Data curator Mikus Melderis participated in a five-day training course, R Programming for Statistics and Machine Learning, in February 2026. The course was led by researchers from the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis and focused on the practical application of statistical data analysis and machine learning methods in the R programming environment.
The training programme covered both statistical fundamentals and machine-learning approaches for research data analysis. Participants were introduced to various statistical analysis and machine-learning methods, including statistical tests, data grouping and dimensionality reduction techniques, as well as commonly used machine-learning algorithms for data analysis.
Particular emphasis was placed on practical sessions, where participants worked with real data examples in R, gaining a deeper understanding of how these methods function, their applicability, and their limitations. The course also highlighted the importance of data structure, programming approaches, and reproducibility in high-quality research workflows.
The knowledge gained will enable data curators to more effectively advise researchers on data analysis methods, data preparation and documentation, while also fostering closer collaboration between data management and research communities.
