{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]],"date-time":"2026-03-10T22:23:43Z","timestamp":1773181423028,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":13,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,13]],"date-time":"2023-02-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1676246400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.ploscompbiol.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS Comput Biol"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In Italian universities, bioinformatics courses are increasingly being incorporated into different study paths. However, the content of bioinformatics courses is usually selected by the professor teaching the course, in the absence of national guidelines that identify the minimum indispensable knowledge in bioinformatics that undergraduate students from different scientific fields should achieve. The Training&amp;Teaching group of the Bioinformatics Italian Society (BITS) proposed to university professors a survey aimed at portraying the current situation of bioinformatics courses within undergraduate curricula in Italy (i.e., bioinformatics courses activated within both bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees). Furthermore, the Training&amp;Teaching group took a cue from the survey outcomes to develop recommendations for the design and the inclusion of bioinformatics courses in academic curricula. Here, we present the outcomes of the survey, as well as the BITS recommendations, with the hope that they may support BITS members in identifying learning outcomes and selecting content for their bioinformatics courses. As we share our effort with the broader international community involved in teaching bioinformatics at academic level, we seek feedback and thoughts on our proposal and hope to start a fruitful debate on the topic, including how to better fulfill the real bioinformatics knowledge needs of the research and the labor market at both the national and international level.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1010846","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,13]],"date-time":"2023-02-13T19:27:09Z","timestamp":1676316429000},"page":"e1010846","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pcbi.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["An overview of bioinformatics courses delivered at the academic level in Italy: Reflections and recommendations from BITS"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Roberto","family":"Marangoni","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Vitoantonio","family":"Bevilacqua","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mario","family":"Cannataro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5579-183X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Bruno Hay","family":"Mele","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3520-4022","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Giancarlo","family":"Mauri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9510-5205","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Anna","family":"Marabotti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"name":"on behalf of the BITS Training&Teaching group","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"pcbi.1010846.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"860","DOI":"10.1038\/35057062","article-title":"Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome","volume":"409","author":"ES Lander","year":"2001","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"pcbi.1010846.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1304","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1058040","article-title":"The sequence of the human genome","volume":"291","author":"JC Venter","year":"2001","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"pcbi.1010846.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e7","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pcbi.0020007","article-title":"Welcome to PLoS Computational Biology \u201cEducation\u201d.","volume":"2","author":"F. 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Dalla sequenza alla struttura delle proteine.","author":"S Pascarella","year":"2011","edition":"1"},{"key":"pcbi.1010846.ref008","unstructured":"Available from: https:\/\/bioinformatics.it\/other-news\/detail\/1584\/linee-guida-insegnamento-bioinformatica; Italian only."},{"key":"pcbi.1010846.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"160018","DOI":"10.1038\/sdata.2016.18","article-title":"The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship.","volume":"3","author":"MD Wilkinson","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sci Data."},{"key":"pcbi.1010846.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0225883","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0225883","article-title":"A study of the impact of data sharing on article citations using journal policies as a natural experiment","volume":"14","author":"G Christensen","year":"2019","journal-title":"PLoS ONE"},{"key":"pcbi.1010846.ref011","first-page":"1167","article-title":"Scientific ethics and publishing conduct","volume":"84","author":"H. Lenz","year":"2014","journal-title":"J Bus Econ"},{"key":"pcbi.1010846.ref012","first-page":"735","article-title":"Introducing the Mastery Rubric for Bioinformatics\u2013a Professional Guide [version 1; not peer reviewed].","volume":"11","author":"The GOBLET, Foundation.","year":"2022","journal-title":"F1000Res."},{"key":"pcbi.1010846.ref013","first-page":"1377","article-title":"Course design: Considerations for trainers\u2013a Professional Guide [version 1; not peer reviewed].","volume":"9","author":"The GOBLET","year":"2020","journal-title":"F1000Res"}],"container-title":["PLOS Computational Biology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1010846","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,13]],"date-time":"2023-02-13T19:27:22Z","timestamp":1676316442000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1010846"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Patricia M.","family":"Palagi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,13]]},"references-count":13,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,13]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1010846","relation":{},"ISSN":["1553-7358"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1553-7358","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,13]]}}}