{"id":30239,"date":"2011-07-22T11:32:29","date_gmt":"2011-07-22T15:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/?page_id=30239"},"modified":"2025-12-11T13:52:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T18:52:22","slug":"ms-in-bioinformatics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/cds\/programs\/ms-in-bioinformatics\/","title":{"rendered":"MS in Bioinformatics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The emphasis of the MS in Bioinformatics program is preparation for careers that involve using bioinformatics in research or in the biotechnology or pharmaceutical industries. In order to be admitted, students need at least a bachelor\u2019s degree in a field related to bioinformatics. Typically, students enrolling in the MS program have strength in either the computational area or in biochemistry\/molecular biology, but not both.<\/p>\n<h2>Learning Outcomes<\/h2>\n<p>Students graduating with an MS in Bioinformatics are expected to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-gc-list-depth=\"1\" data-gc-list-style=\"bullet\">Demonstrate mastery of the core concepts of Bioinformatics, including computational biology, database design and implementation, and probability and statistics.<\/li>\n<li data-gc-list-depth=\"1\" data-gc-list-style=\"bullet\">Demonstrate the ability to apply skills in a professional environment via an industrial or academic internship in Bioinformatics.<\/li>\n<li data-gc-list-depth=\"1\" data-gc-list-style=\"bullet\">Be able to effectively communicate scientific information in written and oral form.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Course Requirements<\/h2>\n<p>The master\u2019s degree requires 32 units of coursework. In order to receive a master\u2019s degree, students must demonstrate mastery of the required subject matter (no lower than a B in all required courses). Course requirements are as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-gc-list-depth=\"1\" data-gc-list-style=\"bullet\"><span>CDS<\/span> BF 527 Applications in Bioinformatics (4 units)<\/li>\n<li data-gc-list-depth=\"1\" data-gc-list-style=\"bullet\"><span>CDS<\/span> BF 528 Translational Bioinformatics Applications (4 units)<\/li>\n<li><span>CDS<\/span> BF 541 Bioinformatics Internship <strong>or<\/strong> <span>CDS<\/span> BF 501 Master\u2019s Project (2 units)<\/li>\n<li data-gc-list-depth=\"1\" data-gc-list-style=\"bullet\"><span>CDS<\/span> BF 550 Foundations of Programming, Data Analytics, and Machine Learning in Python (4 units)<\/li>\n<li><span>CDS<\/span> BF 751 Molecular Biology &amp; Biochemistry for Bioinformatics (4 units)<\/li>\n<li data-gc-list-depth=\"1\" data-gc-list-style=\"bullet\"><span>CDS<\/span> BF 768 Biological Database Systems (4 units)<\/li>\n<li data-gc-list-depth=\"1\" data-gc-list-style=\"bullet\"><span>CDS<\/span> BF 831 Bioinformatics Master\u2019s Seminar (2 units)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Fulfillment of required course equivalents will be determined based on documented previous academic and\/or work experience. The student and their advisor will petition the curriculum committee for such equivalencies. When either past work or an alternate course has been accepted as a core equivalent, the student\u2019s advisor will recommend other courses to fulfill the 20 core unit hours. Advanced elective courses should be taken in place of any waived course requirements.<\/p>\n<p>The remaining units needed to complete the requirements for the MS degree will consist of electives and\/or additional research projects.<\/p>\n<h2>Language Requirement<\/h2>\n<p>There is no foreign language requirement for this degree.<\/p>\n<h2>Internship<\/h2>\n<p>Students must demonstrate a working knowledge of computational methods available to the modern bioinformatician by completing an internship as part of their degree requirements. For information on internship requirements and guidelines, please see the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/bioinformatics\/\" data-gc-link=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/bioinformatics\/\">Bioinformatics website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The emphasis of the MS in Bioinformatics program is preparation for careers that involve using bioinformatics in research or in the biotechnology or pharmaceutical industries. In order to be admitted, students need at least a bachelor\u2019s degree in a field related to bioinformatics. Typically, students enrolling in the MS program have strength in either the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2696,"featured_media":0,"parent":84057,"menu_order":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30239"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2696"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30239"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99686,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30239\/revisions\/99686"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/84057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}