Genomics Invoicing Student Intern Project

Introduction

Core sequencing facilities, such as WEHI Genomics, process hundreds of sequencing runs every year. They have to keep track of the costs and invoices that are generated even when the cost of materials and equipment is constantly changing.

Genomics invoicing is a project to help the genomics facility that wants to speed up their ability to generate invoices and minimise the chances of human error.

At the start of every year they receive new equipment and new pricing models and consumables by multiple third parties. These pricing models are in a constant state of flux for the first three months of the year.

During this time it is very challenging to keep track of all the different pieces of information and to update a master spreadsheet or database to keep information current.

This is also challenging when specialised discounts are applied by third parties to specific researchers without prior knowledge of these discounts being agreed to.

The genetics facility would like to look at a simple proof of concept to streamline the creation, updates and finalisation of the invoices in a way that maximises flexibility and minimises human error.

To fit into the infrastructure at WEHI the initial idea has been to set up an r shiny application that could read in a master spreadsheet and from that master spreadsheet allow a user to create, update and finalise invoices.

In this role, you will need to review, curate, and build on the knowledge provided in the wiki, add your own technical notes into the Sharepoint, communicate you and your team’s progress via email on a regular basis, and turn up to online meetings. This will help future students improve their onboarding in the future.

Duties while on placement

The Research Software Engineer Intern role will:

• Work with researchers to identify their needs
• Review the options available for building a proof-of-concept application based on maintainability and extensibility
• Implement, build, or trial applications to test fit-for-purpose

There is also a fair amount of flexibility with this project to allow the student to inject their own ideas and introduce new features and functionality.

Skills and Pre-requisites

Skills and Pre-requisites:

• Basic knowledge or ability to learn quickly Java/Javascript/CSS, databases and Linux command-line
• Ability to learn and understand high-level concepts quickly
• Ability to work independently and to report to a group and discuss theories and results - Good analytical skills
• Skills or experience with git, HTML/CSS, and R/Shiny would be an advantage

Benefits for students

Benefits for students whilst undertaking the internship include:

• Each student will get hands on experience in working in an emerging research software environment within a highly regarded medical research institute.
• Gain understanding of how real-world software is assessed, developed and how priorities and requirements are established within a research environment.
• Gain understanding of the importance of maintainable, scalable and extensible code.
• Improving oral and written communication skills in a team environment.

Further reading

• No further reading as yet.