The course consists of four half-days worth of content plus the final hackathon, and will take place over 3 weeks, although participants will have access to the course material for the duration of the month of the course (and usually for some time after the course). Each half-day consists of some on-demand pre-recorded content and some timetabled (live) content. The first day of Week 1 will be Monday 2nd March 2026. All the core content of the course is pre-recorded – live sessions are not compulsory to attend, but are supplementary to the core content. They represent a chance to engage with the course tutors. Several of the live sessions will be recorded.

Each half-day can be done whenever is convenient. A half-day of content includes three pre-recorded talks (around 20-30 minutes each) and one practical session (around 1-1.5 hour). Each of the three computer practicals should be performed individually, but there is an associated live drop-in session to come and ask questions. There is also a recorded debrief session that runs through the practical content. In terms of live content, in addition to the practical drop-in sessions, paper discussion, and hackathon, there is also a question and answer session each week to ask your questions. Questions can be asked during the week on a dedicated Slack channel, or you can ask questions live (Q+A sessions will be recorded).

The hackathon is an opportunity to perform your own Mendelian randomization investigation to use the skills you have gained during the course. This can be done individually or as part of a group.

Participants should choose one of the papers for the timetabled paper discussion (Practical 3), and one hackathon session, based on their availability and preference.