THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2025/2026

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.
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Degree Programme Table: Data Science for Biology (MSc) (PTMSCDSBIO1F)

Jump to: Year 1

Year 1 Academic year: 2025/26, Starting in: September

Notes:
You are not allowed to take more than a total of 30 credits below level 11.

An alternative appropriate course may be substituted only with the permission of the Programme Director. See notes below for more information.

Compulsory courses

You must take these courses
Biological Databases

Must be taken during Semester 1

PGBI11129 10 credits
Statistics and Data Analysis

Must be taken during Semester 1

PGBI11003 20 credits
Using R for Data Science

Must be taken during Semester 1

PGBI11122 10 credits
Introduction to Python Programming for Data Science

Must be taken during Semester 1

PGBI11123 10 credits
Research Proposal (Data Science for Biology)

Must be taken during Semester 2

PGBI11134 20 credits
MSc Dissertation (Data Science for Biology)

Must be taken during Block 5 (Sem 2) and beyond

PGBI11133 60 credits

Course options

Data Science for Biology (MSc) (Full-time) - Optional Courses Semester 1

Select exactly 10 credits of the following courses
Notes:
NOTE: To take any machine learning course you must have experience with linear algebra, basic calculus, stats, and programming. Students who do not meet the pre-requisites for INFR11211 in Semester 1 can still be considered for the machine learning courses in Semester 2.

Courses offered by other Schools that may also be of interest to Data Science for Biology students (as a Class-Only option):

- PGSP11569 Delivering the Circular Economy and the Bioeconomy (Semester 1, 20 credits)
- EPCC11005 Fundamentals of Data Management (Semester 1, 10 credits)

Please speak to the Programme Director if you are interested in taking any of the machine learning courses, the other courses listed in these notes, or any other course not explicitly listed in the Degree Programme Table.
Selected courses must be taken during Semester 1
Mathematical Biology
MATH10013 10 credits
Practical Image Analysis 1
NEME11054 10 credits
Information Processing in Biological Cells
PGBI11051 10 credits
AND

Data Science for Biology (MSc) (Full-time) - Optional Courses Semester 2

Select exactly 40 credits of the following courses
Notes:
NOTE: PGBI11040 Functional Genomic Technologies (or other genomics course) is recommended as some knowledge in this area is helpful in the current job market and for the project (PGBI11133 MSc Dissertation (Data Science for Biology)).
Selected courses must be taken during Semester 2
Introduction to website and database design
BILG11016 10 credits
Machine Learning in Python
MATH11205 10 credits
Functional Genomic Technologies
PGBI11040 10 credits
Bioinformatics Algorithms
PGBI11057 10 credits
Introduction to Bioinformatics
PGBI11137 10 credits
Social Dimensions of Systems and Synthetic Biology
PGSP11476 20 credits
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