Data Visualisation with ggplot2

Want to learn how to effectively visualise your data in R using the elegant {ggplot2} package? With {ggplot2} it’s easy to customise everything from plot layouts and themes to scales, colours, and more! This course will comprehensively take you through basic plot types such as bar and line charts as well as cover more advanced topics such as interactive graphics with {plotly}.

This course will take place, from 13:30 - 17:00(UK time), on the 2-3 Feb 2026. The closing date for enrollment is 26 Jan 2026.

Learning outcomes

Session 1:

By the end of session 1 participants will…

• understand the basics of {ggplot2}
• know how to create effective plots with the ggplot() function
• understand how to use {ggplot2} aesthetics
• understand how to use geom_* functions to create bar plots, heat maps, density plots, histograms and much more
• be able to facet plots using facet_* functions

Session 2:

By the end of session 2 participants will…

• be able to modify the scale of a plot including colour palettes
• be able to use built-in as well as external plot themes
• understand how to manually customise existing theme components
• be familiar with {plotly} and {gganimate}, used for dynamic visualisations

This course does not include:

• The creation of 2D maps using spatial data, see our course on Spatial Data Analysis with R.
• Plotting of time series data, see our course on Time Series Analysis With R
• Data manipulation and data cleaning. For data cleaning and manipulation see our Data Wrangling with Tidyverse course.

Prior knowledge

A basic knowledge of R is assumed for this course. In particular, attendees should be familiar with the topics covered in the introduction to R course. This course will be a mixture of lectures and computer practicals. The goal is to enable participants to apply the techniques covered to their own data. This course is suitable for all fields of work. Previous attendees include biologists, statisticians, accountants, engineers & students, i.e., anyone who uses a spreadsheet!

Attendee feedback

• “The instructor was incredibly effective - good communication, and good time management, and well-prepared material! I really liked how the instructor “parked” student questions so as to not get off-topic, and then came back with answers at a more appropriate time! No time wasted setting up software!”
• “Sometimes plotting our data/results is something that we HAVE TO do, but I’ve just discovered how fun it can be. Rhian was a great teacher and also gave us many external resources to get ideas and improve our skills.”
• “Theo was an excellent teacher and the course was very good. Thank you.”
• “Mandy was simply incredible. She is very patient, extremely clear and she really gets the questions asked from her, immediately and spot on. I have learned more in these two sessions than in a whole year of shopping around for R syntax online.”

How to sign up

Please register. You will be invoiced by our team and receive the Zoom invitation and pre-course information by email.

If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at training@jumpingrivers.com.