The Postgraduate Diploma in Science (PGDipSci) is an opportunity for Bachelor of Science graduates to advance their qualifications. Programme structure The PGDipSci programme involves one year of full-time study, or up to four years of part-time study, after you have completed the requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree. 120 points in your specialist subject listed in the Postgraduate Diploma in Science schedule A project or dissertation of up to 45 points may be included Bioinformatics Bioinformatics involves the development and application of computational methods in biology, biotechnology and medicine, taking advantage of rapidly expanding databases including those related to biodiversity, genomics, proteomics and structural biology. The programme draws mainly on existing courses in biology, mathematics and computer science. The rationale to develop a comprehensive degree programme in bioinformatics stems from a rapidly changing philosophy of how modern biological and biomedical research is conducted. The global availability of genome sequence information for human, animal, plant and micro-organism systems has led to the development of these new technologies. Scientists require the combined skills of molecular biology and computer science to exploit these data for the various applications. As these disciplines have traditionally been taught separately, there is now a severe world-wide shortage of people with these combined skills, and demand is expected to grow strongly throughout the next several decades as the new technologies are further developed. Career opportunities Bioinformaticists find employment in public institutions and in the private sector.