Computational biology is a growing field of study in the life sciences. This major, offered jointly between the departments of Biological Sciences (Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences) and Computer Science (School of Computing and Information), trains students in computer programming, laboratory techniques, and other skills they will need to succeed in graduate school and in the workforce. This major requires the completion of 64 credits of coursework, detailed as follows.
Major Requirements
Biological Sciences courses
All of the following courses are required for the major.
- BIOSC 0150 - Foundations of Biology 1 or
- BIOSC 0155 - Honors Foundations of Biology 1
- BIOSC 0160 - Foundations of Biology 2 or
- BIOSC 0165 - Honors Foundations of Biology 2
- BIOSC 0350 - Genetics
- BIOSC 1000 - Biochemistry
*Students may alternately choose BIOSC 1810 Macromolecular Structure and Function and BIOSC 1820 Metabolic Pathways and Regulation in lieu of BIOSC 1000. In this case, BIOSC 1820 becomes the elective course.
Computer Science courses
All of the following courses are required for the major.
- CS 0011 - Introduction to Computing for Scientists
- CS 0401 - Intermediate Programming Using Java
- CS 0441 - Discrete Structures for CS
- CS 0445 - Data Structures
- CS 1501 - Algorithm Implementation
- CS 1656 - Introduction to Data Science
Computational Biology courses
All of the following courses are required for the major.
- BIOSC 1540 - Computation Biology
- BIOSC 1542 - Computational Genomics or
- BIOSC 1544 - Simulation and Modeling
- BIOSC 1630 - Computational Biology Seminar
Capstone course
Students must choose one of the following capstone courses.
- BIOSC 1640 - Computational Biology Research
- CS 1640 - Bioinformatics Software Design
Co-requisite Chemistry courses
All of the following courses are required for the major.
- CHEM 0110 - General Chemistry 1 or
- CHEM 0710 - Honors General Chemistry 1
- CHEM 0120 - General Chemistry 2 or
- CHEM 0720 - Honors General Chemistry 2
- CHEM 0310 - Organic Chemistry 1 or
- CHEM 0730 - Honors Organic Chemistry 1
Co-requisite Mathematics and Statistics courses
Both of the following courses are required for the major.
- MATH 0220 - Analytic Geometry and Calculus 1
- STAT 1000 - Applied Statistical Methods
For full major requirement details, visit the Computational Biology course catalog.