THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Admissions are open for full-time MPhil Bioinformatics course at the Centre for Bioinformatics at the University of Kerala.
The first of its kind in the country, the Bioinformatics course involves the application of computers and informatics to biology, specifically at sub-cellular or molecular level. The MPhil programme focuses on the understanding and use of tools in bioinformatics. This one-year (2 semester programme) is open to Computer Science, Life Science and allied masters degree holders (MSc, M Tech, MCA, MSc Agriculture, MPharm, MD, etc). Exposure to theoretical and practical aspects of bioinformatics is included in the programme.
The admission will be based on marks scored in the qualifying examination and also in the entrance examination. The entrance examination will have 100 objective-type questions - 20 questions on Computer Science field; 20 questions on general Biology, 60 questions on logic & numerical reasoning. Index Marks for Ranking include 50 percent aggregate in Master’s degree; and 50 percent Entrance Marks. Entrance test will be conducted in August and admission procedure will be completed in October/ November.
The pharmaceutical field is expected to grow soon to become major employers of MPhil graduates as it is increasingly using computational tools for molecular drug discovery. MPhil graduates are suitable for employment in IT industries which take up software development work in Bioinformatics.