M.SC. BIOSTATISTICS PROGRAMME (2015-17)

The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda

Dean, Faculty of Science

Prof. A.C.Sharma

Head, Department of Statistics

Prof. K. Muralidharan

Program Director Prof. A.C.Sharma

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN BIOSTATISTICS THE UNIVERSITY The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, formerly known as the Baroda College, was founded by Late His Highness Shrimant Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad of Baroda in the Year 1881. The efforts of establishing University at Baroda were also initiated by him in 1908. Although Shrimant Sayajirao Gaekwad conceived a residential University at Baroda, it became a reality only during the rule of Late His Highness Shrimant Pratpsinhrao Gaekwad. The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda came into existence on 29th April 1949. FACULTY OF SCIENCE With the formation of the University, The Silver Jubilee Science Institute, a part of the Baroda College, was reconstituted as the Faculty of Science. Foundation stone of the Silver Jubilee Science Institute was laid by Sir Issac Rufus, the then Viceroy and Governor General of India, in the year 1926 and the construction was completed in 1933. Since 1949 the Faculty offers courses leading to B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D degrees in Botany, Chemistry, Geography, Geology, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics and Zoology. The Faculty added thereafter two more Departments: Departments of Biochemistry and Microbiology, both of which provides postgraduate courses to students. From the year 2000, Faculty started offering self financed programmes at both UG and PG level. The Faculty has made significant strides in various disciplines of science that attracts students from all over India and other countries and it is a cosmopolitan center of education.

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS

The Department of Statistics was established in 1951. In the past 60 years more than 15,000 graduate and post graduate students completed their higher education from the department and several of them became successful statistics professionals in their career. The Department attracted students and staff from various parts of the country and some of them contributed extensively to the development of the Department as well as the discipline of Statistics. Some notable names are Prof.N.M.Bhatt, Prof. (Mrs.) I.V. Bhanot, Prof.S.W.Dharmadhikari, Prof. C. G. Khatri, Prof.A.G.Phatak & Prof.M.Sreehari. Over the years the Department introduced several job oriented courses in its academic programmes and modernized the course contents from time to time. The Department also houses Population research centre and Statistical service unit. THE M.SC. IN BIOSTATISTICS PROGRAMME

Applications of statistical tools and techniques are essential at every stage of research in almost all domains including life sciences like pharma industry, biotechnology, microbiology, genetics, environment science, medicine, agriculture and so on. The impressive growth and specialization achieved by India in all these fields has brought the country at a commanding position. In order to sustain this commanding position and to capture a larger pie of global opportunities, the Industry needs an adequate supply of skilled workforce. The M. Sc Biostatistics programme is one of the very few programmes in the country that addresses this growing need of skilled biostatistics professionals. This programme offers an optimal mix of courses that will develop the biostatistics professionals with the skill sets required by the industry. HOW TO APPLY Online Application form should be filled in from www.msubaroda.ac.in or http:/ msub.digitaluniversity.ac. and necessary fees to be paid either online or through DD of Rs. 750/- in the name of The Registrar, M.S. University of Baroda, Baroda. Student must bring the printout of the online receipt of the Application form when they come for the written test. It will act as the admit card of the

candidate. They must also bring a valid Identity proof from a competent authority. Forms are available from: May 1, 2015 To July 02, 2015.

ELIGIBILITY A Candidate fulfilling all the following conditions will only be considered eligible for admission to M.Sc. in Biostatistics. I) A candidate must have successfully completed a bachelors degree in any

discipline of Science, Engineering or Pharmacy with minimum 40 % marks, from an institution of higher education recognized by UGC or an equivalent regulatory authority .

ii) A candidate who has passed the qualifying examination from other

University will have to produce provisional eligibility certificate from The M.S. University of Baroda along with the application for admission in the first semester. (Note: This certificate is to be obtained by applying to the Registrar, The M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara-390002 (Academic Section, Room No.310, 2nd Floor, University office Building)

iii) A candidate who has appeared for any of the above mentioned qualifying

examinations can also apply. However, the candidate must have satisfied conditions (i) & (ii) stated above at the time of admission.

ADMISSION PROCEDURE I) Candidates desirous to take admission will have to submit the duly filled Online application form on or before July 02, 2015. ii) Entrance test will be conducted by the Faculty to decide the admissions to

the programme on merit basis. Entrance test will consist of (a) Written test (MCQs) (b) Personal interview iii) The final merit list will be prepared by considering weights as shown below: o Aggregate percentage obtained in 20% Final Year of qualifying exam o Written test 50% o Personal interview 30%

iv) Admissions will be based purely on the final merit of the candidate. v) Admission will be confirmed only by paying the necessary fees.

MAXIMUM INTAKE Total number of seats: 30. Reservation Policy of the Gov. of Gujarat will be followed. If any of the seats from the reservation category remains vacant, then such a seat will be made available to the candidates from the open category. THE TEACHING PROGRAMME a) The programme is offered in credit system. Total credits required for the M.Sc. degree is 97. b) The duration of the programme is 4 Semesters. c) In each of the first three semesters a candidate will have to take courses so

as to earn 23 credits. In the fourth semester a candidate will have to take courses so as to earn 28 credits.

d) In the final semester a student will be required to take up a project work by associating himself/ herself with some organization, wherein he/she will undergo a practical training and prepare a detailed report of the project work. The project will have to be approved by the project committee.

