THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2017/2018

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Informatics : Informatics

Postgraduate Course: Bioinformatics 1 (INFR11016)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Informatics CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryA primary requisite for relevant, and efficient, research in Bioinformatics is that scientists from both fields (biology and informatics) are involved, or consulted. Team work can only be successful if all parties have a basic ground knowledge of the respective other field and, most importantly, that they can communicate with each other. The aims of the course are to help you overcome both of these difficulties in your future careers. The course will cover topics that include core biology concepts that relate to bioinformatics, biological data and their source and structure as well as common tools for their analysis.
The course will also involve group-based practical work on using and developing bioinformatics solutions.
Course description The course will cover the following:

Essential Biology
* DNA/proteins
* Evolution
* Chromosomes and Cells
* Molecular structures

Bioinformatics
* Biological sequence analysis and alignment
* Bioinformatics resources and databases
* Functional genomics
* Proteomics and network analysis
* a site visit to see bioinformatics research in action


Relevant QAA Computing Curriculum Sections: Databases, Developing Technologies
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements This course is open to all Informatics students including those on joint degrees. For external students where this course is not listed in your DPT, please seek special permission from the course organiser.

Parts of this course assume a basic knowledge in biology beyond general high school standards (i.e. is suitable for everyone with a University education in a biology-related field).

Students with a higher education in a biology-related field can ask to be exempted from the first half of the course (excluding assessed coursework and exam).

There will be tutorial-style sessions where python will be used to perform basic sequence analysis. All steps will be explained, and no specific programming is required.
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 10, Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 10, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 76 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 70 %, Coursework 30 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Coursework is assessed though two practical reports (each worth 15%) on using/deploying the students own bioinformatics services and the remainder through a final examination in the December diet.

You should expect to spend approximately 30 hours on the coursework for this course.
Feedback Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)Bioinformatics 12:00
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Communicate about essential and modern biology and how it relates to Informatics
  2. Describe basic biotechnology in the context of its underlying theoretical basis with an emphasis on the technologies routinely used in modern biological sciences.
  3. Use and/or implement a suite of core bioinformatics tools/services and describe their application.
Reading List
* Julia E. Richards , R. Scott Hawley Chapter 3 - The Central Dogma of Molecular Biology : How Cells Orchestrate the Use of Genetic Information The Human Genome A User's Guide, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-091865-5.00003-5

* An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms, Jones & Pevzner, MIT Press.
Additional Information
Course URL http://course.inf.ed.ac.uk/bio1
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Douglas Armstrong
Tel: (0131 6)50 4492
Email:
Course secretaryMs Katey Lee
Tel: (0131 6)50 2701
Email:
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