Lab Overview

Every friday, our class session will be an interactive lab. These labs will be exercises that we work on together that reinforce the skills and tools we will need to use in class for our projects.

The very first lab is entirely focused on getting set up to work on our shared computing cluster. The rest of the labs are centered around small, self-contained bioinformatics problems that we will solve using all of the different tools we will be using in the future.

Early labs will focus more on technical skills and getting comfortable with the SCC. Later labs will focus on additional biological analyses and exploring more complex bioinformatics concepts.

Lab Structure

Most labs will have an introductory, short lecture on some of the tools we will be using. Then, you will need to accept the github classroom assignment for the lab and clone the repo to your directory. You will be asked to work entirely on the SCC in the repo you clone to your student directory (/projectnb/bf528/students/).

At the end of the lab, please push any changes you have made to your github repo. We will not be grading the labs, but your pushed changes will reflect your participation for the labs.

The directions for each lab typically outline what we will cover together, and then individual tasks that you will need to complete. Myself and the TAs will roam the room to help you with any issues you may have.

You are encouraged to make use of any resources available to you, including the internet, LLMs, and your classmates. All of the code in the labs is simply a vehicle for imparting good practices and skills. We are not grading the labs, and all of the code we ask you to write has likely already been implemented by others.