The module is for Vanderbilt and VUMC PhD students or postdoctoral fellows in the biomedical sciences.

• PhD students must have passed their qualifying exams before the module begins on September 5
• Preference will be given to PhD students affiliated with a School of Medicine or VUMC department or program, students affiliated with an institutional training grant, and students who have been admitted through the IGP, QCB, or IMSD.
• Preference will be given to postdoctoral fellows who have been in their laboratory at least six months.

Please contact Program Manager Angela Zito (angela.zito@vanderbilt.edu) if you have questions.

Up to 16 PhD students and postdocs will be selected to participate.

The Introduction to Data Science section will be taught by an instructor from our partner, the Nashville Software School. The Communication & Networking section will be taught by Dr. Ashley Brady. The Data Science Case Sessions will be given by PhD alumni who have pursued careers in data science.

The module has three parts (see the syllabus). It will be a mix of interactive lectures, data science projects with publicly available data sets, small group discussions, case studies with data science professionals, site visits to area employers, and group attendance at a local data science Meetup.

Participants will need a laptop computer that they can bring to each Introduction to Data Science​ session. You will use the laptop in- and out-of-class to complete a small data science project using open-source software that is freely available.

No specialized programming experience is needed. Participants who are new to programming will be asked to take a free, online short course to learn some basics about Python, before the start of the Introduction to Data Science section. It will take about 4 hours to complete. As for stats experience, the exposure you had as an undergraduate or graduate student in STEM will be sufficient. Please ask us questions if you have any concerns!

$0.The only thing we ask in return is your enthusiastic participation and regular attendance…and for you to fill out an evaluation survey at the end.

From September to April, once a week for 1.5-2 hours. The class won’t meet in November or over the university’s winter break. See the syllabus for the full schedule.

In-class: 1.5-2 hours per week in class. Out-of-class: we estimate 2-4 hours/week in September-October (for your data science assignments and project) and 0-1 hour/week in December-April.

Unfortunately, no. This module is limited to 16 people in order to maximize interaction between the instructor and students. We need to reserve this unique opportunity for trainees who can participate the whole year.

Please contact Ashley Brady (ashley.brady@vanderbilt.edu), BRET Office of Career Development

No. This is not a credit-bearing course and it will not appear on your transcript, if you are a student. Participants who finish the module will receive a Certificate of Completion from the BRET Office of Career Development.