In the rapidly evolving field of bioinformatics, workshops play a crucial role in fostering knowledge sharing, collaboration, and capacity development among African students and researchers in advanced bioinformatics. EpiCass and CassavaNet4Dev projects are at the forefront of empowering African researchers with advanced Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) data analysis skills. The projects have demonstrated commitment to this cause by organizing a comprehensive four-day workshop in 2023 held simultaneously across three African countries—Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria. The workshop encompassed a three-day NGS data analysis and a mini-symposium on plant epigenetics published in the EpiCass and CassavaNet4Dev Advanced Bioinformatics Workshop by Gisel et al., 2023.
The recent “Second Advanced Bioinformatics Workshop” was organized in all three countries, with 314 applications and diverse participants from various educational backgrounds. The workshop aimed to equip attendees with essential bioinformatics data analysis skills, including Linux command-line usage, NGS data quality control, mapping, sequence assembly, and more. The workshop included a one-day mini-symposium on haplotype-resolved genomes. The mini-symposium was conducted in a hybrid setting, with nearly 100 participants joining the meeting virtually.