M.S. in Computer Science Bio/Cheminformatics Option

Admissions Criteria and Requirements

Applicants for admission to the Master of Science Program with a Bio/Cheminformatics option typically have an undergraduate degree in computer science or a related discipline such as mathematics, physics, biochemistry or engineering. Students wishing to enroll in the Master's program in Computer Science with Bio/Cheminformatics option must demonstrate competency in the knowledge areas listed below. Competency in these areas is usually demonstrated by producing a transcript of previous academic experience which contains related courses passed with a B or better, or by earning a B or better in the courses listed below. Competency in the biology and chemistry area may be demonstrated by successfully passing a CLEP exam. Additional information regarding these exams may be obtained at the CollegeBoard website. The following are the knowledge areas in which competency must be demonstrated:
  • Biology BIOL.1110 Principles of Biology I
  • Chemistry CHEM.1210 Chemistry I and CHEM.1220 Chemistry II
  • Discrete Mathematics MATH.3210 Discrete Structures I and MATH.3220 Discrete Structures II
  • C or C++ through Data Structures
  • COMP.2500 Accelerated C with Data Structures or
  • COMP.1010 Computing I and
  • COMP.1020 Computing II
  • Programming Languages
  • COMP.3010 Organization of Programming Languages
  • Computer Architecture
  • COMP.3050 Computer Architecture
  • Operating Systems
  • COMP.3080 Introduction to Operating Systems
  • Analysis of Algorithms
  • COMP.4040 Analysis of Algorithms
  • Calculus MATH.1250 Calculus A and MATH.1260 Calculus B or MATH.1310 Calculus I and MATH.1320 Calculus II

Core courses: Total 9 credits

  • COMP.5020 Foundations of CS
  • COMP.5030 Algorithms
  • COMP.5310 Design of Programming Languages

Course Pairs:

The following course pairs are selected from the approved list of Computer Science pairs, these courses have been chosen because they complement the goals of the bio/cheminformatics option.

Total 12 Credits (Two pairs of courses from the approved list of CS pairs.)

  • COMP.5030 Algorithms I
  • COMP.5460 Graphics I

  • COMP.5040 Algorithms II
  • COMP.5470 Graphics II

  • COMP.5730 Database I
  • COMP.5730 or COMP.5740 Database I or II

  • COMP.5740 Database II
  • COMP.5500 Data Mining

  • COMP.5730 or COMP.5740 Database I or II 
  • COMP.5460 or COMP.5470 Graphics I or II

  • COMP.5220 Analysis and Design
  • COMP.5411 Scientific Data Visualization

  • COMP.5230 or COMP.5250 Software Engineering I or II  COMP.5500 Data Mining
  • COMP.5230 or COMP.5250 Software Engineering I or II

  • COMP.5210 SWD in Context
  • COMP.5260 Project Management

  • COMP.5030 or COMP.5040 Algorithms I or II
  • COMP.5430 Artificial Intelligence

  • COMP.5530 Parallel Processing
  • COMP.5500 Advanced Data Mining

  • COMP.5030 or COMP.5040 Algorithms I or II 
  • COMP.5130 Internet and Web Systems I

Topics Course Data Mining

  • COMP.5140 Internet and Web Systems II

  • COMP.5030 or COMP.5040 Algorithms I or II 
  • COMP.5030 or COMP.5040 Algorithms I or II

  • COMP.5100 Computational Methods in Molecular Biology
  • COMP.5430 Artificial Intelligence

Electives - Total 9 credits

Three additional courses will be taken from the list of approved bio/cheminformatics approved courses. The list below is for example only and it includes the current approved courses. This list will be updated as new courses are added to the program.

  • BIOL.5050* (3 credits) Bioinformatics
  • BIOL.5070* (1 credit) Bioinformatics Laboratory (coreq. BIOL.4050)
  • BIOL.5190 (3 credits) Biochemistry I
  • BIOL.5200 (3 credits) Biochemistry II
  • BIOL.5010 (3 credits) Selected Topics I
  • BIOL.5020 (3 credits) Selected Topics II
  • BIOL.5670 Recombinant DNA Techniques
  • CHEM.6510 Selected Topics in Chemistry: Protein and Chemical Informatics
  • CHEM.5500 (3 credits) Biochemistry I
  • CHEM.5510 (3 credits) Biochemistry II
  • CHEM.5670 (3 credits) Biocheminformatics
  • CHEM.5680 (3 credits) Computational Chemistry
  • CHEM.5700 (3 credits) Advanced ProteinChemistry
  • CHEM.5800 Advanced Analytical Biochemistry

MATH.5930 (3 credits) Experimental Design (Mathematics Department)

Although Organic Chemistry is not required as a prerequisite, some of the courses offered as part of this degree rely on knowledge of this subject.

Students should be aware that the above courses may only be used toward the Bio/Cheminformatics option. If the entire requirements of the option are not completed then these courses cannot be applied in isolation toward the M.S. in Computer Science.

Program Total: 30 credits (assuming prerequisites have been filled)

An optional master's thesis can be substituted for at most 6 credits, and may be used to substitute for one pair of related courses.

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