ADVANCED COURSE: INTRODUCTION TO R
The R language for statistical computing is a freely available, comprehensive statistical package with excellent graphical capabilities. As such, it has become an indispensable tool in all fields of biological research: many new statistical methods have been developed in recent years using R and numerous top-rank journals nowadays favor its use for the publication of scientific results.
The objective of this short course is to provide a general introduction towards using R for data analyses. We will provide a general review of basic operations, data types and management, aiming at familiarizing the students with the R environment without requirement of prior experience in R or programming. The course will follow a hands-on approach, with a theoretical background previous to each practical session.
This course will provide the basis for more advanced courses on specific topics using R, and it will be a requirement for students interested in enrolling in those courses.
PROGRAMME
Monday
9:30-13:00 | 14:30-17:00
0: Overview of the course and general programming objectives
1: What is R? Installation (R and R-studio), main structure, seeking help
2: Functions and packages (and seeking more help)
3: Variable modes and operators: numeric (integer, double), character, logical and complex
4: Assignment and arithmetics in R
Tuesday
9:30-13:00 | 14:30-17:00
1: Data types I: vectors
2: Data types II: matrices and arrays
3: Data type III: lists and data frames
4: Data types IV: special data structures
Wednesday
9:30-13:00 | 14:30-17:00
1: Data import-export, workspaces and directories
2: Data indexing (rows, columns, which(), etc.)
3: Reviewing and tabulating your data (summaries, table(), plot(), str(), xtabs(), etc.)
4: Flow functions and cycles (if(), for(), while())
Thursday
9:30-13:00 | 14:30-17:00
1: Simple plotting I: what’s in an R plot
2: Simple plotting II: how to basics
3: Simple plotting III: controlling plot aesthetics
4: More plotting possibilities (ggplot2)
Friday
9:30-13:00 | 14:30-17:00
1: Some advanced features: build your functions
2: Practice session (individual work and resolving doubts)
COURSE INSTRUCTORS
Pedro Tarroso - CIBIO - InBIO | BIODESERTS
Jesús Muñoz - CIBIO - InBIO | PLANTBIO
Cristina García - CIBIO - InBIO | PLANTBIO
Antigoni Kaliontzopoulou - CIBIO - InBIO | AP
INTENDED AUDIENCE
The course will be open to a maximum number of 25 participants.
Priority will be given to:
- 1st year and other PhD students attending the BIODIV Doctoral Program;
- PhD students attending other courses;
- Other post-graduate students and researchers.
REGISTRATION
Registration deadline: May 15, 2017.
Participation is free of charge for BIODIV students | 95 € (students) / 200 € (other participants). CIBIO members will have an additional discount of 20%. Does not include lunch or coffee breaks.
To register, please send an e-mail accompanied by your short CV (max. two A4 pages) to post.graduation@cibio.up.pt. Please refer your status (PhD student, MSc Student, Other) and the University to which you are affiliated.