<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><font size="4">Please encourage good PG holders (MTech/MCA/MSc(CS)/MSc(Life Science) etc
apply </font></span></span><br></p>
<p align="center"><font face="Georgia" size="4"><b>Kerala University invites
applications for 3rd batch of <br><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">MPhil Bioinformatics</span></b></font>
<font style="font-family: georgia;" size="4">(To start in January
2007)</font><br></p>
<p align="justify"><font face="Georgia" size="3">The <b>one-year MPhil
(Bioinformatics) programme</b> of the University of Kerala is a novel
inter-disciplinary programme in the frontier area of application of computing
and information technologies to cutting-edge problems in life sciences. This is
the only MPhil programme in the area offered by Indian Universities. <span style="background-color: rgb(51, 255, 255);">Application forms and bochures are
available from </span><b style="background-color: rgb(51, 255, 255);"><a href="http://www.cbi.keralauniversity.edu/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">www.cbi.keralauniversity.edu</a>
</b><span style="background-color: rgb(51, 255, 255);"> and the </span><b style="background-color: rgb(51, 255, 255);">last date for application is 30 Sept
2006.</b></font><span style="background-color: rgb(51, 255, 255);"> </span><br></p>
<p align="justify"><font face="Georgia" size="3">The programme <b style="background-color: rgb(51, 255, 51);">admits postgraduate students from
engineering, computing and life sciences or allied streams. </b>Those who hold a
recognized post-graduate degree in any one of the following disciplines with a
minimum of 55% marks in aggregate, may apply: Engineering & Technology – Any
branch (MTech), Computer Sciences (MSc, MCA), Electronics (MSc), Life Sciences
(Zoology, Botany, Bio-chemistry, Bio-technology, Environmental Sciences, Aquatic
Biology, Molecular Biology) (MSc), Agriculture (MSc), Pharmacy (MPharm),
Medicine (MD), Science (Chemistry, Maths, Operations Research, Statistics,
Geology etc) (MSc), Bioinformatics (MSc). There shall be 15 seats for the
programme, of which 3 seats shall be for sponsored candidates. 6 seats shall be
reserved for life-science stream and 6 for non-life science stream. Reservations
for SC/ST, SEBC etc shall be as per University rules. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Admissions for applicants except
foreign students shall be based on (i) an entrance test to be conducted at
Thiruvananthapuram (which will be based on logical reasoning, numerical ability,
and life sciences and computing) and (ii) aggregate marks scored in the
qualifying postgraduate examinations, with 50 : 50 weightage. </span>The tuition
fees are as follows: Non-sponsored : Rs 10,000 / semester, Sponsored : Rs 25,000
/ semester.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font face="Georgia" size="3">Two batches have been admitted so
far. The first batch which came out in early 2006 have announced the formation
of the first Bioinformatics company in Kerala: <b>Soorya Kiran Bioinformatics
Pvt Ltd.</b></font> <br></p>
<p align="justify"><font face="Georgia" size="3">Bioinformatics is a nascent field
which is predicted to generate a large number of job opportunities in the coming
decade. One of the key areas of growth is computer aided drug design which is
expected to revitalize the pharma sector. This is especially so after the patent
amendment in India which has forced pharmaceutical companies to focus on
R&D, as drug molecules can no longer be copied. A study conducted by the
Department of Information Technology (DIT), Govt of India, in collaboration with
the Confederation of Indian Industries(CII) has predicted that the demand for
Indian professionals from the rest of the world is expected to rise from less
than500 in 2004 to over 8000 by 2012. Indian bioinformatics market is currently
2.5% of the global market.</font> <br></p>
<p align="justify"><font face="Georgia" size="3">The M.Phil (Bioinformatics) programme
aims to prepare the students for understanding biological data at molecular
level from both informational and biological perspective and impart conceptual,
computational and practical skills to acquire, analyze, process or use the data
to address significant problems in the field of Bioinformatics, of both pure and
applied nature. The programme incorporates advanced level education in basic
biological (DNA, RNA, Protein) sequence analysis, sequence alignments, sequence
data base handling, RNA and protein structure prediction, molecular
phylogenetics, molecular visualisation, drug discovery, gene expression studies
using micro arrays and data mining. The programme also gives training in
relevant mathematical principles, programming tools etc and also research
methodology. Considering heterogeneous student group, primer on information
technology and life sciences shall be offered as electives for the life science
and computer streams respectively. University is offering the programme as an
interdisciplinary programme involving Life Sciences and Computer Science. The
programme is run under the choice-based credit and semester scheme.
</font> <br></p>
<br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Dr Achuthsankar S Nair<br>Hon. Director<br>Centre for Bioinformatics<br>University of Kerala, Trivandrum 695581, INDIA<br>Tel (O) 471-2412759 (R) 471-2542220<br><a href="http://www.cbi.keralauniversity.edu">
www.cbi.keralauniversity.edu</a><br><a href="http://www.achu.keralauniversity.edu">www.achu.keralauniversity.edu</a><br>===================================================================<br>Admissions
to MPhil Bioinformatics for Jan 2007 Open - Brochure and Application
forms can be downloaded from <a href="http://www.cbi.keralauniversity.edu">www.cbi.keralauniversity.edu</a>