13-17 October 2025
Tartu, Estonia
We are excited to invite you to a week-long workshop focused on developing core competencies in using state-of-the-art data analysis and visualization tools in the R ecosystem, with a special emphasis on reproducibility and handling of geospatial data relevant to population genetics of ancient DNA.
Workshop outline
This hands-on workshop will cover: R as a powerful programming language beyond “just plotting”, manipulation and visualization of tabular data (including geospatial data) using selected packages from the modern tidyverse ecosystem, and a gentle introduction to basic concepts of population genetics from an applied, simulation-based perspective. All topics will have a strong emphasis on reproducibility of computational research, featuring the Quarto system for automated scientific reports and presentations, developing standalone command-line scripts for building reproducible computational pipelines, and more.
The workshop will be highly interactive and collaborative, and participants will have plenty of opportunities to work on their own projects and questions of interest throughout the event. Our intention is for every participant to be able, upon completion of the workshop, to immediately put what they have learned into practice in their own research projects, regardless of the exact topic of their study.
The workshop is designed and led by Dr. Martin Petr (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) and is primarily intended for Master’s and PhD students, as well as early-career researchers who have not yet had much chance to expand their skills in computational aspects of population genetics research.
Instructor: Dr. Martin Petr (Globe Institute, the University of Copenhagen, Denmark).
Important Details
The application deadline is 15 September 2025. Selection of the participants: 19 September 2025.
To apply, please send an email to (alena.kushniarevich@ut.ee). The application should include a short motivation letter (max. 2000 char. with spaces) and CV (1 page A4).
The number of places is limited to 24. Please note that participants will benefit most from the workshop if they have some familiarity with R (at least at a level of having some experience with standard R usage such as working with data frames and basic plotting) and have a basic knowledge of genetics.
Practical information
The course will be held in person only. Working language: English.
COSTS | The course is free of charge. Travel, accommodation, and food should be covered by the participants.
WORKSHOP VENUE | University of Tartu Library, Str. W. Struve 1 (https://maps.app.goo.gl/GGZi7TR7rxdeps4y7). The workshop will take place in the Tori room; there will be signs that will guide you to the right auditorium
WORKSHOP DURATION | Five days, Monday to Friday, 13–17 of October.
WORKSHOP STRUCTURE | Outline of the topics to be covered by the workshop, tentative time schedule, suggestions on how to prepare for the workshop (programs installed prior to the workshop, your own dataset, etc) can be found under this LINK. Please note that there might be some small updates, so please keep an eye on them.
Additional useful notes
Catering
There will be hot drinks and snacks available each day during both sessions. Other meals (lunches and dinners) should be organised by participants themselves (except for one optional joint dinner). Some suggestions to have lunch nearby:
- Gaudeamus cafe at Tartu University library (https://www.facebook.com/gaudeamuskohvik/).
- Aparaaditehas at Kastani 42 has several cafes and restaurants: Puhvet, Puente, Cruffin, Aparaat, Kolm Tilli.
- Smile cafe, Riia 15b (local, Armenian and Georgian cuisine) (https://smilecafe.ee/).
How to get to Tartu
By plane:
- Flight to Tallinn airport (https://airport.ee/) (+ bus/train to Tartu)
- Flight to Tartu airport (only from Helsinki)
By bus (https://luxexpress.eu/):
- Tallinn airport-Tartu Coach Station
- Riga (airport)-Tartu Coach Station
- Vilnius –Riga/Pärnu-Tartu Coach Station
By train:
- Tallinn-Tartu (https://elron.ee/en)
- Vilnius-Riga-Tartu (https://elron.ee/en/Tallinn-Tartu-Riga-Vilnius-train-connection)
Get around Tartu
Public Transport (https://tartu.ee/en/inner-city-bus-transportation)
Taxi:
- Bolt (application)
- Uber (application)
- Forus Takso (+372 6 120 000)
- Takso Üks (+372 7 420 000)
What else to do in Tartu? Find more information: visittartu.com
Health & Safety
If you are feeling unwell or experiencing any symptoms of illness (fever, sneezing, cough), we kindly ask you to refrain from attending the workshop to ensure the well-being of all participants. If you need to cancel your attendance due to health reasons, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!
Emergency service: Emergency department – L. Puusepa 8, wing G1, 1st floor; phone number 112
Organizers
The course is organized by the Institute of Genomics of Tartu University within the EU Horizon Europe Twinning project ECHO: Expanding Concept and Methodology for Human Past Studies in the Eastern Baltics Countries (2024-2027) (https://echo-project.eu/)
Contact information: Alena Kushniarevich alena.kushniarevich@ut.ee; Kadri Raav (kadri.raav@ut.ee).
