Life Sciences

Programming for Life Sciences

Module code: C7147
Level 6
15 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Workshop, Lecture
Assessment modes: Coursework

Develop functional skills in computer coding in a modern structured computer language. Apply these skills to develop computer programmes that perform computations and analyses relevant to modern Life Sciences research, and data manipulation in general.

You’ll learn about key concepts in computer science as well as Python – a modern high-level computer language that is widely used in research. You’ll also take part in hands-on workshops, developing your coding skills by writing your own interactive computer programmes.

Module learning outcomes

• Demonstrate understanding of how computers process information and different types of programming languages.
• Analyse the use of logical flow, structure, and libraries within code and their applications within the Python computer programming language.
• Apply programming skills to produce working, structured code that implements an algorithm used in contemporary research for processing biological data
• Demonstrate understanding of best open research/open science coding practices (including commenting code and documentation)