Research Methods in Genetics (C7152)

15 credits, Level 4

Spring teaching

This module introduces key skills for contemporary genetics: statistics, bioinformatics, and also an understanding of the wider social and ethical implications of genetics and genomics. Statistics allows us to form a quantitative understanding about experimental or observational data and the information we can extract from it. Statistical methods and concepts underlie the use of the vast amounts of data available from genomics and information technology.

This module introduces key concepts in statistics and offers practical experience of handling and interpreting bioinformatics and experimental data, and their application with lectures and workshops. The second part of the module looks at the impact of genetics and genomics in contemporary medicine and agriculture as well as the wider social and ethical issues. This includes lectures, student presentations and an essay.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 20 hours of contact time and about 130 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2023/24. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to COVID-19, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let our applicants know of material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.