Last updated 20.08.08

BINFA13755 - Bioinformatics Engineering/Bachelor of Science (BE BSc)

Program Overview

This 5-year plan enables a Science degree to be combined with the standard Bioinformatics Engineering degree, with a wide range of Science majors being available (excluding computing majors).

Anyone who meets the entry requirements for both Bioinformatics Engineering and Science is eligible to enter the combined program directly in first year, or Credit-average students may apply to transfer from the standard Bioinformatics Engineering plan later, although with late transfer it might not be possible to complete the program in minimum time.

Bioinformatics is an emerging discipline at the convergence of computing and the life sciences aimed at development of technologies for storing, extracting, organising, analysing, interpreting and utilising the 'tsunami' of information being generated. It is truly an interdisciplinary field. Not only have advances in computing helped accelerate the process of data generation, but the need to process and analyse this vast amount of information has led to advances in both software technologies (databases, algorithm design, machine learning and visualisation) and hardware architectures. Additionally, there is considerable interest in Bioinformatics from researchers in medicine and mathematics.

The program is multi-disciplinary and students will achieve a high level of expertise across computing, maths and biology. The Bachelor of Engineering degree is awarded after completion of all Bioinformatics Engineering courses. Honours are awarded to those who obtain a weighted average mark of at least 65%. The Bachelor of Science degree is awarded after completion of the whole program. All students complete a major project in their fourth and/or fifth year, usually supervised by a researcher in the School of Computer Science and Engineering or Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences.

program objectives: Graduates will be able to:

• carry out sophisticated data analysis particularly in the area of biology, which will be to the benefit of society;
• undertake the development of high quality software particularly in the area of data analysis.
• make significant contributions to the development of computing technology, particularly for use in biological data analysis.

assumed knowledge: Assumed knowledge for Mathematics (MATH1131): students will be expected to have achieved the equivalent of a combined mark of at least 100 in HSC Mathematics and HSC Mathematics Extension 1. Failure to meet this required knowledge means that General Mathematics (MATH1011) will have to be taken first. Assumed knowledge for English: at least band 3 in 2 Unit Standard English.

major studies: Computing, maths, biology, bioinformatics (the integration of computing maths and biology).

minor studies: Specialist areas in computing, maths and biology such as: biochemistry, molecular biology, statistics, machine learning, algorithms, visualisation, computer interfacing, networks, databases.

Industrial Experience: At least 60 days of approved industrial training must be completed before completion of the final semester. Industrial Training should be concurrent with enrolment and is best accumulated in the summer recesses at the end of years 2 and 3, but must be completed by the end of year 4. Opportunities exist for 6 months industrial placement in year 3.

professional recognition: accreditation will be sought from the Institution of Engineers (Australia) and the Australian Computer Society

career opportunities : Data analysis and software development in drug companies, biotechnology companies and medical and biological research institutes. Graduates from this course will be also well trained to take up careers in other area of computational data analysis, such as in banks and insurance companies. They could also pursue careers in other more general areas of computing.

Program Structure

The combined Bachelor of Engineering in Bioinformatics/Bachelor of Science program allows students to study additional science courses in their bioinformatics program to gain a broader understanding of the various scientific disciplines that contribute to bioinformatics (such as mathematics, statistics and chemistry) or constitute major application areas of bioinformatics (for example, medical sciences or biotechnology).

Students must meet the entry requirements for the BE (Bioinformatics) program and the Bachelor of Science program, and must complete the courses and electives required by the Bioinformatics program (3647) as well as 60 additional units of credit in science courses, including an approved major sequence of 42uoc at stages 2 and 3. Combined programs are exempt from some of the General Education requirement. Approved majors are listed in Table A of the BSc program (3970).

The stages of a generic combined program are shown below. It should be noted that it is possible to adapt the program by moving courses, subject to prerequisite requirements and overall program requirements. The School of Computer Science and Engineering Student Office can supply examples of specific combined programs.

It is recommended that students start thinking about Industrial Training in the summer after Year 2 and Year 3. Graduation may be delayed if a satisfactory report for 60 day industrial training has not been received by the release of final year results.

Overall, electives in stage 3 and 4 must include at least one computer science/maths elective. Due to the high molecular biology/genetics content of the standard bioinformatics program, students who choose a Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Genetics or Biotechnology major in their science program will need to seek advice from the program authority in order to choose and, if necessary, substitute electives that would otherwise count towards the science major.

Level 3 MATH electives and other level 3/4/9 COMP electives may be also considered. Electives must include at least one life science elective and at least one COMP or MATH course. Due to the high molecular biology/genetics content of the standard bioinformatics program, students who choose a Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Genetics or Biotechnology major in their science program will need to seek advice from the program authority in order to choose and, if necessary, substitute electives that would otherwise count towards the science major.

Note that some course prerequisites are not fully satisfied in the BE (bioinformatics) program progression. Bioinformatics students are given special authorisation to enrol in these courses without all the prerequisites but will need to request manual enrolment after consultation with the program authority.

Electives

Any BIOC/BIOT/MICR/BABS3xxx course for which prerequisites have been completed can be selected as a 3rd year life science elective. Recommended electives include:

Any COMP2xxx or COMP3xxx course for which prerequisites have been completed can be selected as a 3rd year Computing elective. Recommended electives include: 

Alternatively one of the following MATH courses can be chosen instead of a Computing Elective: 

Any Level 3/4/9 COMP course for which prerequistes have been completed can be selected as computing elective. The computing elective can also be replaced by one of the following Mathematics and Statistics course:

General Education

UNSW wants all students to develop skills in a broad range of areas, not just in their specific study discipline, and so students in all degrees are required to undertake a number of general studies courses outside their discipline. It may not be possible for Bioinformatics Engineering students to enrol in general education courses that are similar in content to the courses offered in the Bioinformatics Engineering degree. For a comprehensive list, see:

http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/undergrad/current/gened.html

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