Bachelor of Bioinformatics At Home

The Bachelor of Bioinformatics at Home is a bachelor-to-bachelor program that equips students and laboratory staff with IT and programming skills for bioinformatics work, in response to the growing importance of next-generation sequencing and big data alongside traditional research methods. Learning covers bioinformatics, informatics, and programming, including next-generation sequencing data processing, molecular sequence analysis and comparison, and system-level analysis of biological processes and pathways.

Teaching uses distance education (@home) with limited on-campus contact moments in Bruges. Each course unit includes three contact moments plus an exam. Contact moments take place every two weeks on campus from 18:00 to 20:00 CET and can be followed via live streaming and recorded. Exams run from 18:00 to 21:00 CET, and students who live far from campus can take exams from home for an extra cost. Study materials are provided at the start of a course unit through the electronic learning environment.

Admission requires a higher-education diploma that shows knowledge of molecular biology at least at bachelor level (for example, Biomedical Laboratory Technology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Biomedical Sciences). If you have a foreign diploma, its level must be equivalent to a European bachelor’s degree.

If you are 21 years old, have already obtained a first bachelor’s degree, and are already working (or looking for work), you can enroll in the bioinformatics via distance education (@home) program. This @home training is suitable for: employees in (biomedical/biological) laboratories needing applied bioinformatics knowledge; employees from other sectors seeking a new challenge in a future-proof field; and international students who cannot go to the campus in Bruges, Belgium.

• For the optional choice track Bioinformatics for IT professionals @home: an IT diploma with knowledge of Linux and web technologies (HTML, CSS, PHP and/or JavaScript).
• Enrollment via a credit contract is possible if you do not have the necessary prior knowledge of molecular biology or you do not have an IT diploma.
• No informatics prior knowledge is required, but you must be able to work with a computer generally.

The program is fully offered in English, so proof of sufficient English knowledge is required. A diploma of secondary education issued by the Flemish government (except BSO and CVO) meets the language requirements. If you hold a different secondary diploma, you can prove your English knowledge in another way; the types of evidence are found in the education and examination regulations.