The Natural History Museum, London and NERC are offering a one-week course “An introductory molecular phylogenetics course: integrating molecules with taxonomy, systematics and evolutionary studies”, to run in-person from 6–10 March 2023 or online 20–24 March 2023.
The course will be taught by NHM scientists and will benefit anyone wishing to gain expertise in molecular diagnostics and phylogenetic analysis for systematic, taxonomic and ecological studies. The course is sponsored by NERC and the NHM and is completely free.
Attendees will receive theoretical and practical training on how to:
• Edit raw sequence data (chromatograms) for phylogenetic analysis, align sequences, remove ambiguously aligned sites, use BLAST to identify contamination and find sequences homologous to a query sequence using GenBank
• Perform Bayesian/maximum likelihood analyses using appropriate models
• Interpret tree topologies and nodal support and produce publication-ready trees
• Handle metabarcoding and amplicon sequence data from environmental samples
• Assemble and annotate high-throughput sequencing data
Participants will also
• Learn about different methods for phylogenetic analysis
• Become aware of issues that may affect their analyses (long branch attraction, discordance etc)
• Understand some problems associated with species delimitation
• Recognise the potential of contemporary sequencing technologies and phylogenomics in particular
• Recognise the pros and cons of different markers for systematics and barcoding
• Learn how to upload new sequences onto GenBank
Note that this course assumes no prior experience with DNA sequence analyses and is an introductory course. As such, it is not appropriate for more advanced students. A general understanding of molecular and phylogenetic terminology is assumed. Computers are provided for the in-person course. There are a maximum of 12 places available on either course. Travel and accommodation arrangements will be made for participants by our administration team.
The course is available to anyone at post-doc and post-graduate level but please note that from a short list (based on perceived need and relevance of the course to the applicant’s project) priority will be given to applicants supported by NERC, working on a NERC grant or based at a NERC institute. Applicants are selected based on perceived need and relevance of the course to the applicant’s project. Travel and accommodation arrangements will be made for participants by our administration team.
More information, including the application forms, can be found here: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/courses-and-students/introductory-molecular-phylogenetics-course.html. Return completed applications to: molec_NHMNERC@nhm.ac.uk. Note that this is an automated email account – do not send queries. Your application will receive a bounce back message to confirm receipt of your application.
If you have any queries about the course content, please write to Dr Suzanne Williams (s.williams@nhm.ac.uk). For administrative questions (e.g. travel, accommodation) please contact Ms Anna Hutson (a.hutson@nhm.ac.uk).
