB2000.

  • An award-winning virtual BioComputing Course was run in 1995 and 1996. Our VSNS BioComputing Division WWW site includes a hypertext coursebook on sequence analysis, our experiences teaching the subject to a worldwide audience via the Internet, and a layman's introduction into the fascinating world of biocomputing.

  • Reports on two student projects via tele-cooperation: The virtual Study Project Agency.