MSc Bioinformatics

The MSc Bioinformatics course taught at Teesside University helps students work with large biological datasets, combining biology, computation, statistics, and data visualisation. It teaches how to use programming tools like Python and R, how to analyse genetic, proteomic, or other biomolecular data, and how to draw insights for health, research, or industry.

The course is offered full-time for one year and part-time for two years, depending on whether students start in September or January. It also includes a major research project in the latter part of the course, where students apply what they have learnt in a practical investigation. Students take modules covering biological sciences (molecular biology, genomics), computational methods (programming, data analysis, statistics), and bioinformatics tools.

Students are taught how to handle and interpret biological data, understand disease genetics, and learn the biology of organisms and how computational tools can help in research or diagnostics. The final project or dissertation is a major part of the course. In it, students choose a topic under supervision, often using lab, computational or both methods.

Teaching involves lectures, seminars, computer lab sessions, workshops, and hands-on practice with real tools and datasets. Students will work on case studies, problem sets, and computational biology tasks. Assessment includes written reports, lab/analysis work, examinations, programming assignments, presentations, and a final research project. Students are tested on understanding theory, applying tools, interpreting data, and communicating results.