Applied Bioinformatics MSc  Research project call 2024/25

Dear Colleague,

Thank you for your interest in hosting one of our King’s College London students of the Masters in Applied Bioinformatics. This is a new programme, started in Semester 1 2024/25 and which has so far received a lot of interest and excitement from both potential students and our colleagues. The 42 students that joined the first cohort look to be excellent as well as enthusiastic.

The Applied Bioinformatics MSc is a challenging, both coursework and research-intensive course specifically designed to prepare students for a multidisciplinary career in bioinformatics, AI for health and allied fields, in industry as well as in the public sector and within academic work. The intake criteria were highly competitive with selection based on the candidate’s undergraduate discipline, final grade, and personal statement.

A major component of the programme is the research module, which is the culmination of a semester of intense study combining a diverse set of learning objectives: the program starts with an Introductory module that is tailored to the needs and academic background of our students. Students can select either ‘Fundamentals of Programming for Biologists’ OR ‘Principles of Molecular Biology for Computer Scientists’. This  is followed by four modules covering advanced programming and cloud computing, fundamentals of statistics, omics techniques, data management and stewardship. Students will also take one optional module, choosing from AI and Machine Learning or System Biology. 

We are seeking around 45-50 dynamic research groups who are willing to welcome, teach and supervise one of our Bioinformatics Masters students in Semester 2. Projects can be from any area of bioinformatics or data-driven biology, including genetics and genomics, proteomics, AI and machine learning, among others. Projects from experimental labs are welcome, but we do ask that a group member of appropriate seniority (postdoc or above) who is sufficiently knowledgeable in bioinformatics and can be the primary contact point for the student for bioinformatics.

The bench fees for hosting one of our students is £250 and hours on the educational database will be between 45-60, depending on project details and supervision time required.

What next? If you have a research active laboratory and you are willing to supervise a student from January, please download the “Project Template” from the button below, complete it and send it back to us (email: dan.nicolau@kcl.ac.uk) that you can download below. While the structure is very free-form, reflecting the diversity of projects we expect to receive, we ask that you please be as informative as time permits. We suggest you include an image, since in other similar research module offerings, this seems to make projects more attractive. Please try to clearly define the area of research and add keywords describing the bioinformatics skill that the students will use and learn.  If possible, please also add a reference or two and indicate whether this project is suitable for the more generalist students or those who have a clearer view of what their next career stage would be.

Please keep within the 1-page limit. I will collate the projects and distribute the new booklet to students in October. Allocations will be announced at the end of November and students will contact you shortly after to discuss the details of the project.

Deadline: Please e-mail (dan.nicolau@kcl.ac.uk) your proposed project description by no later than the 8th of November 2024. We look forward to receiving many exciting projects and thank you for considering hosting one of our Bioinformatics students.

Dan Nicolau (Module Lead) and Alessandra Vigilante (Course Lead)