Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, B.S.

This program offers comprehensive training in the fields of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology by combining courses in the areas of biology, chemistry, physics, computer science and mathematics. Graduates will acquire the necessary skills for automated querying and data analysis using complex databases, extraction of essential information from genomic and proteomic data, modeling of biological systems, as well as the design and development of software and algorithms to support these activities. Students also have the opportunity to engage in independent research in the lab, the field or off-campus, working one-on-one with a faculty mentor. The curriculum consists of 88-92 credits in biology, computer science and related disciplines (chemistry, information systems, mathematics and physics), complemented by two specific courses on Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. This program is appropriate for any student desiring a rich and multidisciplinary grounding in all the essential elements of bioinformatics and computational biology.

The existing lecture courses in the Biology Core are considered an academic sequence in the following manner:

BIOL 141/BIOL 142 → BIOL 302/BIOL 303

Specifically, this means that once a student has received a passing grade in either BIOL 302 or BIOL 303, that student may not re-register for BIOL 141 or BIOL 142.

The B.S. curriculum consists of 88-92 credits distributed as follows:

Biology (29 credits)

BIOL 141 - Foundations of Biology: Cells, Energy and Organisms (4.00)
BIOL 142 - Foundations of Biology: Ecology and Evolution (4.00)
BIOL 300L - Experimental Biology Laboratory (2.00)
BIOL 302 - Molecular and General Genetics (4.00)
BIOL 303 - Cell Biology (4.00)
BIOL 430 - Biological Chemistry (4.00)
BIOL 313 - Introduction to Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (3.00)
BIOL 495 - Seminar Bioinformatics (4.00) +

Chemistry (11 credits)

CHEM 101 - Principles of Chemistry I (4.00)
CHEM 102 - Principles of Chemistry II (4.00)
CHEM 351 - Organic Chemistry I (3.00)

Physics & Math (19 credits)

Computer Science (17 credits)

CMSC 201 - Computer Science I (4.00)
CMSC 202 - Computer Science II (4.00)
CMSC 203 - Discrete Structures (3.00)
CMSC 341 - Data Structures (3.00)
CMSC 461 - Database Management Systems (3.00)

Electives (9-12 credits)

1 List A Elective
1 List B Elective
1 List A/B Elective

List A Electives

Any List A recommended course or any BIOL 4xx / CHEM 4xx course approved by a BINF advisor.

Recommended list A electives:

BIOL 304 - Plant Biology (3.00)
BIOL 305 - Comparative Animal Physiology (3.00) §
BIOL 414 - Eukaryotic Molecular Genetics (4.00)
BIOL 426 - Approaches to Molecular Biology (4.00)
BIOL 428 - Computer Applications in Molecular Biology (4.00)
BIOL 434 - Microbial Molecular Genetics (4.00)
BIOL 442 - Developmental Biology (3.00)
BIOL 444 - Development and Cancer (4.00)
BIOL 466 - Population and Conservation Genetics (4.00)
BIOL 483 - Evolution: From Genes to Genomes (4.00)
BIOL 486 - Genome Science (4.00)
CHEM 301 - Physical Chemistry I (4.00)
CHEM 303 - Physical Chemistry for the Biochemical Sciences (3.00)
CHEM 352 - Organic Chemistry II (3.00)
CHEM 420 - Computer Applications in Chemistry (3.00)
CHEM 431 - Chemistry of Proteins (3.00)
CHEM 432 - Advanced Biochemistry (3.00)
CHEM 433 - Biochemistry of Nucleic Acids (3.00)
CHEM 438 - Comprehensive Biochemistry II (4.00)
CHEM 455 - Introduction to Biomedicinal Chemistry (3.00)
CHEM 444 - Molecular Modeling In Biochemistry (3.00)

List B Electives

Any List B recommended course or any CMSC 4xx / IS 4xx / MATH 4xx / STAT 4xx course approved by a BINF advisor and the corresponding department/instructor.

Recommended list B electives:

CMSC 433 - Scripting Languages (3.00)
CMSC 441 - Design and Analysis of Algorithms. (3.00)
CMSC 442 - Information and Coding Theory (3.00)
CMSC 445 - Software Engineering
CMSC 453 - Applied Combinatorics and Graph Theory (3.00)
CMSC 455 - Numerical Computations (3.00)
CMSC 471 - Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (3.00)
CMSC 472 - Knowledge - Based Systems
CMSC 473 - Introduction to Natural Language Processing (3.00)
CMSC 475 - Introduction to Neural Networks (3.00)
CMSC 476 - Information Retrieval (3.00)
CMSC 478 - Introduction to Machine Learning (3.00)
IS 413 - GUI Systems Using JAVA (3.00)
IS 428 - Data Mining Techniques and Applications (3.00)
IS 448 - Markup and Scripting Languages (3.00)
MATH 341 - Computational Methods (3.00)
STAT 419 - Introduction to Biostatistics (3.00)
STAT 420 - Statistics for Bioinformatics (3.00)
STAT 432 - Statistical Computer Packages and Their Applications: SAS and R (1.00)
STAT 433 - Statistical Computing (3.00)
STAT 451 - Introduction to Probability Theory (3.00)
STAT 453 - Introduction to Mathematical Statistics (3.00)
STAT 454 - Applied Statistics (3.00)
STAT 614 - Environmental Statistics

Note:

1. A majority of the required biology courses must be completed in residence at UMBC.

2. In fulfilling major requirements in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, a student must obtain a grade of “C” or higher in all required courses used to fulfill major requirements for the B.S. Under certain circumstances and after petitioning, students may be able to graduate with a grade of “D” in a single (not retaken) course, provided that they have an overall “C” average in all required courses, upon approval by the Undergraduate Committee of the Department of Biological Sciences.

3. Prerequisites and co-requisites for all courses will be enforced. Prerequisites must be satisfied with a grade of “C” or better.

4. Students will be allowed only two attempts to earn a grade of “C” or better in all required biology (BIOL XXX) courses. Students who have not earned a grade of “C” or better (including a grade of “W”) after two attempts will no longer be eligible for the B.S. in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, and must change their major. The department will adhere to university policies that limit to two the number of times a student may register for the same course.

Gateway requirements

Students must complete the courses below with a Grade Point Average (GPA) no lower than 3.0 and with no grade lower than “C” in any of the courses. At least three of these courses must be completed at UMBC. A course may be repeated once to meet gateway requirements, but both grades will be used to compute the gateway GPA. (e.g. a student receiving a grade of “B” in all six gateway courses with one enrollment in each course will have a gateway GPA of 3.0. A student receiving an initial grade of “C” and a repeated grade of “B” in CHEM 101 , with a “B” in all other gateway courses, will have a gateway GPA of 2.86).

BIOL 141 - Foundations of Biology: Cells, Energy and Organisms (4.00)
BIOL 302 - Molecular and General Genetics (4.00)
CHEM 101 - Principles of Chemistry I (4.00)
CHEM 102 - Principles of Chemistry II (4.00)
CMSC 201 - Computer Science I (4.00)
MATH 151 - Calculus and Analytic Geometry I (4.00)

Note:

Students who do not meet the above criteria (e.g. transfer students who transfer in more than three of the above courses) may petition the BINF steering committee for admission to the program.

Registrar's Office

Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, B.S.

Biology (29 credits)

Chemistry (11 credits)

Physics & Math (19 credits)

Computer Science (17 credits)

Electives (9-12 credits)

List A Electives

List B Electives

Note:

Gateway requirements

Note:

Total: 88-92 Credits