Nanocourses
About
A nanocourse delivers focused, timely content through in-person sessions that combine short lectures with hands-on problem solving or application work. What sets a nanocourse apart from typical short online courses is the opportunity for real-time feedback and guided discussion, allowing participants to apply new, specialized knowledge directly to their own work or skill development.
The nanocourse format was originally introduced by Bentley and Stanford at Harvard Medical School as an approach that works well for rapidly developed courses, busy learners with limited time, and topics that complement or extend an existing curriculum. You can read more about their model in their published article.
At UT Southwestern, we have adapted this model to meet the evolving training needs of our community, with a focus on graduate students and postdocs. Each semester, we curate a set of topic-based nanocourses designed to fill gaps in the curriculum and complement existing core courses and electives.
By the Numbers
- 3X growth in number of topics over 4 years (8 in FY2022 to 25 in FY2025)
- 98% positive evaluations, 2% solid suggestions for improvement
- 40 Chair's Awards to graduate students and postdocs for nanocourse support (2023-2026)
What our learners say
Data Science using R
“I appreciated having multiple experts in the room answering questions. It allowed for descriptions in different styles, which is incredibly helpful to students.”
Ethics in AI for Scientific Writing
“I really liked how engaged the instructors were as they were delivering the content and their ability to redirect questions. I did not feel like I was sitting through a normal workshop and was actively engaged versus zoning out.”
This nanocourse also inspired one of our participants to write a blog. Read it by clicking on this link.
Introduction to PRO-seq workshop
“Great workshop, really detailed, and instructive, especially the demo and hands-on lab experience.”
Stay in the know
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