This online course is aimed at beginners as well as people with some experience of R or statistics who would like to take their skills to the next level.
Learn the fundamentals of R, and everything you will need to know to process and analyse data and present the results.
This is predominantly a self-study course, centred around a website consisting of articles, exercises and computer code that you will work through at your own pace.
The examples in the course are taken from the biological sciences (eg. medicine and animal biology), though the methods you will learn are widely used in other fields, like business and social sciences.
This course is ideal for anyone wishing to gain the core skills needed to process, graph, and analyse data in R. This could include professionals and graduate students seeking to improve their skillset, as well as current and prospective university students hoping to improve their skills.
What will I learn?
The curriculum will cover the following:
- Basic usage of R and RStudio
- How to input, clean, and process data using dplyr and other tidyverse packages
- Making diverse types of high-quality graphs with the ggplot2 package
- Fundamentals of statistical hypothesis testing
- The linear model: a flexible statistical test that is suitable for diverse purposes
You will also complete Moodle quizzes designed to help you assess your own knowledge.
Help will also be provided via weekly video calls (see Course Dates) and an online forum (see How you'll be taught).
Who will teach me?
The course leader, Associate Professor Luke Holman, is a biologist, internationally recognised for his contributions to evolutionary biology, particularly 'big data' projects involving advanced statistics, coding, individual based simulations, and text mining. Luke has used R in his research for over 20 years, and is recognised as a pioneer of reproducible research.
Entry criteria
No previous experience of coding or statistics is required, though it would be helpful to be confident using a computer and have good numerical literacy. We therefore strongly recommend that participants have a high school (eg. Advanced Higher, A-level, or equivalent) or college/university-level qualification in a relevant subject (eg. sciences, health or social sciences, mathematics, computing), or comparable professional experience.
Cost
£140.00
Course dates and duration
This is a self-study course that can be completed at your own pace, with optional weekly teaching sessions held online.
Dates: 8 June - 3 July 2026. With 4 live sessions at 12-1pm on 10, 17, 24 June and 1 July 2026.
Delivery mode
Participants will gain access to high-quality digital teaching materials. Participants will work through these materials in their own time, and at their own convenience. The volume of teaching materials is such that the course could be completed by a dedicated beginner while working or studying full-time, or completed in a few days by someone studying it intensively.
In addition to the weekly optional live teaching sessions, there is an opportunity to get help as you progress via an online forum.
Additional information
How will I be assessed?
Alongside instructional materials, there will be self-assessment tests to check your understanding and put your newly-acquired skills into practice.
What will I get after completion of the course?
Participants engaging with the self-assessment tests will receive a certificate of completion.
What past participants have said
“The course material was very well organised and easy to follow. It was quite practical with ways R could be useful to my work. The self-study material is easy to understand and follow through. The online sessions with the tutor were also productive.”
“The self-study material was very comprehensive and highly useful”
“I enjoyed the weekly meet-ups where we could discuss challenges with our data and problem solve”
Average overall rating (5 reviews): 4.8 out of 5.