UCL-CS Bioinformatics: Introduction

The Bioinformatics Group is headed by Professor David Jones, and was originally founded as the Joint Research Council funded Bioinformatics Unit within the Department of Computer Science at University College London. The Unit has now been fully integrated into the department and now forms one of 8 Research Groups. The group's main aim is to develop and apply state-of-the-art mathematical and computer science techniques to problems now arising in the life sciences, particularly those now appearing in the post-genomic era. The interdisciplinary research is closely linked with the UCL Centre for Mathematics and Physics in Life Sciences and Experimental Biology (CoMPLEX), and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, though we also maintain and encourage links to other UCL departments. The Group also forms the research core of the Bloomsbury Centre for Bioinformatics, which is a joint Research Centre between UCL and Birkbeck College and which also provides bioinformatics training and support services to biomedical researchers at both universities.

The Group occupies dedicated space within the Department of Computer Science, and makes full use of the available Departmental computing facilities, along with joint access to a 170-CPU Beowulf Cluster housed within the Department. The Group also maintains some dedicated computing facilities of its own to allow maintenance of specialized biological databases and public access to the software and methods developed within the Unit.