THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2022/2023

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Informatics : Informatics

Undergraduate Course: Bioinformatics 1 (INFR11160)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Informatics CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
Summary**This course replaces Bioinformatics 1 (INFR11016)**

This course introduces the discipline of Bioinformatics to students from both physical science and life science backgrounds. Bioinformatics is an inter-disciplinary subject that develops and implements novel methodologies and tools for analysing and learning from biological data. These data are increasingly large and complex as a result of significant technological developments and their application at scale in biological and biomedical application areas.

In this course, we will cover the fundamental domain knowledge needed from both biological and computational disciplines to enable further study and research in this subject with a strong practical and theoretical emphasis to increase understanding. No previous knowledge of Bioinformatics or programming is required.
Course description In this course, we will introduce key biological concepts including the main types of molecules we study (DNA, RNA, and protein) as well as the cell biological processes involved in their regulation and function in biological systems. The cornerstone of foundational Bioinformatics lies in the analysis of sequences; strings of characters that encode genetic information in organisms. We will describe the theory and put into practice how we work with and analyse biological sequences through biological sequence databases, process automation, algorithms and tools to allow pairwise and multiple sequence alignment, as well as approaches using high-throughput next-generation sequence data.

This course will involve practical work both in workshop/tutorial sessions and in coursework with real biological case-studies and using the Python scripting language. No previous knowledge of Biology or Python scripting is required.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed:
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements This course is open to all Informatics students including those on joint degrees. For external students where this course is not listed in your DPT, please seek special permission from the course organiser.
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2022/23, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 1
Course Start Date 19/09/2022
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 10, Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 10, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 78 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) This course will be assessed by two major pieces of coursework.

There will be additional opportunities for formative assessment to assist learning using, for example, weekly quizzes, and the production of digital artefacts such as blog entries, videos, coding scripts and/or infographics.
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Communicate between biological and computational domains to facilitate effective inter-disciplinary working.
  2. Use and/or implement Bioinformatics tools, services and software in practical research scenarios.
  3. Have sufficient background knowledge, skills and understanding to discover and apply additional bioinformatics techniques.
Reading List
The course will have a dedicated University Resource List accessible from the course LEARN website with dedicated reading lists. If students would like to look through the key textbook for the course in advance it can be read online for free from the Univeristy EBook Library:

Pevsner, J., 2015. Bioinformatics and functional genomics Third., Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. https://discovered.ed.ac.uk/permalink/f/gfso8q/44UOE_ALMA51221474230002466
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsBIO1
Contacts
Course organiserDr Ian Simpson
Tel: (0131 6)50 2747
Email: Ian.Simpson@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Helen Tweedale
Tel: (0131 6)50 2692
Email: Helen.Tweedale@ed.ac.uk
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