Posted on: 17 July 2025

The Galaxy Training Academy 2025 trained researchers in Galaxy data analysis world wide across a variety of scientific topics.

In May 2025, from the 12th to the 16th, the Galaxy Training Network (GTN) hosted the second edition of the Galaxy Training Academy (GTA) - a global, self-paced online training event. Since its inception in 2021 with the GTN Smörgåsbord, this was already the fifth large-scale, open-access learning event organized by the GTN.

The GTA offered a range of training paths, known as ‘tracks’, covering diverse scientific topics. Learners worldwide could follow these tracks using a combination of pre-recorded video and detailed written tutorials, all free and openly accessible.

This global effort was made possible by an international team of dedicated trainers and contributors, who prepared materials, set up the infrastructure, and offered live support throughout the event.

The event

The Galaxy Training Academy began on Monday with a live welcome and introduction session. The first day offered a variety of entry-level training sessions - perfect for those new to Galaxy, with tutorals like ‘Galaxy 101’. However also more advanced tutorials where offered including Data manipulation, or High-throughput sequencing (HTS) fundamentals like read mapping and quality control.

Over the next three days, participants could explore one or more specialized tracks. This year’s lineup included both returning favorites and new additions:

• Returning Tracks: Proteomics, Assembly, Transcriptomics, Single Cell, Microbiome, and Machine Learning

• New Tracks: Variant Analysis, Climate Science, and ‘From Zero to Hero with Python’

On Friday, participants had the opportunity to explore additional topics such as FAIR training or Plant Galaxy, or simply catch up on materials from earlier in the week.

The full program and detailed event setup instruction were provided to participants in advance to ensure a smooth learning experience.

Participants

This year’s GTA saw 3,574 registered participants from across the globe, with particularly strong representation from India and the United States. Most participants were either complete beginners (42.3%) or had limited experience (44.2%) with Galaxy.

A total of 763 participants requested certificates, and 561 certificates were issued. The most popular certificate requests was for the Introduction to Galaxy, followed by Microbiome, Assembly, Python Programming, and Transcriptomics Tracks.

While most learners requested a certificate for a single track, many pursued multiple tracks and earned multiple certificates.

The GTA 2025 welcome video was viewed 1,237 times in May, and the most popular video tutorials were the ‘Reference-based RNA-Seq Data Analysis’ Hands-on session and the ‘Introduction to Genome Assembly’ lecture.

Community and support

The success of GTA 2025 was made possible by the vibrant GTN community, who contributed to every aspect of the event - from track development and tutorial testing to video recording, tool integration, and user support.

Each track had its own dedicated Slack channel, where trainers and experts provided real-time assistance throughout the week.

An open call for trainers was launched earlier in 2025, attracting both long-time contributors and new community members. The final roster included 21 Track Leads, who selected and organized content. Additionally and the total of 24 Tutorial Testers took care to the correct content of the tutorials and 52 Trainers supporting before and during the event.

Their efforts were instrumental in creating a supportive, accessible, and high-quality training experience.

Feedback

Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive. Already during the event, many expressed appreciation for the high-quality content, organization, and support.

The majority of participants were satisfied with the event and indicated that they would attend future Galaxy events.

The overall satisfaction level with the accessability, support during the event, the reachability of experts, and the pace of the training, the ease of navigation was high.

Additionally, most participants used the videos to complete the training and 96.2% of the participants are planning to use galaxy again.

Next Galaxy Training Academy event

We’re excited to announce that the next Galaxy Training Academy will take place in Spring 2026! In the meantime, we’ll use this year to further improve and update our materials and infrastructure.

Stay connected with us on LinkedIn, Bluesky, and Mastodon for updates and announcements.

Closing Thoughts

The Galaxy Training Academy 2025 showcased the strength of community-driven, open science education. With the support of the GTN, Galaxy continues to empower learners worldwide through accessible, scalable, and high-quality training.

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed - and to all participants for making GTA 2025 such a success. We look forward to welcoming even more learners in future editions!