FAQs About Biomedical Informatics and our Program
What is a short course?
Short courses are intensive classes on special topics in biomedical informatics. Most of the courses are about 3-5 days in duration. In the past, the SSABMI program has offered short courses in biomedical statistics, databases and datamining, pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics, Introduction to HIV for informatics and the HIV database, and an Introduction to Protege for biomedical ontologies.
Who can apply to the short courses?
We welcome applications from undergraduates, graduates, faculty and staff in South Africa with an interest in integrating biomedical informatics into their research program.
What are the prerequisites?
Prerequisites vary with the individual class but generally applicants should have training in biology with some exposure to basic programming and computer science.
How do I enroll?
If you are a bioinformatics or biomedical informatics post-graduate student at UWC, you are expected to participate in these classes. If you are a bioinformatics post-graduate student at Univ. Cape Town, please contact Cathal Seioghe (cathal@ science.uct.ac.za). If you are a student, faculty or staff of any other educational or research institution in South Africa, please contact Patricia Josias, the Program Coordinator.
How do I apply for the short courses?
SSABMI short course application instructions
Can I get funding for travel, meals and lodging for the short courses?
Regrettably, no, you must find funds elsewhere. However, we do not charge fees for entry into the short courses.
What is the Traineeship?
The traineeship supports students enrolled in the graduate program in bioinformatics at the University of Western Cape. You must first apply and be accepted for post-graduate studies before you will be considered for bursary support by the Stanford-South Africa Biomedical Informatics (SSABMI) Program.
Who should apply?
The SSABMI program supports research in biomedical informatics at the highest level. Candidates interested in biomedical informatics research and teaching in South Africa should apply to this program.
What kind of activities does the Visiting Scholarship support?
The Visiting Scholarship supports travel from South Africa to the Bay Area in California. Visiting Scholars may engage in biomedical informatics research collaborations with appropriate groups from Stanford University, UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco, UC Davis and other institutions in the Bay Area. The scholar may also choose to take classes at Stanford University or other local institutions or work on course development in biomedical informatics.
Who is eligible to apply for the Visiting Scholarship?
Post-graduate students, post-doctoral candidates, faculty and staff from South Africa may apply for the Visiting Scholarship.
How long is the funding period?
The duration of the scholarship is variable. Generally, we expect successful applicants to be supported for 3 months to 1 year.
What are the selection criteria?
A partial list of the evaluation criteria includes scholarly merit, match with research interests of SSABMI participating faculty and potential for future research in biomedical informatics in South Africa.
What are the NIH guidelines for travel to the US?
What are the NIH guidelines for travel from the US?
This work supported by the NIH/Fogarty International Center under grant D43 TW00699