Master of Science in Bioinformatics (Bioscience Engineering)
Ghent University offers an interfaculty Master of Science in Bioinformatics programme, which – depending on the chosen track – can result in an Engineering or Bioscience Engineering degree. Students are provided with the scientific knowledge, skills, attitudes and insights that enable them to function professionally and value-conscious in the domain of bioinformatics, but also in the broader context of the biotechnology/engineering and the different sectors of employment that are open to this master. As a bioinformatician, you will become an interdisciplinary scientist or engineer who can develop or use state-of-the art statistical and computer science techniques to mine molecular data in order to answer fundamental or applied biological and biomedical questions.
What
Recent technological advances have changed our view on life science research dramatically and have turned biology into a data-driven science. It is in this context that bioinformatics, a booming interdisciplinary field, has quickly evolved from a new research field into a basic discipline. Bioinformatics aims at gaining a better and preferentially more quantitative molecular understanding of cellular processes by integrating and modelling high-throughput molecular data. As a bioinformatician, you will become an interdisciplinary scientist who can develop or use state-of-the art statistical and computer science techniques to mine molecular data in order to answer fundamental or applied biological and biomedical questions.
The Master of Science in Bioinformatics programme:
- offers specialised tracks tuned to your specific interests and background (Systems Biology, Bioscience Engineering or Engineering track), which prepare you for different job profiles in the field of bioinformatics (bioinformatics scientist or bioinformatics engineer, respectively);
- offers both in-depth theoretical and data analytical/problem-solving skills;
- is embedded in a strong bioinformatics and biotechnology research environment, located at the Faculties of Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Bioscience Engineering and Engineering and Architecture. It is also affiliated with VIB and IMEC.
Master of Science in Bioinformatics: Bioscience Engineering
A bioinformatics scientist applies (bio)informatics tools and techniques to understand a biological system or to solve an innovative research question. You are trained as a problem-solver who can combine bioinformatics tools and algorithms to analyse, integrate and model data in a creative and efficient manner. Having the essential programming and data analysis skills requires a deep understanding of statistics, programming and data analytical techniques (courses of the Applied Mathematics and Informatics Module). The courses of the Applied Bioinformatics Module will make you familiar with the basic data analytical methods (e.g. NGS analysis), help you to acquire interdisciplinary skill sets and illustrate how theoretical concepts of statistics and data mining are used to build bioinformatics tools. The difference between the Systems Biology track and the Bioscience Engineering track is that the former focuses more on advanced knowledge of (systems) biology, whereas the Bioscience Engineering track deepens the engineering skills. The Master’s dissertation focuses on a research topic. In your curriculum there is opportunity to do an internship to familiarize yourself with the role and expectations of a bioinformatics scientist in the industry or at a government agency.
For whom
The admission requirements may vary. Depending on your prior education, you can either enrol directly or there may be additional requirements.
Labour Market
Technological advances have turned biology into a data-driven science. The wealth of molecular data enables key discoveries in biology, ecology and molecular evolution, drives innovation in the biotech and pharma industry and supports medical and governmental decision-making. However, the power of using these data for innovation depends on interdisciplinary skills to analyse, integrate and interpret the data.
There is thus an urgent need for bioinformatics scientists and engineers with an interdisciplinary mindset. There is currently a large discrepancy between the exponential increase of biological data (28% each year) and the number of newly graduated bioinformaticians (increase of only 5.8%) who typically find a job in agro, biotech and pharma industry, in research and government agencies, and in genetics centres and hospitals. Because of their interdisciplinary and analytical skill sets, bioinformaticians also find their way into consultancy, spin-offs and data analytics.
Quality Assurance
At Ghent University, we strive to educate people who dare to think about the challenges of tomorrow. For that purpose, we provide education that is embedded in six strategic objectives: Think Broadly, Keep Researching, Cultivate Talent, Contribute, Extend Horizons, Opt for Quality.
Ghent University continuously focuses on quality assurance and quality culture. The Ghent University's quality assurance system offers information on each study programme’s unique selling points, and on its strengths and weaknesses with regard to quality assurance.
