diff --git a/PREPARATIONS.md b/PREPARATIONS.md
index 29834e391f4f2c6ca1297d3e005d11292768f329..f6f2811c5dadbd6208819db5e94007b8f085b807 100644
--- a/PREPARATIONS.md
+++ b/PREPARATIONS.md
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ Our current list (not yet confirmed):
 - Angga Fuady
 
 
-# Course materials
+## Course materials
 
 We can reuse many slides from last year, see the contents of this repository.
 
@@ -62,4 +62,16 @@ We will provide the course materials and program via GitLab. So this GitLab
 project will be the course homepage.
 
 The old course homepage can still be found here, but will be deleted before the
-course starts: https://humgenprojects.lumc.nl/trac/humgenprojects/wiki/gitcourse
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+course starts: https://humgenprojects.lumc.nl/trac/humgenprojects/wiki/gitcourse
+
+
+# Prerequisites
+
+Affinity with the UNIX shell is required before taking the course. For example,
+our [scripting course](https://humgenprojects.lumc.nl/trac/humgenprojects/wiki/scripting)
+is more than enough, or you could go though [tutorials 1-3 here](http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Teaching/Unix/).
+
+We encourage you to bring your own laptop, but make sure it has the necessary
+software installed (see [Software installation](https://humgenprojects.lumc.nl/trac/humgenprojects/wiki/gitcourse/SoftwareInstallation)).
+We can also provide you with a laptop that has all the required software
+installed. The lessons are interactive, meaning that you really need a laptop.
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