Master's degree in Medical Bioinformatics

The Master’s degree in Medical Bioinformatics prepares graduates for a career at the management and supervisory level in the design, development, maintenance, and management of information systems in medicine, biology, and health systems.

In particular, this program will equip graduates with specific skills in the following areas: complex biomedical software in the field of scientific and technological innovation for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes; complex information systems for the management of clinical and bioinformatics databases; software for processing medical and biological data in clinical decision support systems; health information systems with heterogeneous and complex architectures; visual interfaces for bioinformatics.

The program, which is entirely taught in English, provides a theoretical foundation and the methodological and technological multi- and inter-disciplinary knowledge to address issues related to the design, analysis, and development of intelligent systems in medical informatics and complex bioinformatics.

Tutor: tutors are assigned on request. Students can ask the program director for a tutor.

Quality Assurance

The quality of a degree program is the extent to which it achieves its educational objectives and meets the quality requirements of the educational activities offered, which are determined in line with the needs and expectations of students and representatives of the world of work.

This program has adopted a teaching Quality Assurance system in line with the University’s quality assurance guidelines and based on the e ANVUR national quality assurance guidelines, by carrying out the following activities:

• periodic consultations with representatives of the world of work to assess the adequacy of the cultural and professional profiles offered in their courses;
• design of educational contents and planning of resources;
• organization of educational activities and teaching services;
• monitoring the effectiveness of teaching and planning measures to improve teaching and services;
• provision of complete and up-to-date information on its website, relating to the program (professional roles, expected learning outcomes, learning activities).

The above activities are scheduled and interrelated, based on the PDCA principles (Plan, Do, Check, Act).

In a Quality Assurance system, students play a fundamental role: each student can play their part by participating in the Quality Assurance groups of their degree program and in the Faculty-Student Joint Committees or, more simply, by taking part in the Student Survey on teaching, or questionnaires. It’s in this context that specific workshops for student representatives (‘Laboratori di rappresentanza attiva’) are periodically made available to students by the University and the University’s Quality Assurance Board.

Modules

Assessment Methods

For each module, the training objectives, a program description, textbooks and teaching material required, and the relevant examination methods shall be determined in advance.

Examinations normally take place during specific exam sessions to be held at the end of each module, as established by the responsible lecturer. Interim tests may also be held throughout the program, aimed at testing the student’s understanding of the module contents: by the end of the module, these tests may be taken into account by the professor or lecturer for calculating the final mark.

Assessment methods for this program include written and/or oral exams. For each exam passed students are awarded a fixed number of CFU and a mark on a 30-point scale (minimum mark: 18/30). Students who achieve 30/30 may be awarded ‘cum laude’ honors, to be granted by the unanimous decision of the Graduation Committee. The number of exam rounds made available for each module every academic year is established by the School of Science and Engineering.

Priority Modules

There are no priority modules (‘propedeuticità’ in Italian), i.e. there is no specific order in which modules should be taken.

Elective Modules and Activities (Type D)

12 CFU are awarded upon completion of elective modules and activities (‘Type D’) that students can take, choosing from the range of educational activities at Master’s level provided by the University. With regard to CFU credits awarded upon completion of ‘Type D’ modules/activities chosen by the student:

• if these are Master’s degree modules taught at the University of Verona and included in class LM-18 or LM-32, the study plan is automatically approved;
• otherwise, the student will need to submit to the Computer Science Teaching Committee a list of the educational activities that they wish to attend in order to acquire such credits. In this case, the Computer Science Teaching Committee will check that the included elective modules/activities meet the relevant requirements: the approval of the study plan by the Teaching Committee will be critical to the student’s admission to the final examination (graduation). Please note: basic computer science exams will not be accepted as elective modules/activities.

Additional Training Activities (Type F), Internships, Work Placement, etc.

Upon completion of additional ‘Type F’ activities, students will be awarded 6 CFU credits, of which 3 CFU must be gained by passing language modules either in English (minimum C1 level) or other languages (minimum A2 level). 3 CFU are to be gained at the student’s choice, through internships and/or work placement, or other activities. Internships are aimed at providing students with direct knowledge of those areas that are crucial to enable them to enter the job market, and to acquire advanced professional skills. Such activities may be carried out during lab practicals or seminars under the direct supervision of a lecturer, or in companies recognized by the University of Verona, as well as in public organizations, and public or private research laboratories, including the university labs managed by the area of Science and Engineering. Assessment methods concerning the awarding of CFU credits for internships or work placement, etc. are set out by the relevant university bodies.

Part-time Study

Students who, due to work, family, or health reasons, feel that they can devote only part of their time to study, may study on a part-time basis.

Please note: choosing to study on a part-time basis will not change the normal duration of the degree program for pension purposes. Graduation certificates for part-time students will include both the legal duration of the program – i.e. the standard duration of a degree program – and the agreed duration of the program as a ‘Part-time’ student. Students who choose to study on a part-time basis can benefit from special conditions concerning the duration of their chosen degree program and the amount of the relevant tuition fees. Specifically, they will have the opportunity to earn their degree over a period of time that is twice the normal duration of the program, without being considered ‘fuori corso’ (i.e. attending beyond the normal duration of the programme).