Master's programme in Bioinformatics

The bioinformatics programme covers two academic years and starts in late August. The courses during the first year are taken serially in the order as they are presented in the content table below. The programme ends with a Master degree project of 30 to 45 credits (hp). Theory studies, seminars and practical exercises are integrated within the courses. All courses are given in English and include written and/or oral examinations.

The courses below apply from autumn 2022. See the lates, and older, Syllabuses and course plan at the faculty web pages or the programme page in the University catalogue. 

Year 1

The first year begins with a starting course, which is individually tailored to let you catch up on the areas you do not have in your bachelor degree and that you will need for the future course work (see prerequisite to gain insight into what is needed).

After the starting course, you have additional courses in bioinformatics. These build on previous courses and experiences gained from the well established, popular and highly acclaimed Master's programme in Bioinformatics Engineering (a programme taught in Swedish and established already in 2001), our discontinued Research master in Molecular Biotechnology and Bioinformatics as well as the present Master in Bioinformatics programme, that had its first intake in 2009.

For students with a Biology background:

Semester 1

Period 1

• Introduction to Bioinformatics, 5 (out of 10) credits (1MB438)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Bioinformatics A1N
• Introduction to Programming, Scientific Computing and Statistics, 10 credits (1TD349)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Computer Science G2F

Period 2

• Introduction to Bioinformatics, 5 (out of 10) credits (1MB438)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Bioinformatics A1N
• Database Design I, 5 credits (1DL301)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Computer Science G2F, Technology G2F, Sociotechnical Systems G2F
• Programming in Python, 5 credits (1TD327)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Computer Science G2F

1DL301 and 1TD349 is for students with biology background.

For students with a Computer Science background:

Semester 1

Period 1

• Introduction to Bioinformatics, 5 (out of 10) credits (1MB438)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Bioinformatics A1N
• Introduction to Molecular Biology, Genetics and Evolution, 5 (out of 15) credits (1MB439)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Biology G2F
• Script Programming, 5 credits (1TD328)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Computer Science A1N

1MB439 is for students with computer science background.

Period 2

• Introduction to Bioinformatics, 5 (out of 10) credits (1MB438)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Bioinformatics A1N
• Introduction to Molecular Biology, Genetics and Evolution, 10 (out of 15) credits (1MB439)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Biology G2F

Semester 2 (both backgrounds)

Period 3

• Molecular Evolution, 5 credits (1MB461)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Technology A1N, Bioinformatics A1N
• Information Management Systems, 10 credits (1DL471)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Computer Science A1N, Bioinformatics A1N, Technology A1N

Period 4

• Big Data in Life Sciences, 5 credits (3FB034)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Computer Science A1N, Bioinformatics A1N, Technology A1N
• Genome Analysis, 10 credits (1MB462)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Technology A1F, Bioinformatics A1F

Year 2

Year two ends with a degree project of 30–45 credits, where you will get a really good chance to apply your acquired skills to work with real biological questions, either at a company or at a research department at the University.

Depending on the length of your concluding Degree project, to a varying extent you have the option to select other courses during year 2. A few of the many options are presented below.

As an alternative to the conventional courses during year 2 you can also choose to do individual courses, for instance an individual Literature project and/or a Research training, as a possible prelude to your degree project.

Semester 3

Period 1

• Phylogenetic Analysis, 5 credits (1MB515)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Technology A1F, Bioinformatics A1F
• Knowledge-Based Systems in Bioinformatics, 5 credits (1MB416)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Technology A1N, Bioinformatics A1N
• Population Genetic Analysis, 5 credits (1MB514)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Technology A1F, Biology A1F, Bioinformatics A1F
• Statistical Inference for Bioinformatics, 5 credits (1MB459)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Technology A1N, Bioinformatics A1N

Period 2

• Proteomics and Metabolomics, 5 credits (1KB162)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Technology A1N, Bioinformatics A1N, Chemistry A1N
• Applied Bioinformatics, 15 credits (1MB519)
• Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Technology A1F, Bioinformatics A1F
• Degree Project E in Bioinformatics, 15 (out of 45) credits (1MB745)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Bioinformatics A2E

Semester 4

Period 3 and 4

• Degree Project E in Bioinformatics, 30 credits (1MB830)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Bioinformatics A2E
• Degree Project E in Bioinformatics, 45 credits (1MB745)
  Main field(s) of study and in-depth level: Bioinformatics A2E

The concluding Degree project starts at the end of October (45 credits) or in mid-January (30 credits) and is finished and presented at the end of the spring semester, in early June. The student can choose to perform the work at a research group within our Faculty or at a research department at one of the biotechnology companies that the program collaborates with.