MSc Computational Biology  MSc Computational Biology University of East Anglia ../webroot/files/Institutions/cover_photo/1567153813University-of-East-Anglia-1.jpg

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, the University of East Anglia (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 (CMP) 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 computingmathematicsengineering background and one for students with a background in the biological sciences. 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. The course, which is also offered as a part time version (2 years, 4 years), is 12 months in duration and starts with taught courses, which are offered to a large extent by CMP and its Computational Biology Laboratory. It ends with a three-month research project which can be undertaken also at one of the above research institutes, written up in the form of a dissertation and counting for one third of the final mark. An unique aspect of the programme is that up to seven scholarships will be available 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. Recent Dissertation Titles Integration of next-generation short-read assemblies for bacterial genomes Computing planar phylogenetic networks Predicting RNA pseudoknots Virus-host coevolution Microtubules constrained to the surface of a cell Loop modelling server for proteins Molecular paleontology of repetitive DNA in yeasts Next generation sequencing for transcriptome profiling and association genetics in complex plant genomes All of the students who completed the course in 2009 are now employed at The Genome Analysis Centre. (See Business Weekly 3rd March 2010). Keywords: MSc Computational Biology, MSc Bioinformatics, Scholarship, The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC), John Innes Cebtre (JIC), Institute of Food Research (IFR), The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL), Norwich Research Park (NRP), full time, part time.