Biologists collect and reason with a wide range of data and information. This unit will develop your existing skills to an advanced level so that you can design, collect and analyse biological data. You will then apply these skills to understand the different ways in which ‘data’ is converted to ‘information’ and how this articulates with the decisions that biologists in professional practice make in order to progress their science. As such, this unit complements traditional quantitative skills units by workshopping the different modes of scientific reasoning used in biology ranging from tightly controlled laboratory experiments to unreplicated field surveys. You will get the opportunity further develop your data handling and analysis skills and integrate these into scientific reasoning about biological problems. This will be achieved by using a suite of real-life projects in the biological sciences in which you will be encouraged to develop your skills of critique, evaluation and synthesis. The unit will start off with lecture, tutorial and workshop sessions to lay the foundations for the group projects which will be guided by teaching staff via on-line and face-to-face meetings. Collecting new field or laboratory data will form part of the project work, and contact hours will be more flexible as the project work develops towards the end of semester. The unit will be assessed using a data management report, a group seminar, a final report on your group research project, and an open-book examination. The assessment in this unit will provide you with opportunities to demonstrate mastery in using primary data and peer-reviewed literature to critique and apply knowledge and skills creatively in novel situations.