the Academic Program
The Stanford-South Africa Biomedical Informatics (SSABMI) training programme consists of three separate activities: short courses, graduate traineeships and the Visiting Scholarship. Participation in the one does not necessarily automatically lead to the other. The student seminar series is a part of the graduate training and participation is required for all predoctoral trainees in the SSABMI program.
Research Focus
We give high priority to projects in biomedical informatics, especially HIV informatics.
Descriptions of Research Projects and Publications
Short Courses
One part of the programme consists of a short course biomedical informatics which will be presented by Stanford faculty at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in Cape Town, South Africa, Dec. 3-6, 2007. The course will cover intermediate level statistics. The course is offered free of charge, but travel and accommodation must be funded by the applicant him/herself. Participation is available to any post-graduate student in SA or Africa, and selection will be done by a joint committee of local South African faculty and Stanford faculty after receipt of a completed Application Form, a full academic CV, and a one-page motivation essay by the interested applicant.
Further details about the short course.
MSc / PhD TRAINEESHIPS
The existing bioinformatics graduate programme at UWC now incorporates a biomedical informatics track. Applications are invited from students with a good Honours degree in the life sciences who wish to undertake postgraduate research (MSc or PhD) in biomedical informatics. These students, who will be required to register at UWC for the duration of their studies, will receive bursary support through the programme, and will be in a position to benefit from all of the short courses. Selection is also done after receipt of a completed Application Form, a full academic CV, and a detailed motivation essay. Students accepted to this track will be screened and consistently guided and evaluated by a combined Stanford-South Africa selection committee. They may have the opportunity to participate in the Visiting Scholarship programme to carry out research in the Stanford area afterwards.
VISITING SCHOLARSHIPS
The third part of the programme is referred to as the "visiting scholar" programme. Funds for travel to the Stanford area around San Francisco in the USA for research collaborations are available to South African postgraduate students, preferably at PhD, post-doc or junior lecturer level. These stays may be from 3 to 12 months, and include travel and stipend. Applicants will be screened by a joint South Africa-Stanford faculty panel and decisions will be made based on quality of application and match of research interests to available research projects at Stanford. They must also show or prove their intention to return and stay in Cape Town for a number of years after completion of their studies in order to become teachers in bioinformatics / biomedical informatics, thereby giving other students the benefit of their research.For more details about each of these programs and instructions for application, click on the "Short Courses", "MSc/PhD Traineeships" or "Visiting Scholar" links on the upper left side of the page.
Details of how to apply for these studentships and any other queries concerning the Stanford-South Africa Biomedical Informatics program should be directed to Ms. Patricia Josias , Program Coordinator +27 (0) 21 959 3645. Email: patricia <AT> sanbi.ac.za
Student Seminars
A series of biweekly videoconference presentations alternating between predoctoral trainees at South Africa and Stanford. Please contact Adele Kruger (Univ. of the Western Cape, adele <AT> sanbi.ac.za) if you are interested in participating.
This work supported by the NIH/Fogarty International Center under grant D43 TW00699