Introduction to R

R is an open source statistical programming language, created specifically for data analysis. R is extremely versatile and this makes it a popular choice for health researchers. Many of the researchers working in the Bristol Medical School use R to implement their analyses.

Dates Due to demand, this course runs twice:

8 - 10 December 2025
30 March -1 April 2026
Fee £375
Format Online
Audience Open to all applicants (prerequisites apply)

Course profile

This course aims to introduce the statistical software package R, focusing on providing the starting point needed to exploit R’s huge potential for statistical analysis.

Please click on the sections below for more information. 

This course will be delivered online over 3 half days, with live sessions including lectures and practicals.

By the end of the course participants should be able to:

  1. implement the basic operations of R;
  2. read in data from multiple sources;
  3. understand, manipulate and explore different types of R objects such as vectors, matrices and data frames;
  4. find help about a given command and explore similar commands;
  5. use R script files to organise R commands;
  6. use control structures and functions to write robust and reusable code;
  7. display summary statistics and basic plots; and
  8. download, install and find documentation for additional R libraries.

The course is intended for anyone with no previous experience of R, but who wants to use R in their day-to-day work for storing, summarising and analysing data. Previous experience with handling data is therefore required. No previous knowledge of R or of statistical analysis will be assumed.

Please note: This course is for those with no experience of R. This course will not contain much statistical analysis in R. Some simple routines in R will be used as examples but the key learning objective is to become familiar with R so that you can then explore the huge range of possibilities for analysis using R.

This course will cover:

  1. conducting basic calculations;
  2. using variables, functions, scripts and control structures (e.g. if statements and for loops);
  3. working with packages;
  4. using data structures including vectors, matrices and data frames;
  5. reading and writing data into / out of R; and
  6. creating some basic plots.

The course organisers are Dr Ahmed Elhakeem, Eleanor Walsh and Dr Ruth Salway. 

To make sure the course is suitable for you and you will benefit from attending, please ensure you meet the following prerequisites before booking:

Software We will be using Posit Cloud as an interface for R in the practical sessions. You can use your own desktop version of R, if you are already familiar/comfortable with this, or we will provide a link to Posit Cloud. Go to R Installation Instructions for further information.
Recommendation We recommend using two screens, or a large enough screen, that will allow you to complete practical work alongside viewing the live lectures.

Before booking this course, please make sure you read the information provided above about the target audience and prerequisites. It is important that you have access to the relevant IT resources needed for the course and meet the knowledge prerequisites to ensure you can get the most from the course.

Bookings are taken via our online booking system, for which you must register an account. To check if you are eligible for free or discounted courses please see our fees and voucher packs page. All bookings are subject to our terms & conditions, which can be read in full here.

For help and support with booking a course refer to our booking information page, FAQs or feel free to contact us directly. For available payment options please see: How to pay your short course fees.

Bookings close two weeks before the start of each course. Once all courses have finished for the current academic year we close the booking system for updates, and re-open again in the Autumn. To be notified about our timescales for opening annual registrations and bookings sign up to our mailing list.
 

Participants are granted access to our virtual learning platform (Blackboard Ultra) 1 to 2 weeks in advance of the course. This allows time for any pre-course work to be completed and to familiarise with the platform.

To gain the most from the course, we recommend that you attend in full and participate in all interactive components. We endeavour to record all live lecture sessions and upload these to the online learning environment within 24 hours. This allows course participants to review these sessions at leisure and revisit them multiple times. Please note that we do not record breakout sessions.

All course participants retain access to the online learning materials and recordings for 5 months after the course. 

University of Bristol staff and postgraduate students who do not wish to attend the full course may instead register for access to the 'Materials & Recordings' version of this course: Further information and bookings.

100% of attendees recommend this course*.
*Attendee feedback from December 2025.

Here is a sample of feedback from the last run of this course:

“Good basic understanding of R and approach to help with my data analysis as a PhD student." - Course feedback, December 2025

“Good lectures and examples, clear to follow." - Course feedback, December 2025

“Great step-wise structure of course. Really helpful structured practice sessions. Good topic areas covered." - Course feedback, December 2025

“Great to have a base in R as starting using a new programme is challenging. I will be using R for my Masters this year." - Course feedback, December 2025

“I have a better understanding of R now." - Course feedback, December 2025

“I thought the walk-through tutorials and demos were really thorough." - Course feedback, December 2025

“It was satisfying to get things working in a package I was unfamiliar with. Having the answer sheets after the practicals was helpful in solidifying what I had learnt during the lectures." - Course feedback, December 2025