Minor in Computational Biology

Important Note: The minor in computational biology is open to undergraduate students in any major outside the School of Computer Science (SCS) at Carnegie Mellon University.  If you are an SCS undergraduate who is interested in computational biology, please check out the concentration in computational biology or the undergraduate major in computational biology.

The curriculum and course requirements in the minor are designed to maximize the participation of students from diverse academic disciplines. The program seeks to produce students with both basic computational skills and knowledge in biological sciences that are central to computational biology.

A minor in Computational Biology will position students well for entering the job market and graduate school in this exciting and ever-growing field.

Admission

Students must apply for admission no later than November 30 of their senior years; an admission decision will usually be made within one month. Students are encouraged to apply as early as possible in their undergraduate careers so that the advisor of the computational biology minor can provide advice on their curriculum.

To apply, send an email to Dr. Phillip Compeau. Include in your email:

• Full Name
• Andrew ID
• Preferred email address (if different)
• Your class and College/School at Carnegie Mellon
• Semester you intend to graduate
• All (currently) declared majors and minors
• Statement of purpose - describes why you want to take this minor and how it fits into your career goals (maximum 1 page)
• Preposed schedule of courses for the minor (this is your plan, NOT a commitment)

Curriculum

The minor in computational biology requires a total of five courses: 3 core courses, 1 biology elective, and 1 computational biology elective, for a total of 45 units. Apart from pre-requisite courses, students may double-count at most two courses, and no courses can apply to another SCS minor or concentration.

Prerequisites

Core classes

One of the following courses:

(*03-343 Experimental Techniques in Molecular Biology may be substituted for 02-261 with permission of Minor advisor.)

 Computational Biology electives (one of the following):

Biology electives (one of the following):

Courses in the minor may not be counted towards another SCS minor.

Last updated: July 2021