Workshops¶
Carpentries Workshops¶
The Carpentries (https://carpentries.org) is a global organistation that teaches foundational coding and data science skils to researchers world-wide. University of Otago is a member organistation of the Carpentries and uses the Software and Data Carpentry curriculums for workshops. Each year we also train new instructors through instructor training workshops.
Software Carpentry¶
A Software Carpentry (https://software-carpentry.org) workshop is a hands-on training that covers the core skills needed to be productive in a small research team. Short tutorials alternate with practical exercises, and all instruction is done via live coding.
A Software Carpentry workshop is taught by at least one trained and badged instructor. Over the course of the workshop, instructors teach our three core topics: the Unix shell, version control with Git, and a programming language (Python or R).
Intoduction to Git¶
This online, hands-on Carpentries Version Control with Git workshop will introduce you to the fundamentals of version control and collaborative workflows using Git. You’ll learn by doing, with guided exercises and live support from certified instructors.
What you’ll learn By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:
- Understand what version control is and why it matters
- Track and manage changes in your files using Git
- Revert to previous versions of your work
- Collaborate with others without overwriting each other’s contributions
- Use Git to support reproducible and transparent research
Level: Novice/Beginner
29 Oct 2026¶
9:30am - 1pm online
Programming and Plotting in Python¶
Python is a versatile programming language widely used in the research community for tasks such as pre-/post-processing simulation results, data visualization, data science, machine learning, and task automation.
In this hands-on, virtual workshop, you will learn essential Python programming skills. We will focus on understanding basic Python syntax, writing simple code, and navigating third-party package documentation. Topics covered include:
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Python fundamentals: variables, strings, arrays, and dictionaries
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Reading, summarizing, and plotting tabular data
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Repeating actions with loops
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Creating functions
Level: Novice/Beginner
9 - 10 Sep 2026¶
Two half-days, 10am - 1pm both days online.
Intoduction to the UNIX Shell (BASH)¶
This is a free online workshop which aims to teach beginners how to use the command line to manipulate files and data.
By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:
- Navigate files and directories using the Unix shell
- Create, copy, move, and remove files and folders
- Use powerful command-line tools to search and manipulate data
- Combine commands to automate repetitive tasks
- Understand how the shell supports reproducible research workflows
Level: Novice/Beginner
30 July 2026¶
10am - 3pm online
15 October 2026¶
10am - 3pm online
Data Carpentry¶
Data Carpentry's (https://datacarpentry.org) focus is on the introductory computational skills needed for data management and analysis in all domains of research. Our lessons are domain-specific, and build on the existing knowledge of learners to enable them to quickly apply skills learned to their own research. Our initial target audience is learners who have little to no prior computational experience. We create a friendly environment for learning to empower researchers and enable data driven discovery.
R for Data Analysis and Visualisation¶
This is a free workshop introducing researchers to basics of R programming language and RStudio before moving on to data exploration, visualisation, data cleaning, and data manipulation workflows commonly used in ecological research. This workshop does not teach statistics.
By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:
- Introduction to R and RStudio
- Importing and exploring ecological datasets in R
- Creating effective data visualisations using ggplot2
- Working with data frames, vectors, and factors.
- Cleaning, filtering, selecting, and transforming data using modern R workflows
Level: Novice/Beginner
12 - 13 August 2026¶
Two half-days, 10am - 1pm each day online