Visualisation and sonification for genomic data sets

Overview

Successive revolutions in sequencing technology over the past two decades have led to an explosion in the availability of genomic data. Analysing biological datasets and identifying relationships within them is challenging - some of the process can be automated but interactive exploration offers a number of advantages, and supports serendipitous discovery.

This project looks at visual analytics and sonification - the use of sound and musical encodings - to enhance our understanding of biological networks.

Research activities

The approach taken will depend on your background and experience and the level of the project, but activities can include:

• development of novel filtering and comparison strategies for viewing networks
• use of Bayesian models for understanding the most important features of an image
• programmatic musical composition linked to network structure and relationships within the data set
• creation of sonifications associated with animated network exploration.

Outcomes

We are looking to develop new strategies to make complex biological networks more comprehensible. These will include new approaches to visualisation and sonification. The outcomes we are hoping for include new tooling and examples of animations and music created to explore and explain particular data sets.

Skills and experience

This work is obviously interdisciplinary in nature and so many people can bring their ideas and expertise to these problems. Ideally you will have a solid background in Computer Science or Mathematics or a related discipline, but here I would especially welcome people who have also studied fine arts and design or molecular biology or linguistics. For sonification I am looking for students with a strong background in music and ideally some experience in composition.

I am happy to hear from anyone with a good academic background who is able to think computationally and to bring a fresh perspective to the problem. We will teach you the bits that you don't know. If this sounds like you, please do get in touch.

If you are undertaking this project for Honours or a PhD then you may be eligible to apply for a scholarship.

Scholarships

You may be eligible to apply for a research scholarship.

Explore our research scholarships

Keywords

• genomics
• visualisation
• sonification
• music
• Bayesian modelling

Contact

Contact the supervisor for more information.