Study at the interface of biological and computational sciences and help address the world’s biggest challenges in health, food biosecurity and environmental sustainability.

Biosciences research has a huge impact on helping people live longer and healthier lives. With the World Economic Forum identifying healthcare as one of the top 10 Global Challenges for 2030, there is a growing demand for specialists in this field.

This course provides you with a broad understanding of the molecular basis of biological systems, with a focus on the increasingly crucial role bioinformatics plays in modern biosciences.

Course highlights

• Study at a Top 10 University, on a course designed in consultation with clinical and industrial partners to give you the skills employers are looking for.
• Develop extensive knowledge in your specialist area of bioinformatics, as well as a broad understanding of molecular biosciences.
• Gain extensive research experience by carrying out two separate research projects.
• Further strengthen your employability with a project addressing the challenges of global environment sustainability, applying skills related to either entrepreneurship, teaching, media and communication, or public engagement.
• Get support from your dedicated Personal Tutor who you can go to for academic and non-academic support.

Specialise in bioinformatics

Bioinformatics is an exciting and rapidly growing field in biology offering career opportunities at the interface of biological and computational sciences. This interdisciplinary field applies computational approaches to analyse large biological datasets generated by the revolutionary technological advances in the field, including Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and omics-based technologies.

• You’ll learn to apply computational methods to answer biological questions ranging from bacterial epidemiology, healthy ageing and genomic medicine to evolution and conservation biology.
• You’ll work with researchers from our Milner Centre for Evolution, supported by teaching staff in the Department of Computer Science.
• You'll have access to our bioinformatics sessions, enabling you to develop your scripting skills and study big data.
• You'll study some modules alongside data science students to ensure you are being taught the latest developments in computer science, and will also be able to participate in extra coding sessions to consolidate your learning.

Research projects

You'll undertake two research projects; a group computational project and a computational project working with a researcher in the department. These projects will give you extensive research experience, helping you stand out when applying for jobs or a PhD.

Examples of projects include:

• Analysis of Gastrointestinal pathogen surveillance sequencing data using whole genome MLST
• Pan-genome assembly in Covid-19 and/or Staphylococcus epidermidis

Career prospects

You’ll graduate with the specialist knowledge and sought-after skills for a career in further research, such as a PhD, or roles in academic, clinical, industrial or commercial sectors anywhere in the world. Our dedicated careers team offers individual guidance and help you decide between employment and further study.

Recent examples of graduate roles include healthcare scientist, analyst, production technician and agricultural engineer.

Find out more on maximising your employability while at Bath.

Who is this course for?

This course is for you if you’ve graduated from any biosciences, medical, veterinary or related discipline and you’re interested in specialising in a career within the field of bioinformatics.

We also offer the Molecular Biosciences course with specialisms in Microbiology and Medical Biosciences and we have a new dedicated MSc Biotechnology with specialisms available in Healthcare Technologies, Sustainable Biotechnologies or with Entrepreneurship.

Find out more about studying at Bath

• Department of Life Sciences
• Postgraduate study at Bath

• IELTS: 6.5 overall with no less than 6.0 in all components
• The Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic): 62 with no less than 59 in any element
• TOEFL IBT: 90 overall with a minimum 21 in all 4 components

You will need to get your English language qualification within 24 months prior to starting your course.

If you need to improve your English language skills before starting your studies, you may be able to take a pre-sessional course to reach the required level.