Bioinformatics MRes

Our MSc and MRes Bioinformatics provide you with high-quality online training in bioinformatics, with the MRes offering you a larger research component to your studies. You will learn the basics of bioinformatics and skills currently in high demand, such as in data science. We welcome students from a variety of science-based disciplines and academic or professional backgrounds to this course.<br/><br/><strong>Why choose this course?</strong><br/><br/><br/>• This course benefits from being embedded in a highly research-active environment in which you will be taught by expert computational biologists.<br/><br/><br/><br/>• You can study this course from anywhere in the world, as we provide you with access to high-quality, pre-recorded materials, live online sessions and supervised practicals.<br/><br/><br/><br/>• You will join a unique student cohort learning alongside students from all age groups with diverse academic and social backgrounds, who bring a variety of professional experiences to our course.<br/><br/><br/><br/>• We have over 25 years of experience running this course. Our alumni recommend it highly, some of whom are now successfully leading computational biology groups in research institutes or relevant industries.<br/><br/><br/><br/><strong>What you will learn</strong><br/><br/>This course covers core concepts underpinning bioinformatics. You will learn the basic skills required for any bioinformatics job, including:<br/><br/><br/>- coding in Python<br/><br/><br/>- statistical analysis and fundamentals of data science using R<br/><br/><br/>- understanding the algorithms used in the analysis of biological sequences<br/><br/><br/>- core biological concepts such as genes and genomes and protein structure and function.<br/><br/><br/>We also continuously update the course to meet the needs of the pharmaceutical, chemical and biotechnology industries. Our current focus is on growth areas including the analysis of next-generation sequencing data, the application of machine learning to biological data, the use of deep learning in protein structure prediction, and immunoinformatics.<br/><br/><strong>How you will learn</strong><br/><br/>You can choose to study this course full- or part-time and it is taught entirely online. We offer you pre-recorded material, live online sessions and a range of post-session activities so you can learn at a time that suits you. The live online sessions generally comprise a lecture or discussion and then a relevant, supervised practical. <br/><br/><strong>Highlights</strong><br/><br/><br/>• We are part of the Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, a joint initiative with University College London and a major biology research hub in the heart of London.<br/><br/><br/><br/>• In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), in a joint submission with UCL, Biological Sciences at Birkbeck were ranked 11th in the UK, with a research environment supporting world-leading and internationally excellent research.<br/><br/><br/><br/><strong>Careers and employability</strong><br/><br/>On successfully graduating from this bioinformatics course, you will have gained an array of important transferable skills, including:<br/><br/><br/>- independent problem solving<br/><br/><br/>- scientific reporting (oral and written)<br/><br/><br/>- time organisation and completing projects to deadlines<br/><br/><br/>- analytical skills, including a sound understanding of commonly used statistics<br/><br/><br/>- writing and sharing code, ensuring reproducibility.<br/><br/><br/>Studying our course will prepare you for roles in a range of fields in:<br/><br/><br/>- teaching and research in academia<br/><br/><br/>- biomedical data analysis in industry or academia<br/><br/><br/>- software development in industry<br/><br/><br/>- cience writing and reporting<br/><br/><br/>- bioinformatics support for sequencing centres.<br/><br/><br/>Some of our graduates from this course have gone on to be employed at the following organisations:<br/><br/><br/>• The Institute of Cancer Research<br/><br/><br/><br/>• The Francis Crick Institute<br/><br/><br/><br/>• Benevolent AI<br/><br/><br/><br/>• Genomics England<br/><br/><br/><br/>• UK Health Security Agency<br/><br/><br/><br/>• Unilever<br/><br/>