School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Graduate Programs in Biological Sciences
Master of Science in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
36 semester credit hours minimum
Mathematics Faculty
Professors: Juan E. González, Tae Hoon Kim, Kelli Palmer, Lawrence J. Reitzer, Donal Skinner, Stephen Spiro, Li Zhang, Michael Qiwei Zhang
Associate Professors: Joseph Boll, Nicole De Nisco, Nikki Delk, Tian Hong, Faruck Morcos, Duane D. Winkler, Zhenyu Xuan
Assistant Professors: Nicholas Dillon, Xintong Dong, Lin Jia, Purna Joshi, Brandon Kim, Erica Sanchez, Darshan Sapkota, Yuki Shindo, Jon Sin
Professors Emeriti: Hans Bremer, Lee A. Bulla, Rockford Draper, Donald M. Gray
Associate Professors Emeriti: Gail A. M. Breen, Dennis L. Miller
Clinical Professor: David Murchison, Eberhard Voit
Professors of Instruction: Mehmet Candas, Elizabeth Pickett, Uma Srikanth
Associate Professors of Instruction: Meenakshi Maitra, Jing Pan, Eva Sadat, Subha Sarcar, Michelle Wilson, Zhuoru Wu, Wen-Ho Yu
Assistant Professors of Instruction: Stephanie Boyd, Andy Cheshire, Anne Davenport, Matthew Esparza, Amy Jo Gomez, Yi Huang, Li Liu, Simbarashe Mazambani, Iti Mehta, Ritu Mishra, Ramesh Padmanabhan, Narges Salamat
Research Associate Professor: Ru-Hung Wang
Lecturer: Kathleen McRoy
Mathematics Faculty With Research Interests in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology: Swati Biswas, Yan Cao, and Min Chen
Biology Faculty
Professors: Juan E. González, Tae Hoon Kim, Kelli Palmer, Lawrence J. Reitzer, Donal Skinner, Stephen Spiro, Li Zhang, Michael Qiwei Zhang
Associate Professors: Joseph Boll, Nicole De Nisco, Nikki Delk, Tian Hong, Faruck Morcos, Duane D. Winkler, Zhenyu Xuan
Assistant Professors: Nicholas Dillon, Xintong Dong, Lin Jia, Purna Joshi, Brandon Kim, Erica Sanchez, Darshan Sapkota, Yuki Shindo, Jon Sin
Professors Emeriti: Hans Bremer, Lee A. Bulla, Rockford Draper, Donald M. Gray
Associate Professors Emeriti: Gail A. M. Breen, Dennis L. Miller
Clinical Professor: David Murchison, Eberhard Voit
Professors of Instruction: Mehmet Candas, Elizabeth Pickett, Uma Srikanth
Associate Professors of Instruction: Meenakshi Maitra, Jing Pan, Eva Sadat, Subha Sarcar, Michelle Wilson, Zhuoru Wu, Wen-Ho Yu
Assistant Professors of Instruction: Stephanie Boyd, Andy Cheshire, Anne Davenport, Matthew Esparza, Amy Jo Gomez, Yi Huang, Li Liu, Simbarashe Mazambani, Iti Mehta, Ritu Mishra, Ramesh Padmanabhan, Narges Salamat
Research Associate Professor: Ru-Hung Wang
Lecturer: Kathleen McRoy
Biological Sciences Faculty With Research Interests in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology: Faruck Morcos, Zhenyu Xuan, Hyuntae Yoo, and Michael Q. Zhang
Program Objective
The Master of Science program in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology is an interdisciplinary program offered jointly by the Departments of Mathematical Sciences and Biological Sciences, with the former serving as the administrative unit. By combining coursework from the disciplines of Biology, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Statistics, it caters to the growing demand of a new breed of scientists who have expertise in all these disciplines. In addition to coursework, the program also provides opportunities to gain practical experience by getting involved in research with faculty members.
A successful applicant to the program is expected to have a Bachelor's degree in Biology, Mathematics, Statistics, or in another science/engineering discipline, and must have completed at least one semester of Calculus. Additional coursework in one or more of the disciplines of Biology, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Statistics is desirable but is not required.
Admission Requirements
In addition to the University's general admission requirements, applicants are required to submit the following materials as part of their application file for holistic admission consideration:
- Three letters of recommendation.
- A statement of purpose/essay.
Deadline: For first-round consideration for assistantships and scholarships, the application must be complete by December 15 for the upcoming Fall term and August 31 for the upcoming Spring term. Applications may be accepted for later rounds also, see Graduate Admissions for additional deadlines.
Degree Requirements
The University's general degree requirements are discussed on the Graduate Policies and Procedures page.
The MS program in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology requires completion of at least 36 semester credit hours. The program offers a choice between two tracks. Track 1 is designed for students with a general background in science/engineering, whereas Track 2 is designed for students with a strong background in biology. To build further expertise, both tracks offer a choice of three elective groups, namely, Computer Science oriented, Statistics oriented, and Biology oriented elective groups. Both also offer opportunities for research. Students are expected to choose a track and an elective group based on their backgrounds and interests in consultation with the Graduate Advisor for the program.
