Essential Molecular Biology & Bioinformatics

Course title: Essential Molecular Biology & Bioinformatics

Sub-title: Essential Laboratory Skills in Molecular Biology & Bioinformatics

Duration: one day, 0900-1700

Location: University of Oxford/Oxford Brookes University Teaching Labs

Dates: April and August. One-to-one tuition is also available.

Open to: UK and international students

Cost: £395 (student) | £595 (academic) | £895 (industry)

Book a place (you will be taken to the LibPubMedia Ltd website for booking)

Introduction: This intensive 1-day training course is aimed at providing students with basic theoretical and practical skills for working in a molecular biology laboratory, giving them the confidence to work safely in a laboratory. The course will also have an element of bioinformatics, and will include topics such as DNA/protein sequence analysis, and comparison and database searches using open-source programmes. In addition to getting theoretical background, the students will have the opportunity to use and familiarise themselves with several essential laboratory equipment.

Provisional course topics:

• Laboratory safety gear
• Biosafety and green laboratory practices
• Maintaining laboratory records
• Weighing and measuring
• Correct usage of pipetting/micropipetting tools
• Genomic and plasmid DNA preparation
• Restriction endonuclease digestion
• Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
• Agarose gel electrophoresis
• Data interpretation
• Open-source bioinformatics tools

How will this course be taught?

The day will include two brief refreshment breaks and a lunch break, and will be split approximately 20:80 between taught and practical content (including bioinformatics), respectively. The course will be headed by a course director, who will be assisted by graduate/postdoctoral junior tutors, actively involved in research and teaching at the University of Oxford, Oxford hospitals and Oxford Brookes University. We aim to have one tutor for every 5-6 students to provide individual attention and guidance.

Certificate: All students will receive a certificate of attendance and a transcript detailing the topics covered in theoretical and lab sessions.

Letter of Reference: We will also be happy to provide students a letter of reference, on request.

Who should attend this course?

• A-level students and prospective undergraduates
• Bioinformatics students/researchers
• Students doing a distance learning/Open University degree
• Medical students
• Doctors intending to work in a lab
• Undergraduates/graduates looking for a laboratory position or starting an honours project
• Students planning to pursue a career in medicine or a biomedical discipline
• Industry sales/marketing representatives, managers and administrators interested in understanding how a laboratory works

Requirements

• English proficiency equivalent to IELTS level 5.5 (modest-competent user) or above (IELTS test certificate/score is not required)

Recommended

• We recommend that you have studied or are studying biology/human biology/chemistry at high school level. However, we can also tailor this course for those without a biology/chemistry background.