More information:
Unique Selling Points
- Interdisciplinary education: Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary domain situated at the crossroads of computer science, statistics and molecular biology. Having sufficient knowledge of each of these different domains is a prerequisite for any bioinformatician. The unique asset of the Bioinformatics programme is that it provides knowledge of the different domains while maintaining a balance between generalization and specialization. The two-year Master’s programme (120 ECTS) offers three tracks (at three different faculties) designed for students with different study backgrounds, i.e. a bioscience engineering track, an engineering track and a systems biology track. Each track consists of (1) a generalization module in which students are introduced to the disciplines complementary to the ones they studied in their Bachelor’s programme and which allows students to understand the interdisciplinary context in which they will need to work, (2) a specialization package in which the disciplines of their Bachelor’s programme are further elaborated, and (3) a common module in which all students of the different tracks/backgrounds follow bioinformatics-related course units together.
- Thanks to the balance between generalisation and specialisation, (1) the Master’s programme respects the students’ primary domain of interest (which is usually reflected by their Bachelor’s degree). The goal is not to turn an engineer into a biologist or vice versa, but to provide sufficient domain knowledge to be able to understand the intricacies of the bioinformatics domain. (2) The Master’s programme trains students with well-defined and different profiles (bioinformatics scientist, bioinformatics engineer). In so doing, it meets the needs of the professional field.
- Bioinformatics is a fast evolving domain, in which one has to anticipate novel technologies in molecular biology and computer sciences continuously. In addition to an overview of state-of-the-art bioinformatics tools and concepts, the programme aims to offer students enough theoretical background to allow them to keep up with future developments in the domain. Through examples, we teach students to be critical towards analytical results, to reflect on the methodology and to be creative problem-solvers. The students learn the importance of lifelong learning, problem-solving and having a critical mindset.
- Through projects, we train our students in essential programming and interdisciplinary communication skills.
- The professional field is actively involved in the Master’s programme through internships and various course units (Capita Selecta in Bioinformatics). This allows students to become familiar with the way bioinformatics is applied in the industry, in research or in government institutes.
Strengths
- Exclusivity rule: Only students with a sufficient background are accepted into the specialization course units. As a result, the Master’s programme uses very strict admittance rules and achieve a high study efficiency and exit level in each of the three tracks.
- The strong modularity of the curriculum guarantees that each student has a sufficient number of in-depth and broadening course units (specialization and generalization), e.g. engineering, bioengineering versus sciences, biology, etc. Each graduate thus has a well-defined profile, which is important in terms of visibility and branding on the labour market. By choosing the Master’s dissertation and the elective courses, students can specialise themselves in their field of interest.
- Our professional staff consists of motivated lecturers from different faculties with excellent research records either in bioinformatics (ranging from applied microbial, plant or human bioinformatics to method and tool development) or in related domains (e.g. computer science). This guarantees up-to-date, research-based teaching and interdisciplinary points of view.
- The programme reflects the multidisciplinary character of the professional field, and stimulates students and lecturers to think outside the box to develop and apply creative solutions.
- Stakeholders and the professional field are heavily involved in the programme (by means of guest lectures and internships).
- The program generally meets student expectations, encourages critical insight and scientific thinking, and prepares students well for their future careers. The Education Quality Office notes that student satisfaction in this regard is high.
Challenges
- We are always looking for ways to optimise our strategy for gathering feedback from (international) alumni to improve our curriculum further.
- Our programme is perceived as rather challenging, particularly for students with a weaker mathematical background, which explains the strict admission criteria. Depending on the student’s prior education, (limited) self-study may be required to ensure that all essential concepts are understood before starting a course unit. Self-study materials are available at https://www.masterbioinformatics.ugent.be/prerequisites.
Accreditation
This study programme is accredited by the Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders (Dutch: NVAO). Accreditation was extended following the positive outcome of the institutional review in 2022. Programme quality was validated by a quality review, i.e. a screening of the Education Monitor by the Education Quality Board. The Quality Assurance Resolution (in Dutch) can be found here.
This information was last updated on 27/02/2023. In case of questions or suggestions with regard to the publicly available information, please contact the study programme.