Bioinformatics Institutes

ASM/JGI Bioinformatics Institute

The ASM/JGI Bioinformatics Institute aims to meet the need for more undergraduate faculty in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines to understand, interpret, and use molecular sequence information to solve problems. The Institute features the analysis of microbial genomes, molecular sequences, and structural data, providing a framework for developing classroom activities and research projects for undergraduate students.

At the completion of the Institute, participants will take home a working knowledge of several key bioinformatics tools and a strengthened ability to connect scientific questions to learning goals and pertinent bioinformatics tools. As participants begin to use the skills and ideas they gain at the Institute back at their home institutions, several measurable outcomes should be generated or enhanced. In terms of students, more of them will:

• Understand the role of scientific research and the process through which it occurs

• Make new connections between virtual and wet-lab components of courses

• Seek out independent research opportunities

Faculty should see increased student engagement in course material and find it easier to incorporate (i) discussions of research into courses and (ii) their own research ideas into courses. All of this increased engagement by students and faculty will allow them to see that educational goals can be met while still generating meaningful scientific results, such as deeply annotated microbial genomes deposited in public databases and functional genomics datasets.