The Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Bioinformatics (the Bioinformatics Program) trains students in bioinformatics for careers in research, education, and industry. Bioinformatics is a broad and diverse domain, ranging from management of biological research databases to computational approaches to biomedical modeling and data analysis.
The Bioinformatics Program focuses on those aspects of bioinformatics that reflect the research interests and experience of the Program's faculty. These include basic research in biostatistical methodology, computer science and mathematical modeling with applications to biochemistry, cell biology, and molecular biology. The following areas have been identified and named by the Bioinformatics Program faculty to represent the focus application areas of the Program:
- Biomedical and Natural Sciences
- Computational Sciences
- Mathematics and Statistics
Students in the Bioinformatics Program specialize in one of the three focus application areas and graduate with cutting-edge expertise in this area and working knowledge in the other two focus application areas.
To earn the Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies, specialization in Bioinformatics, a student is required to successfully complete the following:
- Core coursework in the focus application areas
- Required coursework in the student's area of specialization
- Elective courses in the student's area of specialization
- Qualifying examination
- Dissertation
- Presentation and defense of a dissertation
Upon successful completion of the written and oral portions of the qualifying examination, the examination committee will recommend acceptance into PhD candidacy. Successful completion of the dissertation and its presentation and defense is established by the approval of the student's dissertation committee and the approval of the chair of the sponsoring department and the program chair.