15-10-02 Information session for students and faculty Friday October 2 2015 Our target audience for today • Students considering going into bioinformatics • Faculty who want to get involved as supervisors or internship hosts 1
15-10-02 Brief history • 2003-2015 – CIHR STIHR (UBC and SFU) • Scholarships supported rotations for some students • 2006 – UBC Graduate Program in Bioinformatics formed • 2015-2021 – NSERC CREATE in High-Dimensional Bioinformatics (UBC and SFU) • Scholarships provide one year funding w/ internship Scope • MSc or PhD • Affiliated programs: • UBC Bioinformatics Graduate program • SFU Molecular Biology and Biochemistry & Comp. Sci. 2
15-10-02 Application process 1. Identify a faculty member who wants to take you into their group (“sponsor”) – start now! 2. Formally apply to appropriate UBC or SFU program Deadlines are on our web site; UBC: March 1 2016 for MSc 3. After acceptance, you may apply for NSERC- CREATE support & internships (April) Eligibility • In addition to University-specific general criteria: • MSc • Flexible, but most faculty are looking for students who have an undergrad degree in a biological science OR a quantitative science AND substantial cross-training; OR a degree in bioinformatics • PhD • If you already have a relevant MSc • Or start as MSc student and transfer to PhD 3
15-10-02 Curriculum • MSc: typically ~2 years – 18 credits (UBC) • ~6 courses, generally taken in Y1; Y2 is for thesis work • Two required courses • Electives, specifics depend on whether you are at SFU or UBC • PhD: 4-5 years typically • No course requirements but students welcome to take advantage of courses on offer. • Professional development Required courses (UBC and SFU) • BIOF 520/MBB 505 | PROBLEM BASED LEARNING IN BIOINFORMATICS The problem-based learning course will develop students’ ability to exchange ideas in small groups focused on real but simplified problems in bioinformatics. Problems will be carefully selected to cover all aspects of bioinformatics research. The core curriculum is identical during the first year for post-graduate diploma and for master’s students. • BIOF 501A/MBB 659 | SPECIAL TOPICS IN BIOINFORMATICS This discussion-based Bioinformatics course will expose students to the latest developments in Bioinformatics analysis and algorithms. It will run in conjunction with the VanBug Seminar Series, in which the students will have the opportunity to meet and discuss their work with guest speakers, both local and international scientists 4
15-10-02 Some popular UBC electives • CPSC 445 or 545 Algorithms for Bioinformatics • STAT 540 Statistical Methods for High-Dimensional Biology • CPSC 540 Advanced machine learning • MEDG 520 Advanced Human Molecular Genetics • MEDG 505 Genome Analysis http://www.bioinformatics.ubc.ca/courses/ http://www.sfu.ca/bioinformatics/grad/courses.html Financials • All students are paid a stipend by their supervisor and/or from a scholarship • Tuition and fees are paid by the student from the stipend (partial support sometimes available) • Scholarships are available from our NSERC grant, or from outside sources (e.g. CIHR) 5
15-10-02 Faculty categories • Faculty supervisors must be “Program Faculty” (~30 members) • Associate Faculty can co-supervise students (~60 members) • Program faculty cannot host internships If you want to become a program or associate faculty member, please contact us. The NSERC CREATE HDB In addition to providing research-based training: • Prepare students for careers in bioinformatics • Increase bioinformatics capacity in NSERC strategic areas in the life sciences (non-biomedical) Internships are a key component for both aims 6
15-10-02 NSERC-CREATE support • Available only to students who have been accepted and are starting their degree program in September. • MSc or PhD • Applications taken in Spring (deadline in April) • Will fund one year of stipend • 3-month internship (summer at end of Y1) • Otherwise the course is the same as for non-NSERC students Internships • Spend 3 months in another lab (at UBC, SFU, another university, or in industry) • Typically will be a “wet” lab • Arrangements to be made with help of your supervisor. • The program may be able to help broker internships • Evaluation of internship proposals are based on the breadth and depth of the training opportunity, benefit to the host lab, and NSERC strategic relevance. Examples of internships and more guidance will be provided in time for applications in the spring 7
15-10-02 Faculty: Why host an intern? • Create or improve links with a computational lab (the intern’s supervisor) • Get some bioinformatics help at no cost • Participate in training the next generation of computational biologists If you are interested, just let us know! http://bcbioinformaticsgrad.ca 8
15-10-02 Contact Us • Sharon Ruschkowski - program coordinator, bioinformaticsprogram@bcgsc.ca • Dr. Steve Jones (UBC program director) • Dr. Paul Pavlidis (UBC associate director, CREATE PI) • Dr. Fiona Brinkman (SFU associate director) http://bcbioinformaticsgrad.ca http://www.bioinformatics.ubc.ca/ http://www.sfu.ca/bioinformatics.html 9
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