CREDIT SYSTEM One hour of classroom teaching or two hours of Laboratory teaching/ field work/dissertation work per week for a semester of 15 weeks duration is considered 1 course credit. In this system, every course has fixed credits assigned to it. A student becomes eligible for the degree only when he/she has earned the minimum credits prescribed for the degree. OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAMME The courses in the first semester aim to bridge the gap between the conceptual levels of students coming from different disciplines. The courses in the second semester will make their foundations stronger. The courses in the third and fourth semester will give them specialized knowledge, which is applicable in real field.

The major highlights being the training of SAS software followed by substantial laboratory work.

SYLLABI (SEMESTER WISE & CREDITS BASED)

SEMESTER-I

COURSE TITLE CREDITS

STA2113 OR

STA2114

Mathematical Foundations OR Foundations of Biology

4

STA2115 OR

STA2116

Statistical Exploration of Biological data OR Foundations of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

4

STA2117 Probability Theory and its applications in Biology 4

STA2118 Sampling techniques and Health Surveys 4

STA2119 Data Analysis using SAS (Laboratory Course) 2

STA2120 Statistics-I (Laboratory Course) 3

STA2121 Seminar 1

STA2122 Viva 1

TOTAL CREDITS: 23

SEMESTER-II

COURSE TITLE CREDITS

STA2212 Statistical Inference 4

STA2213 Regression Analysis and Design of Experiments 4

STA2220 Epidemiology 4

STA2215 SAS Programming-1 4

STA2216 SAS Programming-2 (Laboratory Course) 2

STA2217 Statistics-II (Laboratory Course) 3

STA2218 Seminar 1

STA2219 Viva 1

TOTAL CREDITS: 23

SEMESTER-III

COURSE TITLE CREDITS

STA2325 Survival Analysis 4

STA2326 Introduction to Statistical Genetics 4

STA2309 Database theory and Management of Biological data 4

STA2310 Randomized Clinical Trials & clinical biostatistics 4

STA2311 Data Management (Laboratory Course) 2

STA2312 Statistics-III (Laboratory Course) 3

STA2313 Seminar 1

STA2314 Viva 1

TOTAL CREDITS: 23

SEMESTER-IV

COURSE TITLE CREDITS

STA2407 Bioinformatics and computational biology 4

STA2408 Statistical pattern recognition and its applications to Biological sequences

4

STA2409 Biodiversity and Statistical Ecology 4

STA2410 Statistics-IV (Laboratory Course) 2

STA2411 Project 8

STA2412 Seminar 1

STA2413 Viva 1

Elective* 4

TOTAL CREDITS: 28

* Student can choose any one of the following courses as elective course.

STA2415 Introduction to SPSS: Data Analysis 4

STA2416 Demography 4

STA2417 Drug discovery & development 4

EVALUATION SCHEME A) Theory: There will be mid-semester and end-semester examination. 1) End semester examination will have 70% weightage. 2) Mid - semester examination will have 30% weightage. 3) The duration of examination of a theory course will be three hours.

4) The syllabus of each theory course will have units. The question paper will cover all the units and will offer choice within the units.

5) Examination paper will contain 40% objective questions and 60%

subjective questions. B) Practical: Totally internal with continuous evaluation. C) Seminar: Besides preparation, participation in seminar will also be

considered while evaluating the students. D) Project work: The evaluation will be done for project report, project

presentation & viva voce. E) Viva - voce: A viva-voce will be conducted at the end of each semester.

GRADE POINT SYSTEM A grade point system comprising of 7 points (4 to 10) will be followed for evaluating a candidate in every course. A student will be given grades both during mid-semester exams and during end-semester exams. In order to arrive at a grade point following mechanism may be used.

GRADE POINTS

Semester Grade point Average (SGPA) = Total Credits

Here the sum is taken over semester I tosemester IV.

A student can continue to remain as a student for additional 3 years apart from the 2 years of the programme.

∑(credit x Grade Point)

AWARD OF CLASSMarks sheet of semester I to III will not indicate a class. It will simply indicate a result as

either Pass or Dropped or ATKT.

At the end of semester IV , Cumulative grade point average (CGPA) is computed asCGPA = Total credits

∑ (Semester credits x SGPA)

CGPA Class

CGPA< 5

5= CGPA< 6

6= CGPA< 7

7= CGPA< 8

Fail

Pass Class

2nd Class

1st Class

DistinctionCGPA>_ 8

__

Grade Points

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

Descrip tion

Outstanding

Excellent

Very Good

Good

Fair

Average

Dropped

Division/ Grade

First / O

First / A

First / B

First / C

Second/ D

Pass/ E

F

Percentage of Marks

90% - 99%

80% - 89%

70% - 79%

60% - 69%

50% - 59%

40% - 49%

Below 40%

AWARD: Cadidate who has passed M.Sc. in Biostatistics, obtained 1st class with Distinction and passed in 1st attempt obtaining first rank in his / her class will be awarded “Smt.Padmavati Arvind Kalamkar Memorial Gold Medal”.

