In this course the student will become familiar with a range of analytical methods used to characterise and study the genetic structure and evolution of populations. The course will focus mostly on bacterial and fungal populations, although principles learned in this course will apply to most organisms. The course will cover:

• Methods relevant to a variety of molecular and phenotypic data.

• The relevant merits of different markers that can be used.

• Issues related to sample design and the pitfalls associated with various designs will be an important part of the course.

• Analyses to be covered, will for example, include basic summary statistics, methods for assigning genotypes to clonal groups, and techniques designed to identify and quantify the contribution of recombination and migration to shaping the genetic structure of a population.

• Particular emphasis will be placed on the interpretation of the output of the different analytical methods covered in this course.

Undergraduate LOs

On satisfying the requirements of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Analyse molecular population genetic data with web-based analytical programs
2. Evaluate analysis programs for their applicability to a particular data set 
3. Understand the principles and theory of population genetics
4. Interpret outputs of analyses

• Completion of computer-based tutorials to demonstrate skills in using analysis programs (30%; LO 1-3)
• Reflective tutorial reports to evaluate knowledge (30%; LO 2, 3, 4)
• Essay to demonstrate critical analyses of data and understanding of computer-based analysis outputs (40%; LO 1-4)

Intensive workshop during 12-16 September and supporting tutorials

BIOL2151

Standard IT and library access