Biological Data Science

Hello. I am Prof. Dr. Handan ANKARALI, the founding department chair of the Thesis-based Master's Program in Biological Data Science at Istanbul Medeniyet University's Graduate Education Institute. However, I continue my duties as a faculty member. Our program is an interdisciplinary program that provides education and services in the field of data science to graduate students from various disciplines. The main objective of our program is to teach the necessary methodologies for interpreting, cleaning, and accumulating information and data, especially in conjunction with computer technology, which has been accumulating rapidly with advancing technology, and to provide an infrastructure that can transform this knowledge into technological products, particularly in the fields of biology and health. Due to its interdisciplinary nature, our department currently has seven faculty members from different disciplines. Our courses are also designed in an interdisciplinary manner. We offer various courses in the field of molecular biology and genetics, courses on methodology and principles of biostatistics, and coding, programming, and software courses focused on technology production. Our students frequently ask questions on various topics. Specifically for our department, we can say that it offers additional qualifications to individuals who have graduated and started working in a specific field. Therefore, students who are interested in data and technology choose our department to increase their knowledge and gain additional skills in this field. We provide various opportunities to these students, such as recommending new international courses or seminars and inviting experts in their respective fields to give academic lectures that facilitate their academic development and encourage them to think about new research topics. The physical space available at our university does not pose a major obstacle for our department. The classrooms are sufficient for our educational activities. Online training can be conducted through computer-based platforms. As for laboratory requirements, we have enough computers to meet the needs of our students. Therefore, we do not face any issues in terms of technical capabilities and physical space. Our students can also benefit from the ERASMUS program. Furthermore, data science is a field with its own unique international platforms. There are numerous international courses, post-doctoral trainings, supported projects focusing on data science. If needed, we guide our students towards these opportunities and assist them in their applications. In addition, I would like to highlight some distinctive aspects of our program. Our program, titled "Biological Data Science," is the first and only program of its kind in Turkey. There is currently no other program with the same name. However, I am aware that there are around 15 programs with similar content and objectives. There is no complete standardization in the names of these programs, but the majority are named "Data Science." Others are referred to as "Applied Data Science." So, what does this name imply? It signifies that we are specialized in data science within the field of biology. Since biological data is also generated in the field of health, I would like to emphasize that our products or services will primarily support the needs of the healthcare sector. In this sense, we have the advantage of being the only graduate program with this focus in Turkey. While there may be a few similar programs worldwide, we have not yet come across a licensed program called "Biologic Data is Life." Data Science is one of the new fields of our time. It has gained significant traction, especially in the past 5-10 years. Data science is supported by government policies, the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), and various institutes in the field of health sciences. It is a popular field and has a strong appeal to young individuals. Graduates of the program possess certain skills that are highly valued in the future job market, which is why we emphasize the advantages of our program. We have observed an increasing number of programs similar to ours. In addition to Turkish students, our program also receives applications from international students. The number of international students depends on the quota determined by our university, but recently, around one-fourth to one-fifth of the students have been of foreign nationality. The application requirements for these students are not different from those for Turkish students. They need to meet the same criteria, including the Academic Personnel and Postgraduate Education Entrance Exam (ALES) and the Foreign Language Proficiency Exam (YDS). So far, the international students who have applied to our program are satisfied and successful in their education. The total number of these students is currently 26. Out of the 26 students, 14 are still continuing their education during our 5-year program. Among them, 6 are in the thesis stage, while others are in the course stage. Upon graduation, we provide our students with information about what they can do and the skills they have acquired during their education. Most of our students already have their own areas of work or research, to a significant extent. Some of them are computer engineers, some are medical graduates, some are dentists, and so on, working as molecular biology experts. These individuals, in addition to their respective professions, acquire knowledge in the field of data science. They gain essential skills that focus on data collection, data organization, data analysis, interpretation, and writing code to transform data into technological products when needed. This enables them to have a more successful career in their own field. Furthermore, we provide necessary explanations regarding the employment opportunities for those who will work solely as data scientists. Students choose this program as a requirement of the era. They realize that among the rapidly rising and top-ranked professions of the future, one of them consists of individuals trained in data science. Various professions have emerged, such as data organization specialist, data preprocessing specialist, and coding specialist. We emphasize that graduates from this field can work in these professions if they advance their skills. However, we also see that students already have an awareness and conscious decision to choose this discipline. Otherwise, if this field is not liked, it becomes an unpopular profession. Especially, one important aspect is having an interest in the subject. Since students come with this awareness, we do not encounter serious problems regarding their employment and where they will utilize their knowledge in these areas. We simply enhance their awareness level. We welcome anyone who has a need for technology, an interest in data, possesses talent, and has hypotheses related to these topics to Istanbul Medeniyet University Graduate Education Institute, Biomedical Data Science Thesis-based Master's Program. We wish you all success.