Computing Support

The Computational Biology Research Group based at the University of Oxford can provide computing support for bioinformatics analysis and support for any scientist or group within Oxford University.

The cost for a bioinformatics account is £600 per year per person and we advise you to put this as part of the Full Economic Costings section of your grant as Bioinformatics support from the Computational Biology Research Group.

These charges will come into effect from August 2007.

If you anticipate requiring a greater amount of support then please come and talk to us.

Benefits

Each account gives access to the following:

• 10 hours of one-to-one consultancy time with a bioinformatician

  We provide

  • Consultation on bioinformatics methods

    Expert advice on using appropriate programs or databases, why and how to apply appropriate bioinformatics methodologies or investigating new areas of research.

  • Custom scripting

    The CBRG can provide custom-made computing solutions to help individuals with specific bioinformatics tasks. We have written short scripts to automate repetitive computing analyses as well as longer more complex pipelines. Even if you think it can't be done easily there are often methods that can be developed to automate, mine and visualise your data in new and interesting ways.

  • Database design

    Have you a project that is generating a lot of data? Do you want a place to store and query the results? The CBRG can help build robust databases. If your data is genome related we have successfully used and customised GBrowse databases for storing labs' private genome annotations and experiments.

• Secure backed up workspace and file storage

  We provide powerful servers for analysis and large storage areas to upload, download and share your data.

• Access to over over 200 bioinformatics programs

  These are available from the command line but also we provide an easy to use EMBOSS Explorer WWW interface that allows access to a wide range of programs bioinformatics tools. All results are stored are easily recalled for when writing up your research via our custom built ANALOG interface. We also maintain the R and Bioconductor suite of tools to facilitate the analysis of large microarray datasets.

• Access to bioinformatics databases

  We automatically download local copies of major databases and we can download and maintain your favourite databases if you require local access.

• Microarray storage and analysis

  We currently use the BASE microarray database which allows secure storage of all experimental information and analysis of microarray data

• Proteomics analysis tools and databases

  In collaboration with the Central Proteomics Facility we maintain the MASCOT search tool and custom proteomics databases. Any custom databases can be added to this as required. We also support MASCOT daemon and MSQuant

• Training

  We are also developing training courses and tutorials in relevant areas of bioinformatics. These will range from basic courses for new members of the Medical Sciences Division to introduce bioinformatics concepts and enable them to make the most of their molbiol accounts, through to more focused bioinformatics analysis in specialised areas - including DNA sequence analysis and microarrays.

  Further details of these courses will be added to the Courses page as they become available.

• Grant advice

  If you are writing a grant that you think requires a bioinformatics component then please contact us and we will help you write and specify costings.

For examples of our work see the examples section or for more information contact genmail (CBRG help email).