The request to revise dissertation requirement in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology PhD

Date: June 23, 2015
To: College of Computing & Informatics
From: Office of Academic Affairs
Approved On: June 10, 2015
Approved by: Graduate Council
Implementation Date: Spring 2016

Note: Deletions are strikethroughs. Insertions are underlined.

Catalog Copy

Ph.D. in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

The Ph.D. in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (BCB) is granted for planning, execution, and defense of original research resulting in significant contributions to the discipline’s body of knowledge. Moreover, the BCB Ph.D. program also requires didactic coursework to prepare the student for research success. Student progress is primarily assessed by: (a) satisfactory coursework performance, (b) the Qualifying Examination, (c) the Dissertation Proposal, and (d) the Dissertation Defense. Courses and the Qualifying Examination are used to ensure that the student has sufficient breadth of knowledge. The Dissertation Proposal is used to ensure that the scope of dissertation research is important, that the plan is well thought out and that the student has sufficient skills and thoughtfulness needed for success. The Dissertation Defense is used to assess the outcomes of the dissertation research, and whether or not the plan agreed upon by the Dissertation Committee has been appropriately followed.

Degree Requirements

In consultation with their Academic Advisor and/or Program Director, students must take an appropriate selection of the following Gateway Courses. For example, an incoming student with a Computer Science background would be expected to take 8100 and 8101, but not 8111. All students must complete the Core Courses prior to taking the Qualifying Examination. Each Ph.D. student must complete two Research Rotations in the first year. Each Research Rotation provides a semester of faculty supervised research experience to supplement regular course offerings. Graduate Research Seminar is taken every semester until the semester following advancement to candidacy. Finally, many additional Elective Courses are available, but are not explicitly required.

Gateway Courses

  • BINF 8100 Biological Basis of Bioinformatics (3)
  • BINF 8101 Energy and Interaction in Biological Modeling (3)
  • BINF 8111 Bioinformatics Programming I (3)
  • BINF 8111L Bioinformatics Programming I Lab (0)

Core Courses

  • BINF 8112 Bioinformatics Programming II (3)
  • BINF 8112L Bioinformatics Programming II Lab (0)
  • BINF 8200 Statistics for Bioinformatics (3)
  • BINF 8200L Statistics for Bioinformatics Lab (0)
  • BINF 8201 Molecular Sequence Analysis (3)
  • BINF 8201L Molecular Sequence Analysis Lab (0)
  • BINF 8202 Computational Structural Biology (3)
  • BINF 8202L Computational Structural Biology Lab (0)

Research Rotations

  • BINF 8911 Research Rotation I (2)
  • BINF 8912 Research Rotation II (2)

Graduate Research Seminar

  • BINF 8600 Bioinformatics Seminar (1) (Must be taken every semester until the semester following advancement to candidacy)

Research Hours

  • BINF 8991 Doctoral Dissertation Research (1-9) (Must take a minimum of 18 hours)

Responsible Conduct of Research

Select one of the following

  • GRAD 8002 Responsible Conduct of Research (2)
  • BINF 8151 Professional Communications (1)

Electives

Any graduate level BINF prefix course may be taken as a pre-approved elective. Other courses may be taken with department approval.

Qualifying Examination

Prior to defining a research topic, students are required to pass a Qualifying Examination to demonstrate proficiency in bioinformatics and computational biology, as well as competence in fundamentals common to the field. The Qualifying Examination must be passed prior to the fifth semester of residence. It is composed of both written and oral components that emphasize material covered in the Core Courses listed above.

Dissertation Proposal

Each student must present and defend a Ph.D. Dissertation Research Proposal after passing the Qualifying Examination within ten two semesters of entering the Program passing the Qualifying Exam. The Dissertation Proposal defense will be conducted by the student’s Dissertation Committee, and will be open to faculty and students. The proposal must address a significant, original and substantive piece of research. The proposal must include sufficient preliminary data and a timeline such that the Dissertation Committee can assess its feasibility.

Dissertation

Each student must complete a well-designed original research contribution, as agreed upon by the student and Dissertation Committee at the Dissertation Proposal. The Ph.D. Dissertation is a written document describing the research and its results, and their context in the sub-discipline. The Dissertation Defense is a public presentation of the findings of the research, with any novel methods that may have been developed to support the conclusions. The student must present the Dissertation and defend its findings publicly, and in a private session with the Dissertation Committee immediately thereafter.