28/01/2023
To all current and prospective 1st year PhD students studying Bioinformatics in Sweden,
You are invited to apply to MedBioInfo, the National Graduate School in Medical Bioinformatics, established to provide advanced training in bioinformatics to the next generation of world-class life-science researchers. Thanks to a recently approved extension of time, we are admitting students again this year. If admitted you will join a competitively selected student community. We have in recent years attained a good gender balance. Our 42 affiliated faculty members include most of the leading bioinformaticians in Sweden, and we also draw on the faculty of NORBIS, our Norwegian sister school. Alongside your peers, this will form a key part of your future scientific network. Our courses are short, worth 3 or 5 HP(ECTS). Each course typically requires a one-week at-home pre-assignment, one week in residence, and (often) a take-home one-week post-assignment. You would typically take two courses per year, for a total of 3 years. The courses are more specialised than can be provided by your home university. You will be matched with a faculty mentor, providing a perspective and advice complementary to that of your advisor. We also have an annual meeting where you will attend faculty talks and soft-skills workshops, present your research, network, and get feedback. You will be granted a yearly travel budget. Best of all, this should be fun.
You are eligible to apply if you began or will begin your PhD between January 2022 and April 2023, though there is flexibility in this. Target groups include PhD students in Life Science doing primarily computational research.Selection criteria include your CV, transcript, and the relevance of your research project. You will also need an endorsement letter from your advisor and a suitable laptop. We will strive to have a broad distribution of Swedish home universities as well as a good gender balance..
Please be aware that, if admitted, you should plan to attend your first course, "Applied Bioinformatics" in Uppsala, May 29 – Jun 2. Several of our core courses require programming in Python. If your Python background is weak, you will need to start strengthening your skills soon after admissions. There are many online courses, and we also recommend Shaw's "Python 3 the hard way." Considering the climate, we ask students to avoid flying to MedBioInfo events.
The application deadline is February 28, 2023. We aim to enroll 20-30 incoming students per year. You should apply following https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/MedBioInfo2023 also linked to from medbioinfo.se. Feel free to email Sam with any questions. We look forward to reading your application.
With kind regards,
Samuel Flores, Dean of Students
Arne Elofsson, Director
Petras Kundrotas, Course Coordinator
