Program Requirements
The Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Computer Science; Bioinformatics provides training in this
interdisciplinary field, which lies at the intersection of biological/medical sciences and mathematics/computer science/engineering. The program includes the development of strategies for experimental design, the construction of tools to analyze datasets, the application of modelling techniques, the creation of tools for manipulating bioinformatics data, the integration of biological databases, and the use of algorithms, artificial intelligence, and statistics. The thesis must focus on bioinformatics in relation to computer science.
Thesis Courses (24 credits)
22 credits selected from:
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COMP 691 Thesis Research 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Computer Science (Sci) : Ongoing research pertaining to thesis.
Terms: Fall 2024, Winter 2025
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Restriction: Computer Science students
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COMP 696 Thesis Research 2 (3 credits)
Overview
Computer Science (Sci) : Ongoing research pertaining to thesis.
Terms: Fall 2024, Winter 2025
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Restriction: Computer Science students
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COMP 697 Thesis Research 3 (4 credits)
Overview
Computer Science (Sci) : Ongoing research pertaining to thesis.
Terms: Fall 2024, Winter 2025
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Restriction: Computer Science students
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COMP 698 Thesis Research 4 (10 credits)
Overview
Computer Science (Sci) : Ongoing research pertaining to thesis.
Terms: Fall 2024, Winter 2025
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Restriction: Computer Science students
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COMP 699 Thesis Research 5 (12 credits)
Overview
Computer Science (Sci) : Ongoing research pertaining to thesis.
Terms: Fall 2024, Winter 2025
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Restriction: Computer Science students
Required Courses (3 credits)
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COMP 616D1 Bioinformatics Seminar (1.5 credits)
Overview
Computer Science (Sci) : Introduction to current trends in Bioinformatics and closely related fields such as genomics and proteomics.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Restrictions: This seminar is restricted to graduate students in the Bioinformatics Option. Enrolment is limited to 30 students.
Note: The seminar will meet for 3 hours every second week over Fall and Winter semesters.
Students must register for both COMP 616D1 and COMP 616D2.
No credit will be given for this course unless both COMP 616D1 and COMP 616D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms.
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COMP 616D2 Bioinformatics Seminar (1.5 credits)
Overview
Computer Science (Sci) : See COMP 616D1 for description.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: COMP 616D1.
No credit will be given for this course unless both COMP 616D1 and COMP 616D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms.
Required Course
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COMP 601 Thesis Literature Review (2 credits)
Overview
Computer Science (Sci) : Review of relevant literature in preparation for the M.Sc. research. This includes regular attendance of the Colloquium organized by the School of Computer Science.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Complementary Courses (18 credits)
6 credits chosen from the following courses:
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BINF 621 Bioinformatics: Molecular Biology (3 credits)
Overview
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).
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Restriction: Enrolment by students in the Bioinformatics option or by permission from the course coordinators only. Limited to 30 students.
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BMDE 652 Bioinformatics: Proteomics (3 credits)
Overview
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.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
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.
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BTEC 555 Structural Bioinformatics (3 credits)
Overview
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.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Salavati, Reza; Sulea, Traian; Mirzavand Borujeni, Poorya (Winter)
Winter
1-hr lecture, followed by 2 hrs of computer lab.
Prerequisite: Molecular biology or biochemistry, and basic bioinformatics, or permission of instructor.
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COMP 618 Bioinformatics: Functional Genomics (3 credits)
Overview
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.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
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.
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PHGY 603 Systems Biology and Biophysics (3 credits)
Overview
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.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
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.
12 credits of 4-credit courses chosen from 500-, 600-, or 700-level Computer Science courses in consultation with the candidate’s supervisor.
Note: Students with an appropriate background can substitute 4 credits by COMP 697.
