What is the difference between bioinformatics and computational biology?

Bioinformatics helps analyze and interpret complicated biological data. Computational biology deals with both theoretical and experimental aspects of biology using computational tools. Although the two subjects are tightly intertwined, bioinformatics demands a higher level of programming and technical background than computational biology.

What is the scope of bioinformatics? Is it a good career?

Yes, the career prospects for bioinformatics are very high. With the advent of new technologies in biological and life science fields, bioinformaticians will be in high demand.

Which countries offer the finest bioinformatics courses for international students?

Countries such as the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Japan, and Switzerland provide excellent bioinformatics education.

What about certifications and licensing in the field of bioinformatics?

As such, there are no certification and licensing requirements in the field of bioinformatics.

Top Universities for Bioinformatics in 2022-2023

Best global colleges and universities offering Bioinformatics programs

About Bioinformatics

Data in the field of biology is being generated at an unprecedented rate due to the implementation of biological techniques such as gene engineering. Because it is nearly difficult for the human mind to analyze this data alone, a new discipline called bioinformatics emerged from the intersection of computer science and life sciences studies to manage these massive volumes of biological data. In short, bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary science that analyses enormous amounts of biological data using computing tools. Bioinformaticians are the expert professionals who collect, store, analyze, and retrieve enormous amounts of biological and genomic data in order to design new pharmaceuticals, study genomes, develop new farming techniques, livestock breeding, and manage waste.

Duties of Bioinformaticians

Upon completion of a degree in bioinformatics, students should be able to perform the following duties as bioinformaticians:

Understand basic biological and computational principles
Have a basic knowledge of biological databases and tools
Collect, manage, and analyze biological data at the molecular level by using computational tools
Manage all scientific databases and prepare reports
Develop new algorithms to analyze biological data
Coordinate with other team members and provide training to the newcomers
Have an understanding of the ethical and social issues pertaining to the scientific field

Popular degrees for pursuing a career in Bioinformatics

There are several undergraduate programs in bioinformatics and related fields. Students having a bachelor’s degree in any of the life sciences or computer science fields can pursue a master’s degree in bioinformatics. It is not necessary to have a specialized bachelor’s degree in bioinformatics. A master’s degree in the field requires specialization, is highly recognized by employers, and is well paid. Doctoral degrees are for people who desire to pursue research and teach at the university level in order to excel in this area. The following are some of the most popular bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in bioinformatics.

Bachelor’s programs

B.S. in Bioinformatics
B.A. in Bioinformatics
Bachelor’s in Computer Science
Bachelor’s in Computational Biology
B.Sc. in Biology
B.S. in Biological Science
B.S. in Biotechnology

Master’s programs

M.S. in Bioinformatics
M.A. in Bioinformatics
Master of Computational Biology
M.S. in Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics Research
M.Sc. in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
M.S. in Quantitative and Computational Biology
MSc in Applied Bioinformatics
M.S. in Health Informatics
Master of Science in Bioinformatics and Biocomplexity

Doctoral programs

P.h.D in Bioinformatics
P.h.D in Computational Biology
P.h.D in Genomics and Bioinformatics Research

Specializations in Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics is a highly interdisciplinary area and hence offers multitudes of specializations such as:

Genetics: The study of heredity and variations in inherited traits

Computational biology: The application of data-driven solutions to bioinformatics challenges

Molecular modeling: The process of simulating molecular structures using computational chemistry

Genomics: The branch of molecular biology that studies the structure, function, evolution, and mapping of genes or genomes

Proteomics: The study of protein sequences and their functions

Phylogenetics: The study of how animals and humans are related to one another

Metabolomics: The study of biochemistry and metabolites

Transcriptomics: The study of the entire RNA transcriptome

Metagenomics: The study of genetic materials from environmental sources

Systems biology: Mathematical and computational modeling of complex biological systems

Pathway analysis: The assessment of related proteins in metabolic pathways

Duration of programs in Bioinformatics

The duration of programs in bioinformatics varies from country to country. Here is a list of typical durations of bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs in bioinformatics.

Country	Bachelor’s Degree	Master’s Degree	Doctoral Degree
USA and Canada	4 years	1-2 years	4-6 years
UK	3-4 years	1-2 years	4-6 years
Australia	3-4 years	1-2 years	4-6 years

Career opportunities in Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics is one of the fastest-growing careers, and bioinformatics professionals are in extreme demand. Professionals in this fieldwork for a wide range of sectors like pharmaceutical industries, biotechnology and biomedical organizations, research institutes, NGOs, hospitals, and manufacturing units involved in biological research. The following are a few popular careers in the field of bioinformatics:

Bioinformatics Scientist
Biostatistician
Bioinformatician
Zoologist or Wildlife Biologist
Molecular Biologist
Bioinformatics Consultant
Bioinformatics Professors
Software Developers
Bioinformatics Engineers

Average salaries in Bioinformatics

The pay scale in bioinformatics depends on the level of education, the position of employment and the experience of the individual. But it still pays well relative to other biological and life science fields.

