About the program
Launched in 2018, the Master's program "Bioinformatics and Systems Biology" is conducted by ITMO University's
International Laboratory "Computer Technologies" in collaboration with
Bioinformatics Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Our
main goal is to train a new generation of specialists capable of developing and applying bioinformatics methods to solve nontrivial tasks in the field of fundamental and experimental biology.
We approach this from two directions: we welcome both students with biological and computational backgrounds.
Students with a biological background will be able to understand computational and statistical methods: how and when they can be applied, or modified, to analyze the data.
Students with a computational background will be able to develop novel and useful computational biology methods. However, importantly, we teach all the students how to talk to each other and understand each other and how experimental and computational methods can be synergistically integrated and used for scientific discoveries in life sciences.
Students of our program will have an
opportunity to:- conduct real bioinformatics research: complete the full path from high-throughput data to computational analysis and to testable hypotheses;
- learn from the young team of practicing Russian and foreign scientists;
- work on real research projects from the first semester;
- participate in internships/exchange semester at European and American research institutes;
- study in a multicultural academic environment;
- a lot more.
Research fieldNowadays, when biological science is at the post-genomic stage of its development, almost every study involves generation of huge amounts of experimental data: genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and other omics data. Bioinformatics and systems biology as interdisciplinary fields that combine biology, computer science and statistics, develop methods and software tools for understanding various biological data, and focus on its correct analysis, integration and interpretation.
Bioinformatics methods are used to solve a wide range of problems from fundamental science to clinical practice and industry, including: 1) studying of evolutionary processes: the origin of species, mechanisms of antibiotic resistance genesis, etc.; 2) investigation of genetic diseases molecular mechanisms and diagnosis of such disorders; 3) structural modeling for the tasks of pharmacological industry; 4) determination of patient-specific therapy for cancer patients and patients suffering from other diseases; and others.
Career opportunitiesStudying bioinformatics and systems biology offers students a variety of innovative professions that require expertise and skills in both life sciences and IT. Our graduates can pursue careers as bioinformatics experts in the fields of personalized medicine, the pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology, software development and others, or continue scientific track.
Employment places of our graduates