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The request to revise admissions requirements for MS in Bioinformatics

Memo Date: 
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
To: 
College of Computing & Informatics
From: 
Office of Academic Affairs
Approved On: October 9, 2015
Approved by: Graduate Council
Implementation Date: Summer 2016

Note: Deletions are strikethroughs.  Insertions are underlined.

Catalog Copy

Bioinformatics, M.S.

A unique master's degree merging the biological sciences and computer technology, the Professional Science Master's (PSM) program leading to the M.S. in Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary program at the intersection of the disciplines of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Statistics, Computing and Informatics, and Engineering. It is expected that students entering the program will have completed an undergraduate major in either a life science or a quantitative discipline. The degree requires additional training and demonstrated competence in both life sciences and scientific programming. The PSM program is structured to provide students with the skills and knowledge to develop, evaluate, and deploy bioinformatics and computational biology applications. The program is designed to prepare students for employment in the biotechnology sector, where the need for knowledgeable life scientists with quantitative and computational skills has exploded in the past decade.

Additional Admission Requirements

In addition to the general requirements for admission to the Graduate School, the following are required for study toward the M.S. in Bioinformatics:

Under most circumstances, students admitted to the program will have:

  1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, or another related field that provides a sound background in life sciences, computing, or both
  2. A minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 (4.0 scale) and 3.0 in the major
  3. A minimum combined score of 300 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the GRE, and an acceptable score on the analytical section. This requirement is waived for Early Entry applicants who meet the University's overall GPA requirement (3.2 and 75-90 hours of completed undergraduate coursework) in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math, SIS or CS, or another UNC Charlotte major if the department determines the student's preparation is appropriate.
  4. A combined TOEFL score of 220 (computer-based), 557 (paper-based), or 83 (Internet-based) is required if the previous degree was from a country where English is not the common language
  5. Positive letters of recommendation

Degree Requirements

The M.S. in Bioinformatics degree requires a minimum of 34 graduate credit hours, and a minimum of 30 credit hours of formal coursework.  A minimum of 24 credit hours presented toward an M.S.in Bioinformatics must be from courses numbered 6000 or higher.  A maximum of 6 hours of graduate credit may be transferred from other institutions.

The PSM program requires 34 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 M.S. in Bioinformatics degree, all students will be required to take a general curriculum that includes a two-year sequence of courses as described below:

Core Requirements

Core Bioinformatics Courses

All students must take the following Core Courses.  Students who have previously taken a course with a syllabus that closely follows one of the Core Courses may test out of the core requirement by passing a written exam, and may then substitute an advanced elective for the required Core Course.

Gateway Courses

The department offers two intensive graduate-level courses designed to provide accelerated training in a second discipline that complements the student's undergraduate training.  Students entering the program without preparatory coursework in computing or biology may need to take the Gateway course that is appropriate for their background.  These courses are not required core courses for all students, but are designed to satisfy core course prerequisites for students who have not encountered the material presented in a previous course.   For students entering from computing backgrounds, BINF 6100  should be chosen, while students entering from biological science backgrounds should choose BINF 6111  and BINF 6111L .

Professional Preparation Requirement

Students are required to take at least 6 credit hours of electives designed to prepare them to function effectively and ethically in a professional environment. All PSM in Bioinformatics students are required to enroll in the following:

The remaining PLUS credits may be chosen from the list of recommended electives:

Note:

Additional elective choices that may fulfill this requirement can be identified by the student and the PSM Executive Committee.

Elective Courses

The remaining 6 credit hours of required coursework can be satisfied by elective courses.  The PSM Graduate Coordinator, in conjunction with the Executive Committee, reviews the student's plan of study each semester.

Bioinformatics Elective Courses

Any courses with BINF numbers, with the exception of Gateway courses are open to PSM students seeking to complete their coursework requirements.

Recommended Elective Courses Offered By Other Departments

A wide range of graduate courses in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Health Informatics, Software and Information Systems, and other programs may be appropriate electives for PSM in Bioinformatics students.  As course offerings change frequently, the Bioinformatics Program maintains a list of current recommended electives online at bioinformatics.uncc.edu. 

Elective Clusters

Students are encouraged to choose their electives with a topical focus that reflects their scientific and career interests. Courses from one of the following recommended clusters of advanced electives can be selected, or the student can design his or her own elective focus with the approval of the PSM Executive Committee.

Genomic Biology Cluster
Modeling and Simulation Cluster
Computing and Technology Cluster

Other Requirements

Bioinformatics Seminar and Internship

In addition to 30 credit hours of 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 Principles of Team Science (BINF 6399 ), internal or external internship (BINF 6400 ), or a faculty-supervised original research project leading to a thesis (BINF 6900 ).

Grade Requirements

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.

Amount of Transfer Credit Accepted

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

Early Entry Program

Exceptional undergraduate students at UNC Charlotte may be accepted into the M.S. or Graduate Certificate (Bioinformatics Applications Certificate/Bioinformatics Technology Certificate) in Bioinformatics and Genomics program and begin work toward a graduate degree before completion of the baccalaureate degree.  The criteria for admission are the following:

  1. A student may be accepted into the Early Entry Program at any time after completion of 75 semester hours of undergraduate work applicable to the appropriate degree, although it is expected that close to 90 hours will have been earned by the time the first graduate course is taken.
  2. The application process and all required documentation (e.g., test scores, transcripts, letters of recommendation) are the same for early entry students as for other applicants to the program except that the GRE scores are waived.  Admission must be recommended by the Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics and approved by the Graduate School.  The admission status will be “provisional” pending the award of the undergraduate degree.
  3. To be accepted into this program an undergraduate student must have at least a 3.2 overall GPA.
  4. If an Early Entry student has not met the normal admission requirements of a 3.0 overall undergraduate GPA and a 3.0 Junior/Senior GPA at the end of his/her baccalaureate degree, she/he will be dismissed from the graduate program.
  5. Students accepted into an Early Entry Program will be subject to the same policies that pertain to other matriculated graduate students.  Generally, it will be assumed that Early Entry students will finish their baccalaureate degrees before they complete 15 hours of graduate work.
  6. The Early Entry Program is also accelerated in which up to 12 hours earned at the graduate level may be substituted for required undergraduate hours.  In other words, up to 12 hours of graduate work may be “double counted” toward both the baccalaureate and graduate degrees.