Unit information: Genome Evolution in 2021/22

Unit name	Genome Evolution
Unit code	BIOLM0033
Credit points	10
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Professor. Pisani
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	Scientific programming, Statistics and R.
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Biological Sciences
Faculty	Faculty of Life Sciences

Description including Unit Aims

This unit will introduce students to the theoretical and practical aspects of the study of genome evolution. These include the design of analyses and use of tools such as phylogenetic trees and networks to identify pattern of genomic change (e.g. identification of gene duplications and of horizontally transferred genes) across the tree of life. The students will have the opportunity to plan, develop and implement their own evolutionary analyses to answer a wide variety of biological questions.

The aim of this unit will be to:

1. Provide students with a detailed understanding of the concepts behind designing and performing evolutionary analyses.
2. Provide students with the skills required to use and interact with the pieces of software required to perform such analyses (methods to reconstruct and compare phylogenetic trees and individual gene sequences to identify similarities and differences of functional and evolutionary relevance).

Intended Learning Outcomes

The Learning Outcomes (LOs) for this unit are:

A: Knowledge and Understanding:

1. to understand the theoretical aspects and rationale behind genome evolution.
2. to develop knowledge on the different data types and levels of analyses that can be performed to understand different processes of genomic change.
3. to acquire the concepts behind the use of different software to analyse evolutionary datasets.

B: Intellectual Skills/Attributes:

1. to devise optimal experimental design to test hypotheses of genome evolution.
2. to design and implement pipelines and critically assess their suitability to different analysis types.
3. to plan the best use of different computational methods to attack different evolutionary problems.

C: Other Skills /Attributes (Practical/Professional/Transferable):

1. to acquire proficiency performing analyses of evolutionary data.
2. to demonstrate competence with different software to perform evolutionary analyses.
3. To gain strengths in integrating different pieces of software to produce holistic analyses of evolutionary data.

Teaching Information

The unit will be delivered through a mixture of short lectures followed by individual exercises with computers. Blackboard will be used to engage students with the unit content.

Assessment Information

A summative computer assessment will consist of a final computer task and an essay integrating all the learning objectives.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. BIOLM0033).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.