FACILITIES: THE FACULTY The experienced teachers from the University and professionals from the industry will be involved in teaching the courses, thus providing the academic excellence with professional expertise to the students. In addition, the reputed personalities from all over the country will be invited to deliver lectures from time to time. COMPUTER LABORATORY Well-equipped computer laboratory is available to the students of the M.Sc. Biostatistics. All the computers in the laboratory have high configuration and are connected to a LAN, which provides a networking environment to the students. Qualified instructors give the practical training. The laboratory contains all necessary software and audio-visual teaching aids to impart the training more effectively. The Internet facility is also available to the students at no extra cost so that they can have an access to the unlimited wealth of information on the net. LIBRARY: SHRI B.C.MEHTA DEPARTMENTAL LIBRARY The Department established Shri B. C. Mehta Library in early 70's for the benefit of staff and students and it has collection of more than 800 books and various journals covering all major areas of Statistics & Biostatistics. Reading room is available for staff and students. SMT. HANSA MEHTA LIBRARY The students have an access to the University library, which is one of the biggest libraries in the country. The library contains a large number of books and journals and excellent reading room facility. The library also subscribes a large number of periodicals on various subjects.

FEE STRUCTURE Tuition Fee Rs 35000=00. per Semester (likely to be

revised by university)

Examination Fee As per university norms

In addition to the above fees, all students will be required to pay other regular University fees in the beginning of each academic year as per University rules.

Full amount of fees of every year (Two semesters) must be paid in cash . Fees for the first and second semester must be paid at the time of admission.

[N. B. : The admission policy and fee structure are subject to revision as per the guidelines of The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda as and when applicable]

NATURE OF WRITTEN TEST The question paper of the written test will be divided into three sections. Duration of the written test: 90 minutes SECTION - A (COMPULSORY) Section A will have 25 multiple choice questions requiring general awareness of the subjects Statistics, Mathematics, Biology & computer Science. This section is compulsory to all the candidates. A correct answer carries 2 marks, a wrong answer carries minus one (-1) mark and a blank entry carries zero marks. SECTION – B (MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES) Section B will have 25 multiple choice questions of Bachelor's level requiring thinking and analysis. There will be questions from Statistics & Mathematics. The marking scheme is same as section A. SECTION – C (BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES) Section C will have 25 multiple choice questions of Bachelor's level requiring thinking and analysis. There will be questions from Botany, Zoology, Molecular Biology, Genetics etc. The marking scheme is same as section A.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Section A is compulsory for all the candidates. However the candidate can attempt either section B or section C depending upon their discipline. Candidate will not be allowed in Examination hall without admit card.

Candidate should report in the examination hall 30 minutes before the commencement of the written test.

Duration of the Written test : 90 minutes Marks : 100 Date of written test : Wednesday, 8th July, 2015 Time : 1:00p.m. to 2.30 p.m. PERSONAL INTERVIEW Shortlisted candidates will be called for personal interview. The questions in the interview will be both technical and nontechnical in nature. Date of Personal Interview : Wednesday, 8th July, 2015 (4.00 p.m. onwards)

Declaration of Admission List : Friday, 10th July, 2015. Contact Address : Prof. K. Muralidharan

Head, Department of Statistics, Faculty of Science,

The M. S. University of Baroda, Lokmanya Tilak Road, Vadodara 390 002. M:9427054075

Phone: 0265-2795329 EXT: 351, 353, 0265-2794269, fax: 0265-2795569

E-mail: muralikustat@gmail.com

mscbiostatisticsmsu@gmail.com

GENERAL RULES GOVERNING THE CONDUCT OF STUDENTS IN THE UNIVERSITY 1. A student must do nothing either inside or outside the University that will

interfere with its orderly working and discipline. This comprehensive rule cover most cases that are likely to arise. If forbids, for instance:

(a) Impolite or unseemly behaviour in class-room or University premises during

working hours of the College and the Faculty (b) Attempt to persuade other students to abstain themselves from regular

classes. (c) Damage to or defacement of University furniture, fittings and property. (d) Disobedience of notifications or instructions issued by the Principals /Deans

/ Heads of the Department and Members of the staff dully authorized. 2. No Society in any Faculty of College may be formed and no person may be

invited to address any existing society or meeting without the previous permission of the Head of the Institution concerned.

3. As per UGC regulation, 75% attendance is required for permitting students

to appear for final examination. If unavoidably absent on account of health, urgent private affairs or other reasons, they must be prepared to state the exact reason for absence.

4. Students are expected to behave with courtesy towards the members of

the staff, their fellow students and all visitors to the Institution.

IMPORTANT DATES Forms are available from : May 1, 2015 to July 02, 2015. Last Date for Submission of Complete form : July 02, 2015 Entrance Test : July 08, 2015 Time : 1.00 pm Personal Interview : Wednesday, 8th July, 2015 (4.00 p.m. onwards)

Venue : Department of Statistics, Faculty of Science The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda

Vadodara 390002

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