Health and bioscience researchers increasingly need to work with complex data types, such as imaging and -omics data. This requires them to develop additional skills around image processing, data science, artificial intelligence, coding, and data management – areas not typically covered by their core training.
The Health and Bioscience IDEAS project is a UKRI-funded programme aimed at delivering training in these areas to early career researchers (ECR), clinicians and healthcare professionals. Given the time constraints that ECRs are often under, the program focuses on short courses with interactive coding sessions using Python notebooks, which demonstrate the concepts and allow students to explore the data themselves through team-based exercises.
An innovative workshop called TeamCoders was first launched, which embraces Experiential Learning principles, promoting collaborative problem-solving through hands-on programming practice. We present the concept, its realisation, and the challenges we faced in the pilot study. The IDEAS training programme aims to create digitally competent healthcare and biosciences professionals.