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76284-01 - Practical course: Scientific Visualizations Using R (1 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2025 |
| Course frequency | Every fall sem. |
| Lecturers | Jan Wunder (jan.wunder@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Visualisations can decide about the success of scientific lectures, poster presentations or journal articles. In this course you will get a very brief introduction into general design principles and guidelines for data visualisations. Based on this theoretical framework we will spend most of the course time learning how to use R as a powerful graphical software to create a wide range of customised graphics that include - but are not limited to - traditional scatter plots, bar plots, mosaic plots, box plots, density plots, violin plots, and interactive graphics as well as grid-based geographic maps and state-of-the-art multipanel conditioning plots (and many more). |
| Learning objectives | You will learn about the two pillars of the R graphics systems, i.e. Traditional and Grid graphics. The course focuses on the latter system and more recent developments such as ggplot2 and other advanced packages based on the “The grammar of graphics”-concept. Depending on the course progress, there will be scope for students to work on small projects and / or their own data sets. |
| Bibliography | - Murrell, Paul 2018. R Graphics. John Wiley and Sons - Free online sources |
| Admission requirements | Basic knowledge of R / attendance of the PSC course “Introduction to R” Participation is limited to 16 students, with priority given to PSC PhD students. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block | See individual dates | ||
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 11.12.2025 | 09.30-17.30 | Kollegienhaus, Mehrzweckraum 035 |
| Friday 12.12.2025 | 09.30-17.30 | Kollegienhaus, Mehrzweckraum 035 |
| Modules |
Doctorate Botany: Recommendations (PhD subject: Botany) Doctorate Environmental Sciences: Recommendations (PhD subject: Environmental Sciences) Doctorate Geography: Recommendations (PhD subject: Geography) Doctorate Geosciences: Recommendations (PhD subject: Geosciences) Doctorate Prehistory and Archaeological Science: Recommendations (PhD subject: Prehistory and Archaeological Science) Doctorate Zoology: Recommendations (PhD subject: Zoology) Geography: Recommendations (PhD subject: Geography) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Attendance and active participation during the course days (14 hours). In order to obtain the credit points, participants are required to hand in an assignment to be carried out at home (preparation work of 14 hours). The details will be explained during the course. The assignment is due no later than one week after the course has ended. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration, dereg: cancel course registration |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Science, studiendekanat-philnat@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Integrative Biologie |