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78086-01 - Lecture with practical courses: Data Visualization with R (1 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Every spring sem. |
| Lecturers | Miriam Quick (miriam.quick@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Strong data visualization skills are crucial for scientists. Charts can make or break a paper, and the visualization of data is central to science communication more broadly, from outreach to journalism. In this course, you will learn how to create beautiful, publication-ready scientific graphics using the powerful and free software R. Through lectures and workshop tasks, we will cover topics including, but not limited to: • Types of scientific visualization • Exploratory plots • Choosing the right chart type • Visual design choices: layout, themes, colours • Text on charts: titles, labelling, annotation • Interactive and animated charts • Geo data and basic mapping We’ll be working in RStudio and primarily in the Tidyverse, using ggplot2 and other packages to build our own custom graphics. |
| Learning objectives | By the end of the course, you will be more confident applying good dataviz principles to your own work and have the resources to enhance and refine your knowledge further. |
| Bibliography | • JD Long: R Cookbook, 2nd edition: https://rc2e.com/ • Winston Chang: R Graphics Cookbook, 2nd edition: https://r-graphics.org/ • Robert Kabacoff, Modern Data Visualization with R: https://rkabacoff.github.io/datavis/ • R data visualization cheat sheet: https://github.com/rstudio/cheatsheets/blob/main/data-visualization.pdf |
| Comments | Please bring your own laptop, with the latest version of R and R Studio installed. • R latest version: https://www.r-project.org/?offset=15 • RStudio latest version: https://posit.co/downloads/ • See https://rc2e.com/gettingstarted for installation help If there is a dataset you would like to visualize during the workshop, feel free to bring it, but this is not required. |
| Admission requirements | Primarily for PhD students at the Department of Environmental Sciences (Master’s students may join with permission). |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block | See individual dates | ||
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 27.05.2026 | 09.30-17.30 | Botanik, Seminarraum 00.005 |
| Thursday 28.05.2026 | 09.30-17.30 | Botanik, Seminarraum 00.005 |
| 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 (16 hours). To get the credit points, you must hand in an assignment that you work on at home (preparation work of 14 hours). Assignment details will be explained during the course. The finished assignment is due no later than three weeks after the course has ended (June 18th 2026). |
| 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 | Departement Umweltwissenschaften |