Track 1 (MS)
I. Core: 15 semester credit hours
BMEN 6374 Genes, Proteins and Cell Biology for Engineers
BIOL 5385 Computational Molecular Evolution
CS 5303 Computer Science I
MATH 5303 Advanced Calculus and Linear Algebra
STAT 5351 Probability and Statistics I (for Elective Group 2)
or STAT 5353 Probability and Statistics for Data Science and Bioinformatics (for Elective Groups 1 and 3)
II. Elective Groups (Choose one elective group)
Elective Group 1 (Computer Science Oriented): 15 semester credit hours
CS 5343 Algorithm Analysis and Data Structures1
MATH 6312 Combinatorics and Graph Theory
MATH 6341 Bioinformatics
or BIOL 5376 Applied Bioinformatics
MATH 6346 Medical Image Analysis
AND one of the following:
CS 6307 Introduction to Big Data Management and Analytics for non CS-Majors
CS 6314 Web Programming Languages
CS 6360 Database Design
CS 6375 Machine Learning
Elective Group 2 (Statistics Oriented): 18 semester credit hours
STAT 5352 Probability and Statistics II
STAT 6337 Advanced Statistical Methods I
STAT 6338 Advanced Statistical Methods II
STAT 6340 Statistical and Machine Learning
MATH 6341 Bioinformatics
or BIOL 5376 Applied Bioinformatics
MATH 6346 Medical Image Analysis
Elective Group 3 (Biology oriented): 15 semester credit hours
MATH 6341 Bioinformatics
or BIOL 5376 Applied Bioinformatics
MATH 6345 Mathematical Methods in Medicine and Biology
MATH 6346 Medical Image Analysis
AND two of the following:
BIOL 5375 Genes to Genomes
BIOL 5381 Genomics
BIOL 6315 Epigenetics
BIOL 6373 Proteomics
BIOL 6385 Computational Biology
or BMEN 6389 Computational Biology
or MATH 6343 Computational Biology
III. Research or Elective(s) or a Combination Thereof
- Elective Group 1: 6 semester credit hours
- Elective Group 2: 3 semester credit hours
- Elective Group 3: 6 semester credit hours
Track 2 (MS)
I. Core: 14 semester credit hours
BIOL 5410 Biochemistry
BIOL 5420 Molecular Biology
STAT 5351 Probability and Statistics I (for Elective Group 2)
or STAT 5353 Probability and Statistics for Data Science and Bioinformatics (for Elective Groups 1 and 3)
MATH 5303 Advanced Calculus and Linear Algebra
II. Elective Groups (Choose one elective group)
Elective Group 1 (Computer Science oriented): 18 semester credit hours
CS 5303 Computer Science I
CS 5343 Algorithm Analysis and Data Structures1
MATH 6312 Combinatorics and Graph Theory
MATH 6341 Bioinformatics
or BIOL 5376 Applied Bioinformatics
MATH 6346 Medical Image Analysis
AND one of the following:
CS 6307 Introduction to Big Data Management and Analytics for non CS-Majors
CS 6314 Web Programming Languages
CS 6360 Database Design
CS 6375 Machine Learning
Elective Group 2 (Statistics oriented): 18 semester credit hours
STAT 5352 Probability and Statistics II
STAT 6337 Advanced Statistical Methods I
STAT 6338 Advanced Statistical Methods II
STAT 6340 Statistical and Machine Learning
MATH 6341 Bioinformatics
or BIOL 5376 Applied Bioinformatics
MATH 6346 Medical Image Analysis
Elective Group 3 (Biology oriented): At least 18 semester credit hours
MATH 6341 Bioinformatics
or BIOL 5376 Applied Bioinformatics
MATH 6346 Medical Image Analysis
MATH 6345 Mathematical Methods in Medicine and Biology
3 semester credit hour Elective Course
AND two of the following:
BIOL 5375 Genes to Genomes
BIOL 5381 Genomics
BIOL 6315 Epigenetics
BIOL 6373 Proteomics
BIOL 6385 Computational Biology
or BMEN 6389 Computational Biology
or MATH 6343 Computational Biology
BIOL 5385 Computational Molecular Evolution
BIOL 5312 Programming in the Biological Sciences for Graduate Students
III. Research or Elective(s) or a Combination Thereof
All Elective Groups: 4 semester credit hours
Other Requirements
- For a PhD bound student in the Department of Biological Sciences, BIOL 5440 Cell Biology and BIOL 5460 Quantitative Biology (or an equivalent) are required. This requirement can be fulfilled by taking these courses as 'electives' in the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology program.
- Electives must be approved by the Graduate Advisor of the program.
- Substitutions for required courses may be made if approved by the Graduate Advisor of the program and the Head of the Mathematical Sciences Department.
- A student may choose to write an MS thesis under the supervision of a faculty member. The thesis project can count for 3 to 6 semester credit hours of electives towards the required 36 hours, in accordance with University policies. The thesis must be approved by the Head of the Mathematical Sciences Department. Once the thesis project is completed, the student must successfully defend it before his/her thesis committee.
1. Students who have not taken the CS 5333 Discrete Structures prerequisite for CS 5343 Algorithm Analysis and Data Structures should consult with their Graduate Advisor from the Mathematical Sciences Department to determine eligibility.