Taught course

Bioinformatics

Institution
University of Glasgow · College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences
Qualifications
MScPGDipPGCert

Entry requirements

Normally an upper second-class Honours degree or equivalent in a relevant subject. Professional experience may be taken into account. Applicants with a lower second-class Honours degree in a relevant subject will be considered on a case by case basis.

Relevant degree subjects are:

  • all biology degrees with a substantial molecular biology or genetics component.
  • other biology degrees with at least some molecular biology.
  • computing science, software engineering or IT.
  • mathematics or statistics (with evidence of experience in computer programming).
  • other physical sciences subjects with either evidence of experience in computer programming or evidence of a strong background in molecular biology.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The Masters in Bioinformatics is an exciting and innovative programme. Bioinformatics is a discipline at the interface between biology, computing and statistics and is used in organismal biology, molecular biology and biomedicine. This programme focuses on using computers to glean new insights from DNA, RNA and protein sequence data and related data at the molecular level through data storage, mining, analysis and graphical presentation - all of which form a core part of modern biology.

  • Accredited by the Royal Society of Biology for the purpose of meeting, in part, the academic and experience requirement
  • Equips you with understanding and hands-on experience of both computing and biological research practices relating to bioinformatics and functional genomics.
  • Benefit from being taught by scientists at the cutting edge of their field with intensive, hands-on experience in an active research lab during the summer research project.
  • Based in the College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, which has carried out internationally-leading research in functional genomics and systems biology. It’s an ideal environment in which to train.
  • Emphasis is placed on understanding core principles in practical bioinformatics and functional genomics, then implementing that understanding in a series of practical elective courses in semester 2 and a summer research project.
  • Gain practical experience of working with large molecular datasets, with semester 2 courses built around real research scenarios, enabling you to see why each scenario uses the particular approaches it does and how to go about organising and implementing appropriate analysis pipelines.
  • Advanced biocomputing skills are now deemed essential for many PhD studentships/projects in molecular bioscience and biomedicine, and are of increasing importance for many other such projects. We have also updated the programme to cater more readily for those interested in preparing for life sciences PhD projects.
  • Learn computer programming in Python, a language used in many areas of bioinformatics and biological computing
  • Some of the teaching and research scenarios you’ll be exposed to reflect the activities of 'Glasgow Polyomics', a world-class omics facility set up within the university in 2012 to provide research services using microarray, proteomics, metabolomics and next-generation DNA sequencing technologies.
  • Scientists here have pioneered the 'polyomics' approach, in which new insights come from the integration of data across different omics levels. Courses run by GP staff also provide a glimpse of 'systems biology' thinking - we see this as an important approach to the analysis of biological problems.
  • We have several world-renowned research centres at the University, such as the Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology, the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research and the Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, whose scientists do ground-breaking research employing bioinformatic approaches in the study of disease.

Qualification, course duration and attendance options

  • MSc
    full time
    12 months
    • Campus-based learningis available for this qualification
  • PGDip
    full time
    9 months
    • Campus-based learningis available for this qualification
  • PGCert
    full time
    3 months
    • Campus-based learningis available for this qualification

Course contact details

Name
Postgraduate Admissions
Email
mvls-bioinformatics@glasgow.ac.uk