bioinformatics course for beginners

Course description

Computation and Artificial Intelligence in Biology is an elective module within the newly established core curriculum for CLS graduate students. It is jointly taught by three instructors specializing in different areas of computational biology—algorithms, bioinformatics, and AI—and is designed for graduate students who wish to understand and utilize computational methods, data science, and AI tools in life sciences research. The course primarily targets first-year PhD students, particularly those interested in “dry lab” research in biology. Its main objectives are: first, to help students develop computational and quantitative thinking skills relevant to biological research; second, to provide a systematic introduction to the fundamental concepts, typical tasks, and application scenarios of modern bioinformatics, algorithms, statistical learning, and AI in the life sciences; and third, through a combination of lectures and hands-on workshops, to equip students with the ability to process real biological data, understand analysis workflows, evaluate model results, and document research processes systematically, thereby laying a foundation for advanced courses in systems biology, computational biology, AI, or omics analysis.