Country	*Average salary in USD/year**
USA	78,750 (Source: Glassdoor)
Germany	67,013 (Source: Glassdoor)
Australia	66,596 (Source: Glassdoor)
Denmark	61,812 (Source: Glassdoor)
Canada	54,842 (Source: Glassdoor)
UK	53,064 (Source: Glassdoor)
Netherlands	36,180 (Source: Glassdoor)

*Note: All prices mentioned in the USD are for reference only. Exchange rates may vary from time to time and from country to country.

Top 50 universities in the world for Bioinformatics based on world rankings (Shanghai/QS/THE) :

QS Ranking	Shanghai Ranking	THE Ranking	University	Country	Bachelor’s Programs	Master’s Programs
1	4	5	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	USA	Click Here	Click Here
2	7	1	University of Oxford	UK	Click Here	Click Here
3	2	4	Stanford University	USA	Click Here	Click Here
3	3	5	University of Cambridge	UK	Click Here	Click Here
5	1	2	Harvard University	USA	Click Here	Click Here
6	9	2	California Institute of Technology	USA	Click Here	Click Here
7	25	12	Imperial College London	UK	Click Here	Click Here
8	17	18	University College London	UK	Click Here	Click Here
13	15	13	University of Pennsylvania	USA	Click Here	Click Here
14	11	9	Yale University	USA	Click Here	Click Here
21	12	22	Cornell University	USA	Click Here	Click Here
23	26	24	University of Michigan – Ann Arbor	USA	Click Here	Click Here
23	24	35	University of Tokyo	Japan	Click Here	Click Here
25	16	13	Johns Hopkins University	USA	Click Here	Click Here
26	22	18	University of Toronto	Canada	Click Here	Click Here
27	35	50	University of Manchester	UK	Click Here	Click Here
32	5	8	University of California – Berkeley	USA	Click Here	Click Here
33	37	61	Kyoto University	Japan	Click Here	Click Here
35	47	35	King’s College London	UK	Click Here	Click Here
37	33	33	The University of Melbourne	Australia	Click Here	Click Here
40	14	20	University of California – Los Angeles	USA	Click Here	Click Here
46	42	37	University of British Columbia	Canada	Click Here	Click Here
47	51	54	The University of Queensland	Australia	Click Here	Click Here
48	18	34	University of California-San Diego	USA	Click Here	Click Here
50	52	38	Technical University of Munich	Germany	Click Here	Click Here
52	32	23	Duke University	USA	Click Here	Click Here
63	57	42	Heidelberg University	Germany	Click Here	Click Here
70	54	75	University of Zurich	Switzerland	Click Here	Click Here
70	87	42	Catholic University of Leuven	Belgium	Click Here	Click Here
73	151-200	86	University of Glasgow	UK	Click Here	Click Here
75	31	58	University of Wisconsin – Madison	USA	Click Here	Click Here
79	30	96	University of Copenhagen	Denmark	Click Here	Click Here
85	19	29	University of Washington – Seattle	USA	Click Here	Click Here
93	96	132	The University of Western Australia	Australia	Click Here	Click Here
96	101-150	119	Pennsylvania State University	USA	Click Here	Click Here
99	151-200	185	Technical University of Denmark	Denmark	Click Here	Click Here
100	29	52	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	USA	Click Here	Click Here
107	23	51	Washington University in St Louis	USA	Click Here	Click Here
110	50	69	Utrecht University	Netherlands	Click Here	Click Here
120	101-150	85	Ohio State University	USA	Click Here	Click Here
126	101-150	125	University of Alberta	Canada	Click Here	Click Here
163	101-150	140	University of Pittsburgh	USA	Click Here	Click Here
168	151-200	193	University of Barcelona	Spain	Click Here	Click Here
206	301-400	301-350	RMIT University	Australia	Click Here	Click Here
230	201-300	162	University of Ottawa	Canada	Click Here	Click Here
235	151-200	201-250	University of Calgary	Canada	Click Here	Click Here
289	301-400	201-250	Simon Fraser University	Canada	Click Here	Click Here
334	301-400	301-350	University of Victoria	Canada	Click Here	Click Here
NA	42	39	Karolinska Institute	Sweden	Click Here	Click Here
NA	92	NA	Weizmann Institute of Science	Israel	Click Here	Click Here

Top universities in the USA for Bioinformatics

Without a question, the USA is one of the best countries in the world to study, with excellent educational opportunities, a diverse cultural environment, and numerous job prospects. Bioinformatics is one of the hot professions in the USA, known for its many job opportunities and high income. Also, the USA has the highest number of colleges offering courses in bioinformatics such as master’s and bachelor’s courses in bioinformatics. The top universities offer master’s courses in bioinformatics to candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds in bioscience, life science, or related areas in biology.

