Degree requirements for Master's Degree in Bioinformatics 2012-2014

Students who have obtained the right to study in the Master's Degree Programme in Bioinformatics in Autumn 2012 will follow these requirements. Students who have obtained study right earlier, can follow these (2012-2014) requirements, or those that were presented earlier. Requirements for Aalto University School of Science can be found in the study programme of Aalto.

MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE (120 CREDITS)

1. Major subject studies (minimum of 110 credits)

584329 or 57557 ADVANCED STUDIES IN BIOINFORMATICS (110 CREDITS)

Compulsory courses, 12 cr
 57734 Statistical genetics (4-10 cr)
 582631 Introduction to Machine learning (4 cr), or
 T-61.3050 Machine Learning: Basic principles (5 cr)
 582483 Biological sequence analysis (4 cr)

Two of the following, in accordance with an approved personal study plan (FM-HOPS):
 582670 Algorithms for bioinformatics (4 cr)
 57046 Markovian modelling and Bayesian learning (5 cr)
 57748 Genetic analysis and molecular evolution (4-6 cr)
 Studies in laboratory techniques (2-6 cr)

Optional advanced courses in bioinformatics (other than seminars), minimum of 16 cr

Seminars, 6 cr

50151 or 57631 Master's thesis, 40 cr, containing
 58307312 Master's thesis seminar, 3 cr
 50041 Maturity test
 Optional courses minimum of 20 credits of the following subjects, in accordance with an approved personal study plan (FM-HOPS)
 • Computer science
 • Mathematics and statistics
 • Biology, medicine or other suitable subject

2. Other studies (minimum of 6 credits)

Personal study plan (FM-HOPS), 1 cr
 Advanced internship or vocational orientation studies, 1--3 cr
 993734 Academic Writing for Students in English-Medium Master’s Degree Programmes 1, 2 cr
 993735 Academic Writing for Students in English-Medium Master’s Degree Programmes 2, 2 cr

Optional courses

An additional requirement is that Bachelor's and Master's degree together must contain
 Studies in biology, medicine or other suitable subjects, minimum of 25 credits
 Studies to satisfy the following language requirements specified in Section 11 of the Regulations on Degrees at the Faculty of Science: Students who have completed their basic and secondary education in Finnish or Swedish must complete studies in the second national language and demonstrate a good command of their native language by passing the maturity test as part of their Bachelor’s or Master’s degree. (In Finnish) Mikäli hakija on saanut suomen- tai ruotsinkielisen koulusivistyksen, häntä koskevat seuraavat tutkintosäännön 11 §:n kielitaitovaatimukset: Opiskelijan on suoritettava toisen kotimaisen kielen opinnot ja osoitettava kypsyysnäytteellä äidinkielen taito osana alempaa tai ylempää korkeakoulututkintoa.

Degrees

The basic degree offered by the MBI programme is Master of Science (in HY: MSc, filosofian maisteri; in Aalto: MSc (Tech), diplomi-insinööri), with bioinformatics as the major subject. The scope of the degree is 120 credits, and requires a suitable Bachelor’s level degree as a prerequisite.
 The MSc degree consists of a minimum of 110 credits of advanced interdisciplinary studies in bioinformatics. Both the MSc degree and the MSc (Tech) degree have been designed to be as similar as possible. The courses in biosciences are offered by the Faculties of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Medicine as well as Forestry and Agriculture at the University of Helsinki.

Degree language

As stated in Section 5 of the Regulations on Degrees at the Faculty of Science, the degree language is English given that Master’s thesis and at least 50 cr of the studies are taken in English. It is also possible to write Master’s thesis in Finnish or in Swedish and then the degree language will be recorded accordingly.