This course introduces participants to the fundamentals of microbiome research using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Designed for beginners in microbial ecology and bioinformatics, the course starts with an overview of the microbiome and the role of 16S rRNA gene sequencing in profiling microbial communities.

Learners will explore the complete analysis workflow, including data preprocessing, denoising, and the generation of Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs). The course also provides an overview of commonly used tools and pipelines such as QIIME 2 and DADA2.

A practical hands-on session will guide participants through key steps: quality control and filtering of raw reads, denoising and ASV creation, taxonomic classification, diversity analysis, and result visualization. By the end of the course, participants will be able to perform a basic microbiome analysis and interpret results effectively.

This course is ideal for students, researchers, and professionals interested in microbial community analysis. No prior experience with microbiome data is required, though a basic understanding of molecular biology is helpful.

• Introduction to the Microbiome
• What is 16S rRNA Amplicon Sequencing?
• Analysis Workflow Overview
• Tools & Pipelines Overview
• Hands on: Quality Check & Filtering, Denoising and ASV Generation, Taxonomic Classification, Diversity Analysis, Visualization and Interpretation