In 2013, the Bioinformatics Resource Australia EMBL (BRAEMBL) undertook a survey of the bioinformatics needs of the Australian life sciences community to better understand and meet these needs. One of the most clear-cut results from this survey was the overwhelming demand for bioinformatics training, which led BRAEMBL to adopt the goal “to engage in Australia-wide training” as one of its key activities.

A follow-up survey carried out by QFAB Bioinformatics reinforced this view, and refined the estimates of both the extent of demand for training and the specific bioinformatics tools and applications of most interest to researchers.

In this presentation, I will review the main conclusions of the two surveys, and will discuss some of the ways in which BRAEMBL and QFAB, in partnership with the Genomics Virtual Lab project, have been working together to meet the training needs identified. These include hands-on workshops using individual cloud-based analysis servers, self-guided tutorials, video presentations, and post-training discussion and support forums.