BIOINFORMATICS

Introduction ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~100% placement record!

The first batch of students for this course at IBAB was admitted in 2002. Nineth batch of students are undergoing training and will be graduating in April 2010. All the students who have graduated from IBAB so far have been placed by large in industry with a few opting for placement in academia. Students are selected after a national-level entrance test and interview.

Bioinformatics involves integrative or multidisciplinary approach that is inclusive, but not exclusive of computational, mathematical and statistical methods to study, organize, analyze and interpret biological information, at the molecular, genetic and genomic levels. With the diversity required for the subject, it has become imperative that students with different backgrounds should come together to acquire knowledge and skills in these areas. With this in mind, the intake of students at IBAB is open to students especially from non-life science streams such as engineering, physical, chemical, mathematical, statistical, agricultural sciences and medicine besides students from life science background. IBAB provides an atmosphere that is conducive for the students to learn subjects from each other’s strengths and background. 

Bioinformatics background

Recent times have witnessed unparalleled transformations in both information technology (IT) and life sciences (BIO). Constant innovations in computers and information technology have brought in conceptual changes with wide range of applications in the complex space of biological sciences. With the biological data also growing at a rapid pace in the present “omics” age, it is unthinkable not to exploit the IT/ computer science to organise, analyse and interpret vast amount of biological information. Such applications have already brought in paradigm changes in the way biological science is practiced. In the opinion of distinguished panel of international experts (Nature 23 March 2006), the greatest impact of computer science will be felt in the area of biological science since the greatest challenges and opportunities originate in the biological science area. There is an urgent need to endow new kind of professionals to tackle the scientific challenges in the biological sciences by forging strong alliance between biological and computer sciences. It is not an exaggeration that in the near future Bio-IT interactions may well have the potential to replace/limit wet-lab experiments and enhance the speed of generation of fresh information giving a new direction to the advancement of biological science. The ramifications that these will have on research and commercial activities in the areas of health sciences and agriculture are enormous.  It is predicted that concepts of computer science are poised to become as fundamental to biology as mathematics to physics as there is growing awareness among biologists that understanding cells and cellular systems requires viewing them as information processing systems.