MRes Informatics (Biodiversity Informatics)

Mode of Study: Full-time (12 months) and Part-time (36 months, maximum)

Entry date: January and October (two intakes per year)

Description:
Biodiversity Informatics is a specialist area within MRes Informatics. Biodiversity Informatics is an application of advanced knowledge-handling techniques to biodiversity science - the study, cataloguing and modeling of biodiversity patterns from local to global scales. Examples are: modeling the changing distributions of species under conditions of climate change; optimising size and distribution of nature reserves for conservation of plants and animals; and making intelligent systems that accommodate for differences in the taxonomy.

The course is designed to bring IT technologists and computer scientists into this developing application field, where is a shortage of staff with necessary skills. MSc projects and PhD opportunities relate to work by the world leading Biodiversity Lab, which is led by Prof Frank Bisby and associated with major international programmes including the Species 2000 Catalogue of Life, BiodiversityWorld, the plants and animals of Europe, LITCHI, and work on the diversity and evolution of Legume Plants.

The course is offered jointly by the IRC and the School of Biological Sciences. It is suitable for those with biological sciences and earth sciences backgrounds, including Microbiology, Botany, Zoology, Environmental Sciences and Earth Sciences, or equivalents under the University's APEL rules.

Participants will have access to expertise and research resources from both Schools within the University, and from the external communities that are associated, including the Natural History Museum, London, and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.

Requirements:
To obtain an MRes degree, you are required to complete the following taught modules (each module is worth 20 CATs, i.e. credits), and a dissertation project (100 CATs, i.e. credits):

• 2 common core modules
• 2 specialist modules
• a research dissertation.

Compulsory modules:

• Applied informatics
• Research methods  

Optional modules:

• Phylogeny: building and using evolutionary trees (delivered by School of Biological Sciences)
• Biodiversity information systems (delivered by School of Biological Sciences)
• Modelling patterns in biodiversity (delivered by School of Biological Sciences)

Descriptions of all the modules can be found at Postgraduate taught modules.