MSc Computational Biology (upto seven partial scholarships available)

A major driver behind the revolution in molecular biology in recent years has been the remarkable advances in biotechnology that have led to cheaper,  more accessible and more reliable methods to generate vast amounts of biological data. In response to the rapidly growing demand for researchers with the right mix of computational skills and biological knowledge necessary to collect, interrogate and analyse such data, UEA was one of the first  UK universities to provide a cutting-edge MSc programme in the field of computational biology.

Built on the previous MSc Bioinformatics, the MSc programme is offered by the School of Computing Sciences and run in close collaboration with the UEA School of Biological Sciences (BIO), The John Innes Centre (JIC), The Institute of Food Research (IFR), The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL), and the recently established The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC), all of which are located in close vicinity to the University in the Norwich Research Park. It has two streams, one for students with a computing/mathematics/engineering background and one for students with a background in the biological sciences and is offered as a full time programme (1 year) and as a part time program (2 years and 4 years). It aims to provide a high quality and challenging postgraduate degree programme and is delivered by research scientists at the cutting-edge of their field. It equips students with the required skills and state-of-the-art knowledge in computational biology and bioinformatics to build successful careers in academia or industry.

 
An unique aspect of the program is the possibility to undertake projects at the associated research institutes. Also some project work may be done with companies and could involve paid placement at a company. More information concerning the content of the MSc programme can be found on the School of Computing Sciences Masters Degrees and Diplomas web pages.

Enquiries concerning this programme should be directed to Dr. Katharina Huber. A prospectus and application form are available on our Postgraduate taught programmes page.
 

Undergraduate teaching

Second year teaching

Acknowledging the exciting challenges and opportunities that computational biology holds for computer scientists, the School of Computing Sciences now offers an introduction to Computational  Biology to 2nd year students. Delivered in the form of the Introduction to Computational Biology module (CMPS2B06) , this module is taught by members of the School's Computational Biology Laboratory who carry out research at the forefront of computational biology.

Starting with a brief introduction into molecular biology, the main aim of this module to provide first insights into  methodology and algorithms used in a range of areas that are core to computational biology including sequence alignment, RNA structure prediction, phylogenetics, regulatory networks and protein structure. 
 

Third year teaching

Building on and extending from the themes covered in the 2nd year module Introduction to Computational Biology, the School offers projects for 3rd year students. These are available to all of the School's 3rd year students and recent titles include:

• Conserving biodiversity
• Identifying new RNAs
• Visualizing phylogenetic information
• Comparison of structural domains and dynamic domains in proteins
• Investigating the alpha-sheet structure.
• Roots, flowers and leaves: modelling the growth of surfaces in plants
• A framework for testing regulatory network reconstruction methods