Bioinformatics Minor for Biology or Biochemistry Majors

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An interdisciplinary program merging insights and techniques from the fields of biology, computer science, mathematics, and information technology. Computational methods lead to the discovery of new biological insights and the creation of global perspectives from which to discover unifying principles in biology, pharmacology, and medicine.

Three versions of the bioinformatics minor are available. Students majoring in biology or biochemistry should follow the minor table below. Students majoring in computer science or any other discipline should follow one of two bioinformatics minor tables as seen in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science section.

Required Courses

Computer Science Core: 12 Credits

COSC 110 - Introduction to Programming (4)
COSC 200 - Discrete Structures for Computer Science (4)
COSC 210 - Data Structures and Algorithms (4)

Computer Science Elective: 4 Credits

(select one from below)

COSC 315 - Databases and Information Management (4)
COSC 325 - Languages and Theory (4)
COSC 420 - Software Engineering (4)
COSC 460 - Current Topics in Computing (4)
COSC 470 - Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Computing Strategies (4)

Bioinformatics: 8 Credits

select one course: 4 Credits

COSC 306 - Principles of Bioinformatics (4)
BIOL 306 - Principles of Bioinformatics (4)

select one course: 4 Credits

COSC 407 - Advanced Bioinformatics (4)
BIOL 407 - Advanced Bioinformatics (4)

Mathematics

Meet math requirements for any course listed above

Total Required Credits: 24

NOTE: BIOL 405 must be one of the elective courses taken for the biology major.

Biology majors may not use BIOL 306 /COSC 306 or BIOL 407 /COSC 407 to satisfy both the biology major and the bioinformatics minor requirements.