Professional Science Master's in Bioinformatics

The program requires 37 post-baccalaureate credit hours. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of this program, which is designed to provide students with a common graduate experience during their professional preparation for the PSM in Bioinformatics degree, all students will be required to take a general curriculum that includes a two-year sequence of courses as described below:

1. Fundamentals Courses:

   The Fundamentals course sequences are intensive graduate-level courses designed to provide accelerated training in a second discipline that complements the student's undergraduate training. Students entering the program are expected to have achieved proficiency in either Biological Sciences or Computing, and to require at most two of the Fundamentals courses.

   Fundamental Biology track: This course sequence is designed for students entering with a degree in Computer Science or another quantitative science discipline that provides training in Programming, Data Structures, Algorithms and Numerical Methods. BINF 6100, 6101.

   Fundamental Computing track: The Fundamental Computing track is designed for students entering with a degree in a life science discipline that provides training in Genetics, Cell and Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry. BINF 6110, 6111.

2. Core Bioinformatics Courses:

   Fundamentals courses prepare students for the required Core Bioinformatics courses. Students must take BINF 6200, Statistics for Bioinformatics, and 9 additional credit hours of Core Bioinformatics courses, which include four core methods courses, BINF 6201, Molecular Sequence Analysis, BINF 6202, Computational Structural Biology, BINF 6203, Genomics, Transcriptomics & Proteomics, and BINF 6204, Mathematical Systems Biology, as well as two core computational skills courses, BINF 6210, Numerical Methods for Bioinformatics, and BINF 6211, Design and Implementation of Bioinformatics Databases.

3. Professional Preparation Requirement:

   Students are required to take at least 3 credit hours of an elective designed to prepare them to function effectively and ethically in a professional environment. Some recommended electives in this category include PHIL 6050/8050, Research Ethics, and ITIS 6362, Information Technology Ethics, Policy, and Security. Additional elective choices that may fulfill this requirement can be identified by the student and the student's Advisory Committee.

4. The remaining credit hours of formal course work can be completed in additional Core Bioinformatics courses and/or other recommended program electives. The student's Advisory Committee will review the student's plan of study each semester.

   Bioinformatics Electives: Any courses with BINF numbers, with the exception of Fundamentals courses that share common subject matter with the student's undergraduate degree, are open to PSM students seeking to complete their coursework requirements.

   Recommended Electives offered by other units: A wide range of courses in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Software and Information Systems, and other departments may be appropriate electives for PSM in Bioinformatics students. As course offerings change frequently, the Bioinformatics Program maintains a list of current recommended electives, which can be found on the Professional Science Masters in Bioinformatics home page at http://www.bioinformatics.uncc.edu/psm/.

5. Other requirements:

   In addition to 30 hours formal coursework, students are required to enroll in the Bioinformatics Program seminar (BINF 6600) for at least one semester (1 credit hour) and to enroll in either an approved internal or external internship (BINF 6400) or a faculty-supervised original research project leading to a thesis (BINF 6900).

An accumulation of three C grades will result in suspension of the student's enrollment in the graduate program. If a student makes a grade of U in any course, enrollment in the program will be suspended.

A maximum of 6 credit hours of coursework from other institutions will count toward the PSM in Bioinformatics degree requirements. Only courses with grades of A or B from accredited institutions are eligible for transfer credit.