Dear Madam/Sir Just 10 years ago, we (the University of Applied Sciences, Howest in Bruges, Belgium) have introduced in our Biomedical Laboratory Sciences program the option (or a major) in bioinformatics. Still, we understand from our (international) partners of the working field that the need of laboratory workers with bioinformatics skills is still growing. Therefore we have transformed our major into an advanced bachelor program that has been certified by the Flemish (or Belgian) government. In this way, we educate graduates with experience in "wet lab" techniques to solve biological problems by means of computational techniques. As the interest from abroad in our education programme keeps growing, we have decided to teach our bioinformatics advanced bachelor's program in English, starting next year. As our program is open to students from all over the world, we would like to give you some more details about our advanced bachelor program in bioinformatics. To be able to work in a "dry lab", we focus on three main topics: informatics, bioinformatics and programming. Within the field of informatics, the student learns to work on a Unix system, to store biological data and to analyse large datasets using data mining techniques. Second, the "dry lab" technician becomes familiar with comparative genomics, structural bioinformatics, systems biology and the analysis of high-throughput experimental data. In the last important topic, programming skills are introduced to create web applications, to script bioinformatics pipelines and to perform statistical analysis in R. This short and intensive one year (!) program (60 ECTS) runs from the half of September to the end of June. It is open for every bachelor, master and PhD with a profound knowledge of molecular biology and an interest in (bio)informatics. To improve the studyability, the structure of the program is divided into three blocks of six weeks. All three main topics are covered during each block, with only three to four courses per block. The majority of the courses are taught by experts in the field and they all combine theory with practical exercises. After every block the courses are immediately assessed. The program includes an internship in a work placement during eight weeks, starting around the spring holidays (the middle of April). It can be performed in Belgium or abroad in the home country. An overview of the bioinformatics program can be found on our website: www.howest.be/bioinformatics<http://www.howest.be/bioinformatics>. We believe that with this extra bachelor degree, the graduate will be stronger and have more opportunities on the job market. Next to our program we will help the student around our city and country. Our student support services will help with the accommodation in the charming city of Bruges, also referred to as the "Venice of Belgium". Next to the many historical and architectural features, there is also for example a 'chocolate walk', a chocolate trail that goes past all of the finest chocolate shops in the city centre. [Bruges Belfry in the Evening as seen from the Dijver Canal] Students in Bruges enjoy preferred access to museums, classical and modern music concerts and sports facilities. Around the historical centre of the City of Bruges, students can enjoy a great social life. A broad range of restaurants with traditional and international cuisine, wine bars and pubs offers the students the opportunity to discover the city's multifaceted night life. Our student society AmiScientia will be happy to guide you. As for transportation, throughout all of the city centre, busses are available. But most of the students take a bike rental formula as the traffic is not that crowded. With easy train access in less than an hour travel time, other cool Belgian cities as Brussels, Ghent and Antwerp are to be discovered. But also Amsterdam, Paris and London are easy to get there. For more information, please do not hesitate to send an e-mail to blt@howest.be<mailto:blt@howest.be>. Kind regards Mieke Demeyere Opleidingscoördinator Biomedische Laboratoriumtechnologie Program Coordinator Advanced bachelor bio-informatics [howest international_transparant] Howest University of Applied Sciences Campus Rijselstraat Rijselstraat 5 - 8200 Brugge - Belgium Tel.: +32 50 38 12 77 Fax: +32 50 38 11 71 www.howest.be/blt<http://www.howest.be/blt> Denk aan het milieu vooraleer je dit bericht of de bijlagen uitprint!