Master's Programme in Bioinformatics 120 credits
About the programme
In the Master’s programme in Bioinformatics, you study how data science, computational and statistical approaches are applied to enable novel biological insights. The programme provides a broad insight into the use of bioinformatics, from clinical genetics to plant biotechnology and biodiversity monitoring. You will gain insight from active researchers into the broad diversity of areas where bioinformatics is now essential for advancing biological understanding and translation to societal impacts.
High demand for qualified bioinformaticians
Strong connection with ongoing research
Use high performance computing infrastructures
While studying
Are you a passionate biologist who would like to extend your skills in extracting novel biological knowledge from complex datasets and the application of cutting-edge technologies? This programme is designed for students with a background in molecular biology or related subjects wanting to develop applied skills in bioinformatics.
You will receive advanced training in applying computational and data science approaches in practice, providing you with the tools to work with a diversity of real-world biological challenges spanning from human health to complex ecological systems.
A mix of theory and practical application
As a master’s student in Umeå, you will learn to work independently and critically, developing skills essential for both academic research and professional roles that require autonomy and analytical thinking.
Through a combination of lectures, practical exercises, group-based and independent projects, you will gain both scientific expertise and hands-on experience to enable you to work as part of an interdisciplinary team, gaining important transferable skills. The hands-on exercises throughout the programme utilise national high performance computing infrastructures, providing directly applicable skills in preparation for your future career.
Courses in the programme
Year 1
The first year focuses on developing foundational skills in biostatistics, practical computing and scripting application and the generation and analysis of high throughput genomics data.
- Computing for data driven biology
- Statistics and data science for biology
- Programming in Python for bioinformatics
- Statistics and machine learning in bioinformatics
- Quantitative biology and integrative omics
- Comparative genomics
- Functional genomics theory
- Applied functional genomics
Year 2
The second year develops detailed understanding of applied aspects of clinical genetics and microbial genomics in additional to undertaking group based and independent research projects.
- Applied bioinformatics
- Clinical omics and bioinformatics
- Epigenetics and the non-coding genome
- Microbial bioinformatics
- Exam thesis in bioinformatics
Train for independent and critical scientific work
Throughout the programme, you will gain the skills to:
• Identify challenging biological questions
• Design and conduct scientific investigations
• Collect and analyse complex, largescale biological data
• Use statistics for data analysis
• Present, interpret, and discuss results in scientific formats
You will also develop a deep understanding of how bioinformatics contributes to novel biological insight — knowledge that is essential for both academic research and practical work.
A close connection to research and real-world applications
The programme is closely tied to active research projects within the two contributing faculties, which includes applications to improving human health through to novel plant biotechnology developments and novel understanding of complex ecosystems. You will gain direct insight into relevant career opportunities within local, national and international research environments in addition to training for professionals in clinical genetics and genomics.
Choose your thesis topic and expand your studies
You can undertake a 30 ECTS research thesis project in a broad range of research environments to develop your individual interests in the applications of bioinformatics to advance biological knowledge or to advance applications of biological knowledge to improve human health, plant survival and productivity or ecological response to climate change.
You can also choose to take a project course or internship in close collaboration with a research group or an external partner, providing excellent opportunities for applied learning and networking.
Future and career opportunities
Biological research is increasingly using high throughput technologies that generate largescale data. These datasets are also becoming increasingly complex, integrating data from multiple technologies to answer challenging biological questions. Organising, processing, analysing and interpreting these complex datasets requires skills in computing, statistics and data science integrated with domain specific biological knowledge. Bioinformatics is therefore at the forefront of cuttings edge biological advancement.
There is high demand for qualified bioinformaticians within governmental and non-governmental agencies, environmental consultancies, health care including clinical genetics and genomics, plant biotechnology, and biodiversity monitoring. There are also diverse opportunities within private sector companies, including biopharmaceuticals, focused on largescale and complex biological data. The programme will also prepare you for future career in academic research, either in support positions or by perusing doctoral studies.
Typical job titles
- Bioinformatician
- Biological data scientist
- Bioinformatics scientist
- Biostatistician
- Bioinformatic analyst
- Genomic data analyst
Contact
Apply
Contact us
Your message goes to Infocenter, and they’ll make sure it gets to the right person – so you get the best and most relevant reply.