Biology: Modelling Biological Systems

This course is offered to MSc students at the Department of Biology. It provides hands-on experience with the theoretical foundations of model design, analysis, and interpretation. It encompasses modeling in ecology, evolutionary biology, and related disciplines. Beginning with the fundamentals of modeling philosophy and theory, the course progresses to dynamic ecological systems modeling, stochastic modeling, and techniques for model fitting and parameter estimation. Additional topics include genetic algorithms and artificial neural networks. Basic algebra and R programming is used throughout the course.

The skills learned in this course are essential for a practicing scientist, including master students and PhD candidates. However, quantitative modelling skills can be equally important for other careers, including data analysis, risk analysis process optimization, etc.

The course spans seven weeks in the autumn (November/December), with 2-3 full-day sessions each week. Each day begins with a recap of the previous topic, followed by a lecture on new theories and methods. Students then engage in practical modeling exercises using basic mathematics and R programming. The course concludes with a take-home exam in January that emphasizes designing, analyzing, and interpreting models relevant to various biological system. The course can be combined with BIOS15 Processing and Analysis of Biological Data, which is also given part-time.

Prerequisites

A degree of at least 180 credits and at least 15 credits advanced level courses in biology, molecular biology or bioinformatics. 7.5 credits in statistics or programming is required. English 6 /English B.

Selection criteria

Seats are allocated according to: ECTS (HPAV): 100 %.

Tuition fees for non-EU/EEA citizens

Citizens of countries outside:

• The European Union (EU)
• The European Economic Area (EEA) and
• Switzerland

are required to pay tuition fees. You pay an instalment of the tuition fee in advance of each
semester.

Tuition fees, payments and exemptions

Full programme/course tuition fee: SEK 23,125
First payment: SEK 23,125

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Note that you may also need to pay an application fee, or provide proof of exemption.

Application fee

No tuition fees for citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland

There are no tuition fees for citizens of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland.