¶¡ÏãÔ°AV

Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry | Faculty of Science
¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Calendar 2012 Fall

The Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and the School of Computing Science co-operate to offer this program which provides advanced education in bioinformatics for students with a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry, computer science, mathematics, or related disciplines. ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV is highly competitive.

This program supports students sponsored by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Bioinformatics in Health Science Training Grant in which ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV is a full partner with the University of BC and the BC Genome Sciences Centre. Students who are not part of the program are strongly encouraged to choose their courses from those offered at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV.

Minimum Grade Requirement

Students must obtain a B or better in each course or practicum.

Program Requirements

The program requires 33 units, with four core courses (12 units), three electives (nine units) and a minimum of two practicum rotation terms (12 units).

Core Courses

All four core courses should be completed in the first term, dependent upon term course offerings.

Students complete a total of 12 units, including one of

• CMPT 341-3 Introduction to Computational Biology
• CMPT 771-3 Bioinformatics Algorithms

and one of

• MBB 441-3 Bioinformatics
• MBB 741-3 Bioinformatics

and one of

• CMPT 505-3 Problem-based Learning in Bioinformatics*
• MBB 505-3 Problem-based Learning in Bioinformatics*

and one of

• CMPT 506-3 Critical Research Analysis**
• MBB 506-3 Critical Research Analysis**

*course is completed at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV, BC Cancer Agency, and the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics
**course is completed at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV and University of British Columbia

Elective Courses

In each of the first, second and third terms, students must also complete at least three elective courses in each term from the following, to total nine units.

• CMPT 354-3 Database Systems I ⁴
• CMPT 740-3 Database Systems ⁵
• CMPT 761-3 Image Synthesis
• CMPT 764-3 Visualization
• CPSC 304-3 Database Management and Design ⁴ †
• CPSC 504-3 Advanced Database Design and Data Mining ⁵ †
• CPSC 536A-3 Topics in Algorithms and Complexity – Bioinformatics†
• MEDG 505-3 Genome Analysis1†
• MBB 331-3 Molecular Biology ⁴
• MBB 435-3 Genomic Analysis (or MBB 835) ¹
• MBB 442-3 Proteomics (or MBB 842)
• MBB 659-3 Special Topics in Bioinformatics ²
• MBB 669-3 Special Topics in Genomics ²
• MBB 679-3 Special Topics in Proteomics ²
• MBB 831-3 Molecular Evolution of Eukaryote Genomes
• MBB 832-3 Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution
• STAT 547-3 Statistical Problems Arising in Genomics†
• STAT 890-4 Statistics: Selected Topics ³

¹ credit will be given for only one of MBB 435 or MEDG 505
² special topics courses are given upon student demand and instructor availability
³ STAT 890 is a Special Topics course and course content will vary by course offering
⁴ CPSC 304, CMPT 354 and MBB 331 will not count toward elective requirements; they will be recommended if the student is deficient in either computational or life sciences background
⁵ credit will be given for only one of CMPT 740 and CPSC 504

†course is completed at University of British Columbia

Practicum Courses

In addition to elective courses as outlined above, students complete the first practicum course in the second term, and the second practicum course in the third term, dependent upon course offerings. Students complete the practicums by choosing at least two (a total of six units) of

• CMPT 611-6 Research Rotation I (or MBB 611)*
• CMPT 612-6 Research Rotation II (or MBB 612)*
• CMPT 613-6 Research Rotation III (or MBB 613)*

*course is completed at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV, University of BC, and BC Cancer Agency

In consultation with mentors, students will be assigned practicums based on needs, interest, and background. The result of the practicum is written in journal form for an oral presentation. The advisory committee will grade both the oral presentation and written report.

Advisory Committee

The student’s advisory committee consists of a senior mentor and two other participating faculty members from the faculty at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV, UBC and the BC Genome Sciences Centre.

Academic Requirements within the Graduate General Regulations

All graduate students must satisfy the academic requirements that are specified in the Graduate General Regulations (residence, course work, academic progress, supervision, research competence requirement, completion time, and degree completion), as well as the specific requirements for the program in which they are enrolled, as shown above.

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