• Offered by Biology Teaching and Learning Centre
  • ANU College ANU Joint Colleges of Science
  • Classification Advanced
  • Course subject Biology
  • Areas of interest Statistics, Bioinformatics, Biology
  • Academic career PGRD
  • Course convener
    • Prof Eric Stone
  • Mode of delivery In Person
  • Offered in First Semester 2020
    Second Semester 2020
    See Future Offerings

All activities that form part of this course will be delivered remotely in Sem 2 2020. Course content has been modified due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Quantitative biology and bioinformatics demand a combination of technical skills and domain knowledge. In these data-driven sciences, effective communication with experimentalists is a prerequisite to success, as both parties must comprehend both the problem and the solution. In this course, students will gain consulting experience in quantitative biology and bioinformatics. They will learn to communicate effectively with clients, both verbally and in writing, and how to avoid jargon without sacrificing precision. Students will interact with experimentalists and learn to distil biological goals and challenges into quantitative/computational problems to be solved. Students will gain experience collaborating and solving these problems in a mentored professional setting. In doing so, they will learn how to report on their progress to both clients and colleagues.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

  1. Communicate effectively and professionally with scientists outside of their discipline
  2. Translate biological goals and challenges into underpinning quantitative/computational problems
  3. Engage in an independent investigation and evaluation of quantitative/computational solutions to biological problems
  4. Describe and defend a chosen methodology in the context of the problem being solved
  5. Estimate the difficulty of a project and the time commitment that will be required
  6. Identify when additional skills and/or expertise will be required to solve a problem

Indicative Assessment

  1. Evidence of professional communication (peer evaluation, client feedback, preceptor reports, notebook) (25) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6]
  2. Initial consulting plan (25) [LO 2,4,5,6]
  3. Final presentation to client (25) [LO 1,2,3,4]
  4. Final presentation to class (25) [LO 2,3,4]

In response to COVID-19: Please note that Semester 2 Class Summary information (available under the classes tab) is as up to date as possible. Changes to Class Summaries not captured by this publication will be available to enrolled students via Wattle. 

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Workload

1 lecture + 1 practicum per week, 1 written proposal (consulting plan), 2 group presentations (final report to client, final report to class)

Inherent Requirements

Not yet determined

Requisite and Incompatibility

You will need to contact the Biology Teaching and Learning Centre to request a permission code to enrol in this course.

Prescribed Texts

Nil

Fees

Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.  

If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.

Student Contribution Band:
2
Unit value:
6 units

If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.  Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.

Units EFTSL
6.00 0.12500
Domestic fee paying students
Year Fee
2020 $4050
International fee paying students
Year Fee
2020 $5760
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.

The list of offerings for future years is indicative only.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.

First Semester

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
3397 24 Feb 2020 02 Mar 2020 08 May 2020 05 Jun 2020 In Person N/A

Second Semester

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
8410 27 Jul 2020 03 Aug 2020 31 Aug 2020 30 Oct 2020 In Person View

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