Using a balanced approach of lectures and practical sessions, a general background to metagenomics will be provided, as well as the latest advancements in the field and its relationship with other disciplines. Throughout the course, poster presentations, discussion rounds, quizzes and group works will engage participants and speakers in active discussions and thus, boost the learning experience. Course participants will learn all about experimental design, how to prepare metagenomic libraries from soil samples and are invited to bring their own environmental samples from soils or aquatic environments (previously filtered). The bioinformatic analysis is a key part of the course, where students will learn how to process data from raw sequence to the application of algorithms for analysing metagenomic datasets.