You can now begin the registration procedure for the Bioinformatics Graduate Option. There are two steps (The Bioinformatics Option committee requires this information to make sure that you receive credit for your course work):
(1) Fill out the Bioinformatics Option Application Form 1 (see below for .pdf or .doc) and email it to the secretary [at] mcb [dot] mcgill [dot] ca (MCB secretary) .
Form 1 Application [.pdf]
Form 1 Application [.doc]
(2) Have your supervisor fill out the acknowledgement form (see below for .pdf or .doc) and email it to the secretary [at] mcb [dot] mcgill [dot] ca (MCB secretary) or the physical address given within the form.
supervisor_letter.pdf
supervisor_letter.doc
MSc and PhD Levels
McGill recently approved the Graduate Option in Bioinformatics at the MSc and PhD levels. Students who are interested in doing Bioinformatics research must still apply to their "home" department. That is, a student who studied Biochemistry at the undergraduate level (or MSc level) will apply to the Biochemistry department. Mathematicians would apply to the Mathematics department. If they are accepted and a supervisor is found who is interested in Bioinformatics, the student could then join the Graduate Option in Bioinformatics (BioOpt). If the student and supervisor wish, the students committee would consist of members of the home department, members of the MCB and other members relevant to the specific research proposed.
The student has to meet the requirements of their home department and additional requirements specified by the BioOpt program. The BioOpt program offers five courses open to only students within the BioOpt program. These courses are coordinated/taught by instructors from the three faculties and 14 departments.
BTEC 555
Structural Bioinformatics
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Biotechnology: Fundamentals of protein structure and the application of tools for structure determination, how protein structure allows us to understand the complex biological functions, and how knowledge of protein structure can contribute to drug discovery.
Offered by: Parasitology
- Winter
- 1-hr lecture, followed by 2 hrs of computer lab.
- Prerequisite: Molecular biology or biochemistry, and basic bioinformatics, or permission of instructor.
BINF 621
Bioinformatics: Mol. Biology
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Bioinformatics: The main problems related to the analysis of biological sequences (sequence comparison, homology, gene annotation, phylogenetic inference, comparative genomics) and the computational approaches (dynamic programming algorithms, Blast heuristics, hidden Markov models, Bayesian statistics).
Offered by: Plant Science
- Restriction: Enrolment by students in the Bioinformatics option or by permission from the course coordinators only. Limited to 30 students.
COMP 618
Bioinformatics: Funct Genomics
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Computer Science (Sci): Techniques related to microarrays (normalization, differential expression, class prediction, class discovery), the analysis of non-coding sequence data (identification of transcription factor binding sites), single nucleotide polymorphisms, the inference of biological networks, and integrative Bioinformatics approaches.
Offered by: Computer Science
- Prerequisite: Enrolment in Bioinformatics Option Program or permission of coordinators.
- Restrictions: Enrolment by students in the Bioinformatics Option Program or by permission of course coordinators only. Computer Science graduate students not in the Bioinformatics Option Program need additional permission of the M.Sc. or Ph.D. Committee respectively.
PHGY 603
Systems Biology and Biophysics
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Physiology: Introduction to classical and current topics in biophysics and systems biology in order to model the control of gene expression and intracellular signal transduction, as well as gene spread in populations.
Offered by: Physiology
- Prerequisite: Knowledge of differential equations at the MATH 315 level or equivalent.
- Notes: Enrolment is limited to 20 students per semester. The course is 1.5 hours of lecture and 1.5 hours of seminar per week. Readings will focus on classic and current journal articles.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the academic year
Currently Unavailable
BMDE 652
Bioinformatics: Proteomics
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Biomedical Engineering: Overview of high-throughput proteomic technologies commonly employed to study the localization and function of all proteins in an organism, and the bioinformatic approaches to analyze raw data and deposit them in proteome databases.
Offered by: Biomedical Engineering
- Prerequisite: Enrolment in Bioinformatics option program or permission by coordinators.
- Note: The course is inter-disciplinary and is targeted to students with different scientific backgrounds. A substantial portion of marks will be given based on practical assignments.
Although course codes belong to departments, the courses are truly inter-disciplinary Bioinformatics courses that cover topics ranging from statistical analysis, computational methods, experimental design, and hypothesis testing is specific domains of biological and medical research. Students are required to complete 2 of the 5 courses in addition to a bi-weekly Bioinformatics seminar (COMP 616).
Students completing the BioOpt program will receive a degree from their home department with explicit mention of the Bioinformatics Graduate Option on the document.
Application to the Bioinformatics Graduate Option
Upon acceptance to McGill, the student is responsible for submitting a completed application to the BioOpt Program Advisory Committee.There are no official pre-requisites for the Bioinformatics Graduate Option. However the University has an official admissions process. Essentially this is meant to ensure that students have the necessary background and to help students obtain the necessary expertise to conduct research in Bioinformatics.
For further information, please contact the secretary [at] mcb [dot] mcgill [dot] ca (MCB secretary) .