QS Ranking	Shanghai Ranking	THE Ranking	University	Country	Bachelor’s Programs	Master’s Programs
1	4	5	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	USA	Click Here	Click Here
3	2	4	Stanford University	USA	Click Here	Click Here
5	1	2	Harvard University	USA	Click Here	Click Here
6	9	2	California Institute of Technology	USA	Click Here	Click Here
13	15	13	University of Pennsylvania	USA	Click Here	Click Here

Top universities in the UK for Bioinformatics

The UK has an excellent higher-education system with hundreds of world-class universities in bioinformatics for international students. Therefore, studying in the UK is the next best option. The UK provides a diverse range of bioinformatics master’s and bachelor’s degree programs in bioinformatics. The fees for these courses, especially the master’s courses in bioinformatics, are also lower than those of the USA universities. The following is a list of top UK universities for bioinformatics.

QS Ranking	Shanghai Ranking	THE Ranking	University	Country	Bachelor’s Programs	Master’s Programs
2	7	1	University of Oxford	UK	Click Here	Click Here
3	3	5	University of Cambridge	UK	Click Here	Click Here
7	25	12	Imperial College London	UK	Click Here	Click Here
8	17	18	University College London	UK	Click Here	Click Here
27	35	50	University of Manchester	UK	Click Here	Click Here

Top universities in Canada for Bioinformatics

Because of its high quality of life, economic independence, and educational opportunities, studying in Canada is an excellent choice for international students. The scope of novel courses like bioinformatics is also high in Canada. Postgraduate degrees in bioinformatics are in high demand because they pay well. The following is a list of some of Canada’s top bioinformatics universities, as ranked by top-ranking agencies with both master’s and bachelor’s degrees in bioinformatics.

QS Ranking	Shanghai Ranking	THE Ranking	University	Country	Bachelor’s Programs	Master’s Programs
26	22	18	University of Toronto	Canada	Click Here	Click Here
46	42	37	University of British Columbia	Canada	Click Here	Click Here
126	101-150	125	University of Alberta	Canada	Click Here	Click Here
230	201-300	162	University of Ottawa	Canada	Click Here	Click Here
235	151-200	201-250	University of Calgary	Canada	Click Here	Click Here

Top universities in Australia for Bioinformatics

In addition to a beautiful, sunny climate, students can obtain true global exposure and broaden their horizons by studying in Australia. Australian universities are known for providing high-quality education both domestically and globally. Despite the fact that the number of universities offering degrees in bioinformatics in Australia is low, these universities provide a wide range of undergraduate and graduate bioinformatics courses. The table below offers a list of the best bioinformatics universities in Australia, offering master’s and bachelor’s degrees in bioinformatics.

QS Ranking	Shanghai Ranking	THE Ranking	University	Country	Bachelor’s Programs	Master’s Programs
37	33	33	The University of Melbourne	Australia	Click Here	Click Here
47	51	54	The University of Queensland	Australia	Click Here	Click Here
93	96	132	The University of Western Australia	Australia	Click Here	Click Here
206	301-400	301-350	RMIT University	Australia	Click Here	Click Here

Academic requirements for studying Bioinformatics

A solid background in both biology and computer science is extremely beneficial while pursuing a bioinformatics degree. In order to get into bioinformatics, students usually take one of two paths:

After earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science and programming, pursue specializations in life science and biology
Study bioscience, life science, or related areas in biology before pursuing specializations in computational fields to learn about data analysis, statistics, and programming

Here are some of the most prevalent academic requirements suggested by many top universities throughout the world that offer bioinformatics degrees.

Bachelor’s level

A high school diploma with a GPA of 3.0 or greater (on a scale of 4.0)
Academic transcripts
SATs or ACTs score
Personal statement
Letter of recommendation (optional for some universities)
A valid passport
English proficiency test scores such as TOEFL (generally above 90) or IELTS (generally above 6.0)

Master’s level

A bachelor’s degree in bioinformatics or relevant fields from an accredited institute with a GPA of 3.0 or greater (on a scale of 4.0)
Academic transcripts
Personal statement
Letters of recommendation
A valid passport
GRE score
English proficiency test scores such as TOEFL (generally above 90) or IELTS (generally above 6.0)