Program Requirements
Thesis
A thesis for the doctoral degree must constitute original scholarship and must be a distinct contribution to knowledge. It must show familiarity with previous work in the field and must demonstrate ability to plan and carry out research, organize results, and defend the approach and conclusions in a scholarly manner. The research presented must meet current standards of the discipline; as well, the thesis must clearly demonstrate how the research advances knowledge in the field. Finally, the thesis must be written in compliance with norms for academic and scholarly expression and for publication in the public domain.
Required Invitational Seminar
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PLNT 690 Research Horizons in Plant Science 1
Overview
Plant Science : A series of seminars presented by invited speakers, staff and senior graduate students. The topics are selected to integrate the many fields of plant science.
Terms: Fall 2024, Winter 2025
Instructors: Hoyos-Villegas, Valerio (Fall) Dastmalchi, Mehran (Winter)
Required Courses (3 credits)
* Must be taken within one year of registering.
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COMP 616D1 Bioinformatics Seminar (1.5 credits)
Overview
Computer Science (Sci) : Introduction to current trends in Bioinformatics and closely related fields such as genomics and proteomics.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Restrictions: This seminar is restricted to graduate students in the Bioinformatics Option. Enrolment is limited to 30 students.
Note: The seminar will meet for 3 hours every second week over Fall and Winter semesters.
Students must register for both COMP 616D1 and COMP 616D2.
No credit will be given for this course unless both COMP 616D1 and COMP 616D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms.
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COMP 616D2 Bioinformatics Seminar (1.5 credits)
Overview
Computer Science (Sci) : See COMP 616D1 for description.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: COMP 616D1.
No credit will be given for this course unless both COMP 616D1 and COMP 616D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms.
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PLNT 701 Doctoral Comprehensive Examination *
Overview
Plant Science : An examination that must be passed by all doctoral candidates in order to continue in the doctoral program.
Terms: Fall 2024, Winter 2025
Instructors: Seguin, Philippe (Fall) Seguin, Philippe (Winter)
Complementary Courses (6 credits)
Two courses to be chosen from the following:
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BINF 511 Bioinformatics for Genomics (3 credits)
Overview
Bioinformatics : Bioinformatics methods and reasoning in relation to genomics, proteomics and metabolomics strategies with an emphasis on functional genomics data. The course will cover introduction to UNIX, Perl programming, data processing and integration, file parsing, relational database design and implementation, angled towards solutions relevant for genomics.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Stromvik, Martina (Winter)
Prerequisite: Understanding of cell and molecular biology (equivalent to a cell or molecular biology course) or permission from instructor.
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BINF 621 Bioinformatics: Molecular Biology (3 credits)
Overview
Bioinformatics : The main problems related to the analysis of biological sequences (sequence comparison, homology, gene annotation, phylogenetic inference, comparative genomics) and the computational approaches (dynamic programming algorithms, Blast heuristics, hidden Markov models, Bayesian statistics).
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Restriction: Enrolment by students in the Bioinformatics option or by permission from the course coordinators only. Limited to 30 students.
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BMDE 652 Bioinformatics: Proteomics (3 credits)
Overview
Biomedical Engineering : Overview of high-throughput proteomic technologies commonly employed to study the localization and function of all proteins in an organism, and the bioinformatic approaches to analyze raw data and deposit them in proteome databases.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: Enrolment in Bioinformatics option program or permission by coordinators.
Note: The course is inter-disciplinary and is targeted to students with different scientific backgrounds. A substantial portion of marks will be given based on practical assignments.
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BTEC 555 Structural Bioinformatics (3 credits)
Overview
Biotechnology : Fundamentals of protein structure and the application of tools for structure determination, how protein structure allows us to understand the complex biological functions, and how knowledge of protein structure can contribute to drug discovery.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Salavati, Reza; Sulea, Traian (Winter)
Winter
1-hr lecture, followed by 2 hrs of computer lab.
Prerequisite: Molecular biology or biochemistry, and basic bioinformatics, or permission of instructor.
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COMP 618 Bioinformatics: Functional Genomics (3 credits)
Overview
Computer Science (Sci) : Techniques related to microarrays (normalization, differential expression, class prediction, class discovery), the analysis of non-coding sequence data (identification of transcription factor binding sites), single nucleotide polymorphisms, the inference of biological networks, and integrative Bioinformatics approaches.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: Enrolment in Bioinformatics Option Program or permission of coordinators.
Restrictions: Enrolment by students in the Bioinformatics Option Program or by permission of course coordinators only. Computer Science graduate students not in the Bioinformatics Option Program need additional permission of the M.Sc. or Ph.D. Committee respectively.
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PHGY 603 Systems Biology and Biophysics (3 credits)
Overview
Physiology : Introduction to classical and current topics in biophysics and systems biology in order to model the control of gene expression and intracellular signal transduction, as well as gene spread in populations.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: Knowledge of differential equations at the MATH 315 level or equivalent.
Notes: Enrolment is limited to 20 students per semester. The course is 1.5 hours of lecture and 1.5 hours of seminar per week. Readings will focus on classic and current journal articles.
Additional courses at the 500 or 600 level may be required at the discretion of the candidate's advisory committee.
