Step 1: Building a Strong Foundation
We realize that students will enter our program with multiple backgrounds and perspectives. Our goal is to design a curriculum that builds a strong intellectual foundation in the two focus areas that are integral to bioinformatics and computational biology: computer sciences/mathematical sciences and biological sciences.
We encourage undergraduates thinking about graduate school in BCB to plan ahead. Take calculus, statistics, some programming language and biology through genetics and you will be well prepared for our program.
Your committee will work with you to build background in the foundational areas in which you have the least undergraduate training. For example, we have developed a course (Biol 456) which is designed to introduce biologists to the computational tools needed to conduct bioinformatic research. Similarly, we offer courses for mathematicians and computer scientists to gain a background in general biology and genetics.