BS Computer Science with a Specialization in Bioinformatics

This page updated May 20, 2013.

Four-Year Plan for B.S. Computer Science with a Specialization in Bioinformatics

• The Undergraduate Bioinformatics Program Information Session (link fixed 3/28/2013)
• Course Descriptions
• Projects and Research Opportunities (coming soon)
• Undergraduate Student Organization UBIC (added 7/6/2012)

The explosion in biological knowledge spawned by the various genome projects has created entirely new fields and industries, and a need for trained computational biologists who are familiar with Biology, Mathematics, and Computer Sciences.

The Computer Science and Engineering Department offers rigorous, interdisciplinary training in the new and rapidly evolving field of bioinformatics. Bioinformatics refers to advanced computational and experimental methods that model the flow of information (genetic, metabolic and regulatory) in living systems to provide an integrated understanding of the system properties of organisms.

Many graduates in this degree go on to graduate school, medical school or choose careers that involve the design of software systems to further the study in computational molecular biology, bioinformatics, proteomics, approximational algorithms, human genome, human proteome, protein identification, Expressed Sequence Tags (EST) analysis, and also employment in biotech companies. 

 
Dr. Vineet Bafna, CSE, Bioinformatics Researcher

Tracking your progress - Use the following worksheet to design your plan. 

• Academic Planning Sheet (Quarterly Plan) pdf
• Academic Tracking Sheet (Quarterly Plan) excel spreadsheet

Our four-year plans are designed for students with no advanced placement credit.  Some students will begin with CSE 3, CSE 8A/L or CSE 11, therefore, it is imperative that each student draw up a suitable schedule based on her/his specific circumstances.  Please read CSE Course Placement Advice to figure out which coures to take first.  To assist you with planning your schedule, consult our Courses page.

Major Requirements

Print Checklist

 Print Checklist

 CSE Academic Advising

The CSE Department has three major academic advisors to assist students. Contact advisors via the Virtual Advising Center or call 858-534-8872 or visit the CSE Building (EBU3B), room 1236.

Students with last names between A-J will contact Viera Kair.

Students with last names between K-P will contact Ivonne Avila.

Students with last names between Q-Z will contact Pat Raczka.

Program Notes (To get prerequisites waived and enrollment clearance, please send email to csepeeradviser@eng.ucsd.edu, and include your PID number):

• CSE 15L is waived
• CSE 20 is waived for CSE 21
• CSE 30 is waived for CSE 100
• BILD 94 is recommended in the first year of study, normally in the spring.  This course gives an overview of issues and topics of bioinformatics
• CSE 181 is cross-listed with BIMM 181 and BENG 181 
• CSE 182 is cross-listed with BIMM 182, BENG 182 and Chem 182
• CSE 184 is cross-listed with BIMM 184 and BENG 184
• BENG 183, BIMM 185 and Math 186 are not cross-listed courses

Technical Electives Requirement

• Students must take five technical electives for a total of 20 units, see above
• As of Fall 2010, 4 units of CSE 197 may be used toward technical elective credit
• As of Fall 2010, 8 units of CSE 198, CSE 199 or CSE 199H may be used toward technical elective credit
• In addition, students can use CSE graduate courses for technical elective credit with approval. Once a CSE graduate course is used for an undergraduate degree that course may not be reused for a graduate degree

Degree Policies

All major requirements and technical electives, except CSE 197, CSE 198 or CSE 199, must be taken for a letter grade. To graduate, a grade point average of 2.0 is required in the upper division major requirements including the technical electives.