Bachelor of Science in Bioinformatics

Science is becoming increasingly dependent on computers and the field of biology is no exception. Advances in the field are often impeded by the glut of ever expanding data sets and by the lack of dedicated software and algorithms, requiring skilled biologists capable of handling massive amounts of information, performing in-depth statistical analyses, and programming.

Bioinformatics is an essential discipline at the interface between biology, computation sciences, and mathematics. Bioinformaticians, also referred as computational biologists, are experts at problem solving. The best bioinformaticians are adaptable jack-of-all-trades, for the problems to solve are many, broad in scope, and often cross canonical field delimitations. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 62% of the future expected growth in science jobs until 2020 is in computational fields. Fields that rely heavily on bioinformaticians are research, the health and pharmaceutical industries, and software design and engineering.

At the core of the bioinformatics program is a significant science component, with a large emphasis on computation sciences, mathematics, and physics, in addition to biology. Throughout this program, students will learn scientific rigor, creativity, and a breadth of highly-demanded adaptable skills giving them both versatility and efficiency. Students will learn to communicate effectively across disciplines and to lead large scale projects.

The applied bioinformatics track will provide students with a thorough computational background enabling them to pursue programming-driven endeavors whereas the computational biology track will emphasize computer-driven problem solving towards answering key biological questions.

Required Courses

Bachelor of Science in Bioinformatics Curriculum