NBIA08011U Statistics for Molecular Biomedicine

Volume 2023/2024
Education

MSc Programme in Biology
MSc Programme in Molecular Biomedicine
MSc Programme in Environmental Science
 

Content

The course is an introduction to statistics aimed for students of medical and biological sciences. An important part of the course is to learn the practical application of statistics using R, which is an open source statistics program. Topics include:

  • Descriptive statistics
  • Distributions
  • Study design
  • Hypothesis testing/ interval estimation
  • Non-parametric methods
  • Analysis of variance
  • Linear regression
  • The statistical program R
Learning Outcome

Knowledge: 

The student will obtain knowledge of

  • Statistics for data of biological and/or medical relevance, in particular
    • Descriptive statistics
    • Distributions
    • Study design
    • Hypothesis testing/interval estimation
    • Non-parametric methods
    • Analysis of variance
    • Linear regression
  • The symbolic language of statistics and the corresponding formalism
  • Interpretation of statistical results for experimental data
  • The R program


Skills:

  • Set up statistical models for data of biological and/or medical relevance – taking as a starting point models based on the binomial and normal distributions.
  • Handle the symbolic language of statistics and the corresponding formalism
  • Perform significance testing, p-value calculation and interpretation for simple experimental data, including compute-intensive techniques such as permutation testing.
  • Report the results of model set up, data analysis, interpretation and assessment.
  • Use R to be able to carry out necessary calculations for the practical statistical analysis of biological data.


Competences:

  • Formulate scientific questions in statistical terms.
  • Interpret and report the conclusions of a practical statistical analysis.
  • Assess and discuss a statistical analysis in a biomedical context.
Literature

See Absalon.

Academic qualifications equivalent to a BSc degree is recommended.
Lectures and interactive exercises in R.
The course will involve interactive R sessions, so students will need to bring a laptop computer to lectures.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Lectures
  • 35
  • Preparation
  • 91
  • Practical exercises
  • 20
  • Exam
  • 60
  • Total
  • 206
Written
Individual
Collective
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Continuous assessment
Type of assessment details
Continuous Assessment based on three assignments. The assignments should be done individually and not in groups.
Weight is 30%, 30% and 40% at the third assignment.
Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
Several internal examiners.
Re-exam

Re-exam will consist of an oral examination (20 min.) with preparation time (20 min.). Notes, books and digital books are allowed during preparation.

Criteria for exam assesment

In order to obtain the grade 12 the student should convincingly and accurately demonstrate the knowledge, skills and competences described under Learning Outcome.