Masters in Research in Systems and Synthetic Biology

At Imperial College London, I designed and introduced the Masters in Research in Systems and Synthetic Biology, and from 2008 to 2012 was director and head of the examination board. The course is designed to train the next generation of scientists in tackling the “big” problems in life sciences, molecular medicine, and energy sciences. The challenge is that students from very different backgrounds, including math, physics, engineering, computer science, and biology are combined in one cohort. Students learn via case studies, proposal writing, practicals, journal clubs, and research to collaborate, to respect each other’s background, and to learn from each other.

 

Undergraduate module: Integrative Systems Biology

I have convened this 6-week final-year undergraduate module for biochemists and biologists since 2010. In addition to my lectures on modelling approaches, biological physics of sensing and signalling, and gene-regulation dynamics, a number of interdisciplinary researchers contribute lectures and mini-projects. In 2015 I gave new lectures on ‘what is life’ and ‘what is computation’. I also designed and conduct a three-week Matlab computer practical with the help of a PhD student or postdoc. Students learn programming from scratch and solve three problem sets. Problems include solving ordinary differential equations and stochastic models, applying Gillespie and Monte Carlo simulations. Even Turing machines and logic gates are part of the course. Part of my lecture notes were published as an undergraduate textbook by Oxford University Press in 2013.

 

Undergraduate module: Essential Math

This first-year undergraduate module for biochemists aims to revise useful math and statistics, and to re-introduce quantification into the life sciences. Since 2014 I have contributed lectures on descriptive statistics, probability theory, hypothesis testing, and basic modelling. Specifically, this module is meant to be preparation for quantitative final-year modules, such as integrative systems biology, synthetic biology, and bioinformatics.