Visualisation with ggplot2

This workshop will cover the fundamentals of data visualisation in R. Learn how to build beautiful plots from scratch.

This online workshop is delivered by Genomics Aotearoa and REANNZ, and will be taught on Wednesday 11th of March, 2026 from 10:00am-4:00pm NZT. It is for New Zealand genomics researchers interested in data visualisation with ggplot2.

Good scientific visualisation is about more than just writing the correct code. Visualisation is communication, and good communication requires thinking about how we as the scientist/data analyst/creator convey our message to the reader. This one-day workshop will provide you with a toolbox of skills and code examples to help you create clear, visually interesting visualisations which accurately communicate a message.

We will cover:

• The basic code template for ggplot
• Visualisations for ourselves (exploratory analysis)
• Examples of good data visualisation (with code)
• Building a complex and visually appealing figure together

Who this workshop is for

Scientists who have learned at least some R (Base R or tidyverse) and want to improve their ability to visualise data (e.g., have completed our Introduction to R workshop or have equivalent experience). You do not need to have any experience with ggplot2 to take part in this workshop. This workshop is also suitable for someone who has made a few basic plots and wants to learn more about new geoms and optional arguments for making a more appealing plot.

Setup

This is a fully online, hands-on workshop. This workshop will be run on the REANNZ OnDemand platform - there is no need to install any software for this workshop. Instructions on how to access the platform will be sent out with the confirmation email to participants. The material for this workshop can be previewed here.

Participants must have their own laptops and plan to participate actively. You will require a working web browser.

If you have any questions about these workshops, including whether they are suitable for you, please contact chloe.vanderburg@otago.ac.nz.