The program is intended for students who have completed a Mathematics or Statistics degree in a Science and/or Mathematics program, or a degree in a related area, and who wish to further their knowledge of biostatistics. It covers a wide range of statistical methodology and applications for students and practitioners who want to work in health-related fields, including medicine, biology, public health and epidemiology.

The program is oriented towards graduates with a degree in an area with a significant quantitative component (such as Science, Engineering, Finance, Economics, Actuarial science, Psychology, Epidemiology or Bioinformatics), who wish to develop their knowledge and skills in statistical and computational methods appropriate to biostatistics. It is an appropriate program for graduates who wish to work as biostatisticians. The program draws on contributions from specialists in Statistics and Public Health at UNSW as well as relevant UNSW Research Centres and Hospitals for which Biostatistics is essential.

Students will learn the key theories and their application in a variety of modes including class room instruction at an advanced level, project work within the various required and elective courses, interaction with researchers in relevant discipline areas and transfer of knowledge especially in computer methods and software package use and project preparation and presentation via teamwork. Course based individual and group assignments and presentations, individual and group computer project work and data analysis, course mid-session tests and final exams and preparation of a substantial report.

The program consists of ten lecture courses worth 6 UOC each, and a supervised project worth 12 UOC. The project is compulsory and students are typically enrolled in their third semester of study and is subject to academic performance. Students seeking to enrol in a project are required to have the approval of the Head of School and normally will be required to have attained a WAM of 65 or higher in the first eight (8) master courses.

Students should also seek the guidance from the School at an early stage of study to ensure that the study plan being followed is best suited to lead to the project.

In addition, admission to a particular project is subject to appropriate research and supervision resources being available.

Students who do not attain a WAM of 65 or higher in the first eight (8) courses of their program will be awarded the Graduate Diploma in Mathematics and Statistics (5659).

The total number of UOC required for the program is 72.

The project will be supervised by an academic staff member of the School in an area agreed to by the student and supervisor. The project could include a literature survey and a critical analysis of the topic area; or could be a small research project.

The core set of compulsory courses, listed below, is designed to give a deep knowledge of the fundamentals of biostatistics.

Students may choose the remaining courses from a list of elective graduate level courses but in any given year only a subset of these courses is offered. The courses to be offered in each year are described on the School of Mathematics and Statistics website.

Each candidate's proposed program of study requires the approval of the Head of the School or Nominee.

Please refer to the School of Mathematics and Statistics website.

For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following website:  https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/fees/FeesMainPage.html

To gain entry to this program, students must have:

A formal application must be made by applying on-line.

Honours graduates in Statistics may be exempted from a maximum of one third of the courses and could complete the degree in one year of full time study.

In addition, students must have permission of the Head of School or Nominee. Prospective international students should note that this program has English language requirements.

Students enrolled in this program will be permitted to exit with a Graduate Diploma in Mathematics and Statistics or Graduate Certificate in Mathematics and Statistics subject to completing program requirements.