1. General Information
Postgraduate studies in Bioinformatics will enable students to understand, develop and use advanced algorithms and techniques for analyzing, indexing, searching and using data from biological databases, as well as modeling events and processes that occur at the level cell, organ or organism, including the latest developments in the fields of databases, molecular biology, genetics, machine learning and data science.
- Name of the proposer: University "Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Faculty of Information Sciences and Computer Engineering - FINKI
- Name of the study program: Second cycle academic studies in Bioinformatics
- Scientific-research area: technical-technological / natural mathematical
- Field: Computer Science and Informatics / Informatics
- Areas: Artificial Intelligence, Intelligent Systems, Programming Languages and Systems, Databases, Numerical Analysis, Algorithms, Simulation, Information Processing, Data Processing, Other .
- The value of postgraduate studies is 60 ECTS or 120 ECTS credits .
- Duration of studies: 2 or 4 semesters .
- One academic year consists of two semesters lasting 30 weeks (1 semester = 15 weeks).
- In the first and the second semester, subjects are performed, while in the second semester, the final project is additionally prepared, ie. master thesis.
- Admission Requirements : Completed undergraduate studies in Computer or Biological-Medical Sciences with a minimum of 240 or 180 credits. For study directions that carry less than 240 credits, exams offered in the introductory layer are added.
- Introductory layer : Students who have earned less than 240 credits during their studies are offered a set of differential introductory courses. After their successful realization, the student acquires the right to continue with the first semester of postgraduate studies.
- First semester : 2 Mandatory courses and 2 electives, one of which may be from the University list.
- Second semester : 1 Mandatory and 1 elective, one of which can be from the university list (only if in the first semester the subjects are selected at the Faculty level) and the final project - master's thesis of 18 ECTS
- 1 ECTS credit corresponds to 30 hours of total work engagement
- The number of contact hours is 4
- The academic title or degree obtained upon completion of studies is:
- Master in Information Science and Computer Engineering in Bioinformatics
2. Introductory layer
The introductory layer is intended for students who have completed studies lasting less than four years or have earned less than 240 credits from previous studies. Students should pass differential exams that will allow them to enter the basics of bioinformatics. Table 1 shows the structure of items from the introductory layer. Table 2 lists the courses from the introductory layer, which are offered in the first cycle of studies at the Faculty of Information Sciences and Computer Engineering and which are required as prior knowledge. Students in the introductory layer choose the Mandatory courses from the list in Table 2. Students who in their previous education have heard the same or similar courses as those offered in the list in Table 2, can choose from the other courses offered in the first cycle of studies at The Faculty of Information Sciences and Computer Engineering, in coordination with the Head of the Department.
Table 1: Introductory layer structure
| РБ |
Subject |
Semester |
ECTS |
| 1 |
Mandatory subject 1 * |
VII |
6 |
| 2 |
Mandatory subject 2 * |
VII |
6 |
| 3 |
Elective 1 ** |
VII |
6 |
| 4 |
Elective course 2 ** |
VII |
6 |
| 5 |
Elective course 3 ** |
VII |
6 |
| 6 |
Mandatory subject 3 * |
VIII |
6 |
| 7 |
Mandatory subject 4 * |
VIII |
6 |
| 8 |
Elective course 4 ** |
VIII |
6 |
| 9 |
Elective course 5 ** |
VIII |
6 |
| 10 |
Elective course 6 *** |
VIII |
6 |
* The course should be chosen from Table 2. ** The course is recommended to be selected from Table 2, but can be chosen from the other courses offered in the first cycle of studies at the Faculty of Information Sciences and Computer Engineering, in coordination with the head of the department. *** The course can be selected from Table 2 or from the university list of free electives.
Table 2: List of recommended items for the introductory layer
After the successful completion of all ten courses and 60 credits, the student with previously acquired 180 ECTS credits (or completed three-year studies) continues with the courses from the second academic year of postgraduate studies - Table 3 (IX and X semester).
3. Studies
Table 3: Course structure in IX and X semesters
| РБ |
Subject |
Semester |
З / И |
ECTS |
| 1 |
Introduction to Molecular Biology |
IX |
З |
6 |
| 2 |
Basics of Bioinformatics |
IX |
З |
6 |
| 3 |
Selected from Table 4 |
IX |
И |
6 |
| 4 |
Selected from Table 4 |
IX |
И |
6 |
| 5 |
Selected from Table 4 |
IX |
И |
6 |
| 6 |
Advanced Mathematical and Statistical Techniques |
IX |
З |
6 |
| 7 |
Selected from Table 4 |
X |
И |
6 |
| 8 |
Master Thesis |
X |
З |
18 |
Table 4 shows the elective courses from the Bioinformatics study program. In addition to these courses, the student can choose from all elective courses defined for all study programs of the second cycle that are serviced by the faculty. One elective course can be chosen from the university list of free elective courses. Table 4: Electives
Table 4: Electives
| РБ |
Subject |
Semester |
ЕКТС |
Fund hours |
| 1 |
Structural Bioinformatics and Proteomics |
IX |
6 |
4 + 0 + 0 + 0 |
| 2 |
Scientific computing in bioinformatics |
IX |
6 |
4 + 0 + 0 + 0 |
| 3 |
Wavelets in Numerical Simulations |
IX |
6 |
4 + 0 + 0 + 0 |
| 4 |
Information processing in biological systems |
IX |
6 |
4 + 0 + 0 + 0 |
| 5 |
Introduction to Computational Neuroscience |
IX |
6 |
4 + 0 + 0 + 0 |
| 6 |
Introduction to genetic Engineering |
X |
6 |
4 + 0 + 0 + 0 |
| 7 |
Mathematical Biology |
X |
6 |
4 + 0 + 0 + 0 |
| 8 |
Biological Sequence Analysis |
X |
6 |
4 + 0 + 0 + 0 |
The student can choose a subject from the list of offered elective courses from all study programs of the second cycle of studies. The list of offered electives can be found at this link .
