MIB course: Python for bio(chemical)scientists

Python is general-purpose programming language, and due to its extensive mathematics libraries, it is frequently used for scientific scripting in tasks such as numerical data processing and manipulation. This course is delivered by researchers in the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) and will cover an introduction to python with a focus on some typical uses for BBSRC PhD students.

This 3-day in-person course covers:

Day 1: Introduction to python, including an introduction to general programming concepts, getting set up Google Colab, Anaconda and Jupyter Notebooks, and writing and running your first scripts, including with help from your favourite generative AI chatbot.

Day 2: Inputting, manipulating and visualising data. Inputting data in common file formats, plotting using popular Python plotting libraries, and data manipulation and analysis (e.g. basic statistics) using basic scripts and additional libraries, including Biopython.

Day 3: Mini project. With help from the course tutors and your peers, explore more advanced uses of Python with a mini project designed around your PhD project and/or interests.

The course material has been designed for students with little to no programming experience. While the course is run in person, students will largely be able to work at their own pace, with help from experienced tutors. By the end of the course, students should be comfortable writing and editing Python scripts and have a better appreciation of how coding can speed up routine data analysis and allow new types of working.

Getting started

This material is presented in python notebooks (.ipynb file format) and there are (or will be) code snippets available.

We will start with an introduction using Google's colab notebooks: https://colab.research.google.com/

Navigate there and then open Intro1.ipynb...