Bioinformatics is essential for the analysis of genomic data. It is a complex multidisciplinary science that requires highly trained professionals, technical precision, and agility in response to constantly evolving genomic technologies.
The diverse applications of bioinformatics include integrating assorted datasets, managing high throughput sequencing data, ensuring analytical reproducibility, benchmarking quality, and interpreting results within a biological context, amongst others.
The Ramaciotti Centre implements advanced bioinformatics support to produce data in line with our commitment to deliver genomics services of the highest quality.
We are actively expanding our bioinformatics support capabilities. Therefore, we would be delighted to hear more about your needs and discuss how we can work together to develop a bespoke solution. Please contact us on this matter by using this link: Bioinformatics support at Ramaciotti.
Depending on the analytical complexity and demand, we may not be able to accommodate all projects. In this case, we may recommend alternative pathways, including prospective collaborations with research laboratories, public bioinformatics resources, private service providers or partner organizations.
Here are some additional bioinformatics resources:
DIY
There are number of resources available to researchers interested in performing their own analysis. Below are links to further resources, training and high-performance computing.
Australian BioCommons, a Bioplatforms Australia- funded initiative, support researchers with community scale digital infrastructure and access to bioinformatics solutions. They coordinate a range of activities, and their website contains a wealth of information and resources.
Galaxy Australia is an open, web-based platform for accessible, reproducible and transparent computational research. Galaxy supports thousands of documented and maintained tools that are free to use. We facilitate on-demand training capacities and provision 600GB for Australian institutional (and 100GB for other) users.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT can help generate, troubleshoot and review bioinformatics pipelines but may require some critical inspection, as AI recommendations may be inaccurate, out of date, or complete hallucinations. Users of AI tools should consult with experienced bioinformaticians and familiarize themselves with their institution’s policies regarding the use of AI, as well as best practices for referencing and acknowledging the use of AI tools in their work and make efforts to reference the original authors of the bioinformatics tools that are employed.
Training
The Ramaciotti Centre and Australian BioCommons organise and host data analysis training workshops. Please subscribe to our mailing list be notified of these events.
High Performance Computing
UNSW Resources
The Faculty of Science is at the forefront of all aspects of high-performance computing within UNSW. The Faculty has pioneered a modular computational cluster significant potential for further expansion where research groups "buy in" to the cluster by purchasing one or more inexpensive nodes which give them access to the cluster. A sophisticated job scheduler then ensures that users always receive a fair share of the compute resources that is at least commensurate with their research group’s investment in the cluster. For further information about opportunities to expand and use the cluster please contact martin.thompson@unsw.edu.au.
Regional Resources
The primary regional resource of high performance computing in NSW is through Intersect Australia Ltd. Intersect is a not-for-profit company established to provide eResearch services and solutions to member institutions. Intersect works with its members using their existing technical capabilities to drive the next generation of research and innovation. Please visit their website for further details on the hardware and software available for computationally intensive data analysis.
National Resources
The National Computational Infrastructure NCI) is a federal government initiative hosted at ANU with the aim of fostering world-class research through the provision of high end computing services. Their advanced computing infrastructure includes a petascale HPC system, a large scale compute cloud and multi-petabyte high performance storage.
The computational resources of the NCI are collectively known as "The National Facility" are available for researchers who are successful in applying for time on their clusters. Detailed information including history current setup and future expansion plans can be found on the NCI web site.