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March 2027 · 11th edition

Programming for Evolutionary Biology (EVOP) School

An intensive 16-day course for PhD students and postdocs in evolutionary biology with no or little programming experience.

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  • Dates March 6-21, 2027
  • Location Freie Universität Berlin
  • Intensity 16 days, ~150 hours
  • Fee 4,290 EUR incl. accommodation, breakfast and dinner
  • Apply by October 21, 2026
  • Participants approx. 25

Why programming for evolutionary biology?

Today, evolutionary biology often involves the analysis of an unprecedented amount of information and supports many other disciplines, such as medicine (evolutionary medicine), behavioral biology (evolutionary psychology), ecology and information transfer. Scientists have to analyze large datasets, which requires computational programming skills to design and apply their own ideas in customized algorithms.

Founded in 2012, our course is back with established and new content. In 16 days, you will learn how to survive in a Linux environment, get hands-on experience in two widely used programming languages (Python and R) and learn statistical data analysis. The classes are given by experts in the field and consist of lectures and exercises at the computer. At the end, you carry out a project of your own interest in a small group under the supervision of a teaching assistant.

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What to expect: an intensive full-time course

EVOP delivers about 150 hours of teaching in 16 days. A typical day runs from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. with lectures and hands-on coding labs, followed by dinner. On some evenings we will continue with course content or study time with the teaching assistants. The course runs from Saturday, March 6 to the evening of Sunday, March 21, including weekends, with one free day.

The course takes you from the very basics of programming to bioinformatics applications in only a few weeks. Not sure whether the level is right for you? Have a look at the program and a typical day and the application details.

13 reasons to participate

  • You need no prior programming experience
  • Get over the first hard steps of learning programming in 16 intensive days, assisted by experienced teaching assistants and lecturers
  • Meet experts in your field of evolutionary biology
  • Learn widely used programming languages in evolutionary biology
  • Learn how to analyze high-throughput sequencing data
  • Learn state-of-the-art tools used in evolutionary biology research
  • Pick the brains of the lecturers and speakers, who will all be around for several days
  • Learn how to design and perform bioinformatics-based projects
  • Develop your own 3-day project and strengthen your teamwork skills
  • Come away with a toolkit for performing your own computational analyses
  • Establish collaborations for future research projects and stay in contact with the bioinformatics community
  • Learn to communicate with computer scientists to develop cutting-edge research at the intersection of biology and informatics
  • Strengthen the competitiveness of your CV

Location: Berlin

The school takes place at Freie Universität Berlin in Germany's capital. It was established at the University of Leipzig and later moved to Berlin, with the same team. So you can take advantage of a well-known and well-organized school.

Accommodation for all participants is organized at the Seminaris CampusHotel Berlin in Berlin-Dahlem. See travel and accommodation for details.

Building of Freie Universität Berlin in Berlin-Dahlem
Photo: Fridolin freudenfett (Peter Kuley), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped
Illustration: a DNA double helix sitting at a computer, thinking of Darwin's tree of life sketch
“Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution”
Theodosius Dobzhansky, 1973

Apply for March 2027

The course is limited to approximately 25 participants. Applications are sent as a single PDF by email. Application deadline: October 21, 2026.

How to apply