Starting Fall 2012, undergraduates in any UCLA Major can can obtain a Bioinformatics Minor.
Please address Alina Haas (ahaas@ea.ucla.edu) or Jan LaBuda (jan@seas.ucla.edu) with questions about the Undergraduate Bioinformatics Minor.
Scope and Objectives
The Bioinformatics minor introduces undergraduate students to the emerging interdisciplinary field of Bioinformatics, an active area of research at UCLA combining elements of the Computational Sciences with the Biological Sciences. The minor organizes the many course offerings in different UCLA departments into a coherent course plan providing undergraduate students with significant training in bioinformatics in addition to the training they obtain from their major. Students who complete the minor will be strong candidates for admission to Ph.D. programs in bioinformatics as well as have the relevant training to obtain jobs in the biotechnology industry.
Students complete a core curriculum and an elective course. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in undergraduate research as early as possible in one of the many research groups offering research opportunities in Bioinformatics.
The core of the minor includes a survey-seminar course introducing students to computational biology Computational and Systems Biology M184 “Introduction to Computational Systems Biology” and the two primary bioinformatics courses which include Computer Science CM 121 “Introduction to Bioinformatics” and Computer Science CM 124 “Computational Genetics”. In addition, the upper division requirements include an algorithms course, Computer Science 180 or Mathematics 182. The remaining elective upper division courses include additional bioinformatics courses, genomics courses, computational biology courses covering topics outside of bioinformatics and additional computational methodology courses. The lower division requirements will be the prereqs for these courses.
Undergraduate Study
Bioinformatics Minor
To enter the minor, students must be (1) in good academic standing (2.0 grade point average, or better), (2) have completed 2 of the 3 lower division requirements with a minimum grade of C, and (3) file a petition in the Office of Academic and Student Affairs of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, 6426 Boelter Hall. See http://www.seasoasa.ucla.edu/undergraduates/change-of-majord#timeline-as-follows for details on the process of changing Major/Minor.
Required Lower Division Courses (14 units minimum): Computer Science 32 or Program in Computing 10C, Life Sciences 3, 23L, Mathematics 33A.
Required Upper Division Courses (18 units minimum): Computational and Systems Biology M184 (or Computer Science M184), Computer Science 180 (or Mathematics 182), two courses from Computer Science CM121 (or Chemistry and Biochemistry CM160A) or CM122 (or Chemistry and Biochemistry CM160B) or CM124 (or Human Genetics CM124), and one bioinformatics elective course selected from Computational and Systems Biology M186, Computer Science CM121, CM122, CM124, 170A, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 135, Electrical Engineering 102, 141, Human Genetics C144, Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology 144, 172, Physiological Science 125, Statistics 100A, 100B. 8 units of either Computer Science 194 or 199 or Bioinformatics 199 may be applied as an elective by petition.
Students are strongly encouraged to take Computational and Systems Biology M184 as early as possible to obtain an overview of computational biology.
A minimum of 20 units applied toward the minor requirements must be in addition to units applied toward major requirements or another minor. If students complete some of the minor requirements as part of their major program, they must take additional courses from the bioinformatics elective course list.
All minor courses must be taken for a letter grade. Students must have a minimum grade of C in each and an overall grade-point average of 2.0 or better. Successful completion of the minor is indicated on the transcript and diploma
Please address Alina Haas (ahaas@ea.ucla.edu) or Jan LaBuda (jan@seas.ucla.edu) with questions about the Undergraduate Bioinformatics Minor.