BS in Bioinformatics is designed to gratify the demands of a multidisciplinary and rapidly evolving field. Bioinformatics, a combination of biology and computer science, is an emerging field that helps in collecting, linking and manipulating different types of biological information to discover new biological insight. Bioinformatics is playing a critical role in understanding biological data by providing quick information and making research fast and facilitating us to understand and improve life. BS in Bioinformatics is aimed to equip the students with the updated knowledge, software tools and different databases for better manipulation of biological data and designing of new drugs to treat various diseases. The students may pursue their career as Bioinformatics software developer, scientific curator, Protein analyst, Computational biologist, Phylogeneticist, Gene analyst, Research scientist, Database programmer, Structural analyst, Bio-statistician and Molecular modeller.

The objectives of BS in Bioinformatics program are:

1. To enable students to integrate and analyze data from different genomic and proteomic research work.

2. To equip the students with computational techniques so that they can develop diversified bioinformatics algorithms and tools for processing and analyzing data.

3. To enable students to design and develop efficient and reliable bioinformatics solutions by optimizing the usage of existing tools.

Intermediate with Pre-engineering / Pre-medical / Computer Sciences or equivalent qualification having at least 45% marks

Note

• Candidates having ‘A’ level or Deeni Asnad or foreign qualification are required to provide equivalence certificate from IBCC or HEC, Islamabad as applicable.

• Limited seats on merit basis within Pakistan only.

• “Zero  Semester” is not applicable.

BS Entry Route:

• Applicants having B.Sc./Associate Degree (14 year of education) from an HEC recognized university/institute with at-least 45% marks or CGPA 2.00 out 4.0 are eligible for course exemption (as determined by the Equivalence Committee of VU). However, applicants shall meet admission entry requirements based on their 12 years of education as stated above.

Merit Calculation Formula

Note: The applicants applying for admission towards aforesaid programs through BS entry route/Course Exemption will also compete merit. However, their merit will be calculated using formula listed in table number 2 under category: For Applicants having completed Intermediate Certificate.

Course Exemption:

Course exemption is allowed.

The students study progress evaluation mechanism is based on continuous assessment throughout the semester by giving assignments, quizzes, Graded Discussion Boards (GDBs), course(s) practicals (wherein applicable), mid-term and final-term examinations at VU designated campuses and usually count for 80 to 85% of the total marks for a course.

To be eligible for the award of four-year BS in Bioinformatics, the students are required to complete at least 132 credit hours according to prescribed scheme of studies with at least CGPA 2.00 out of 4.

Project:

Students are required to complete a Project of 6-credit hours in 7th and 8th semesters as prescribed scheme of studies of BS in Bioinformatics. The choice of the final project is at the student’s discretion. However, consultation with the student advisor is compulsory. Students have to submit a detailed write-up of the Project and may be required to give a presentation.

Course(s) Practicals:

Participation in practical classes of a course(s) will be compulsory for a student to qualify respective course(s). Each student will participate in practical classes at the VU designated lab cities which were allocated at the time of admission. List of the VU Lab cities is published on VU website link www.vu.edu.pk >> Home >> Admission Schedule

Note: The University admits students of Biological sciences programs on merit as per the available seats against each lab city during the admission session. Once a student is admitted against a particular lab preference then he/she will not be allowed to change his/her lab city after admission.