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Bioinformatics/Science - 3755

Program Summary

   
   
 
Campus: Kensington Campus
 
 
Career: Undergraduate
 
 
Typical Duration: 5 Years
 
 
Typical UOC Per Semester: 24
 
 
Min UOC Per Semester: 3
 
 
Max UOC Per Semester: 27
 
 
Min UOC For Award: 240
 
 
Award(s):
 
 
Bachelor of Science (Major)
 
 
Bachelor of Engineering (Major)
 
  

Program Description

The combined Bachelor of Engineering in Bioinformatics/Bachelor of Science program allows students to study additional Science courses in their Bioinformatics program to gain a broader understanding of the various scientific disciplines that contribute to Bioinformatics (such as mathematics, statistics and chemistry) or constitute major application areas of bioinformatics (for example, medical sciences or biotechnology).

Students must meet the entry requirements for the BE (Bioinformatics) program and the Bachelor of Science program, and must complete the courses and electives required by the Bioinformatics program (3647) as well as 60 additional units of credit in Science courses, including an approved major sequence of 42 UOC at Stages 2 and 3. Approved majors are listed in Table A, of the BSc program (3970).

The stages of a generic combined program are shown below. It should be noted that it is possible to adapt the program by moving courses, subject to prerequisite requirements and overall program requirements. The School of Computer Science and Engineering Student Office can supply examples of specific combined programs.

Program Objectives and Learning Outcomes

Please contact the School of Computer Science and Engineering and the Faculty of Science for information on the Program Objectives and Learning Outcomes.

Program Structure

YEAR 1
And ONE of:
And ONE of:
And ONE of:
And ONE of:

YEAR 2
  • Science major Level 1 or 2 (12 UOC)
And ONE of:
And TWO of:

YEAR 3
  • Science major level 2 (12UOC)
  • Life Sciences Elective (6 UOC)

YEAR 4
  • Science major level 3 (24UoC)
  • Life Sciences Bioinformatics Elective (6UoC)
  • Computing/Math Elective (6 UoC)

YEAR 5
  • Science major level 3 (12UoC)
  • Computing/Math Elective (6UoC)
  • Free Elective (6UoC)
  • General Education (6UoC)
**** Level 3 MATH electives and other level 3/4/9 COMP electives may be also considered. Electives must include at least one life science elective and at least one COMP or MATH course. Due to the high molecular biology/genetics content of the standard bioinformatics program, students who choose a Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Genetics or Biotechnology major in their science program will need to seek advice from the program authority in order to choose and, if necessary, substitute electives that would otherwise count towards the science major.

Note that some course prerequisites are not fully satisfied in the BE (bioinformatics) program progression. Bioinformatics students are given special authorisation to enrol in these courses without all the prerequisites but will need to request manual enrolment after consultation with the program authority.
Any BIOC/BIOT/MICR/BABS3xxx course for which prerequisites have been completed can be selected as a 3rd year life science elective. Recommended electives include:
Any COMP2xxx or COMP3xxx course for which prerequisites have been completed can be selected as a 3rd year Computing elective. Recommended electives include:
Alternatively one of the following MATH courses can be chosen instead of a Computing Elective:
Any Level 3/4/9 COMP course for which prerequistes have been completed can be selected as computing elective. The computing elective can also be replaced by one of the following Mathematics and Statistics course:

General Education Requirements

Students in this program must complete 6UOC of General Education courses.

It may not be possible for computing students to enrol in general education courses which are similar in content to the courses offered in the respective degrees. For a comprehensive list, see:
http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/undergrad/current/gened.html

Honours

a) Bachelor of Engineering
Honours will be awarded to students who have achieved superior grades in courses over the whole program including the successful completion of a thesis at sufficient standard. Weighted average marks required for Honours grades are given below: The School of Computer Science and Engineering uses an internal method for calculating this average, the information provided by New South Student is not used for this purpose.

Honours Class 1: WA greater than or equal to 75

Honours Class 2: Division 1: WA equal to 70 up to and including 74

Honours Class 2 Divison 2: WA equal to 65 up to and including 69

b) BSc with Honours
On completion of the requirements for the combined degrees a student may be qualified to enrol in an Honours program in the Bachelor of Science and to qualify for the award of the BSc with Honours after successfully completing an additional year of study (48 UOC) as specified in the rules of the Faculty of Science.

Academic Rules

The programs of study which may be taken for the degrees of Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Science are governed by the normal rules for award of the BE and BSc in the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Science respectively, which specify:
(i) units of credit;
(ii) corequisites, prerequisites, assumed knowledge;
(iii) the structure of the degree program; and
(iv) any special conditions.

Fees

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

Industrial Training

All students in the BE in Computer Engineering, Bioinformatics Engineering and Software Engineering programs must complete at least 60 days of approved Industrial Training before the end of Year 4.

Computing Requirements

Information regarding recommended computing equipment and software for the program is available from the School of Computer Science and Engineering Help Desk.

Professional Recognition

Engineers Australia

The professional body for engineering in Australia is Engineers Australia, which has as its first objective the promotion of the science and practice of engineering in all its branches.

Engineers Australia has its national headquarters in Canberra and functions through a series of divisions, the local one being the Sydney Division. Within each division are branches representing the main interests within the profession, e.g. civil, mechanical, electrical, engineering management and environmental engineering.

Students of an approved school of engineering may join the Institution as a student member (StudIEAust). Student members receive the monthly publication Engineers Australia and for a small fee they also receive The Transactions which contains articles on a particular branch of engineering.

Student members are invited to participate in the Excellence Award for Work Experience, the National Young Engineer of the Year Award and to avail themselves of other Engineers Australia services including the Mentor Scheme and industrial experience guidance.

For more information and membership application forms, contact Engineers Australia, Sydney Division, Level 3, 8 Thomas Street, CHATSWOOD NSW 2067 - telephone 02 9410 5600 www.engineersaustralia.org.au

The Australian Computing Society

The peak professional body for computing in Australia is the Australian Computing Society (ACS) - www.acs.org.au

The objectives of the ACS can be found here and include: "advanc[ing] professional excellence in information and communications technology, and further[ing] the study, science and application of information and communications technology."

Again, students who want to join ACS should go to Member Application

Area(s) of Specialisation

URL for this page:

© The University of New South Wales (CRICOS Provider No.: 00098G), 2004-2011. The information contained in this Handbook is indicative only. While every effort is made to keep this information up-to-date, the University reserves the right to discontinue or vary arrangements, programs and courses at any time without notice and at its discretion. While the University will try to avoid or minimise any inconvenience, changes may also be made to programs, courses and staff after enrolment. The University may also set limits on the number of students in a course.