This webinar, part of the biocuration series, will introduce the concept of an ontology, a type of controlled vocabulary that encompasses relationships between entities, and will cover why ontologies are useful for describing biological data and biology. The webinar will also discuss the role of biocurators and the relevance of ontologies to biocuration. 

During this webinar, the Gene Ontology - a species-agnostic classification scheme for gene function - will be used to illustrate how ontology terms are composed, and how terms are related within the ontology. 

Then, as an example of how a data resource uses an ontology, the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium will be introduced, along with a description of the Mammalian Phenotype Ontology that it uses to describe identified phenotypes. 

This webinar is the third in our series of webinars on the topic of biocuration. In an ELIXIR survey in 2019, which aimed at identifying training needs in biocuration, the most commonly indicated were programming, development and use of ontologies and database management. In addition skills like programming and extracting data from literature were mentioned as decisive for a successful biocuration career. With our webinar series we want to help to close this gap: Bicourators from different backgrounds and institutes will share their experience on how they have acquired these relevant skills in their job, how they apply these in their works and why they benefit from it. The speakers will also point to helpful tools and resources they use.