To provide evidence-based advanced practical training in using web services to aggregate and visualise biodiversity data, using an interactive and open-access based approach.

The course will comprise five sessions of four hours each that combine lectures and hands on exercises.

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The course web site contains a comment section for each session where students can add comments, and links to papers or websites they have found. Contribution to this discussion is 20% of the course mark. The remaining 80% will be based on the end of course project where students can apply the skills learnt to a problem of their choosing.

To provide evidence-based advanced practical training in using web services to aggregate and visualise biodiversity data, using an interactive and open-access based approach.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ demonstrate advanced competence in querying biodiversity databases and be able to critically discuss with respect to the primary literature their most appropriate uses

■ critically discuss with respect to the literature the strengths and limitations of existing biodiversity databases

■ consider a biological question related to biodiversity informatics and take an evidence-based approach to determine which current databases and services are relevant to answering that question

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.