Below is a listing of the required and elective courses for the old Bioinformatics and Computational Biology major, which will be superceded by the new curriculum effective Fall 2010.

NOTE: This is not a complete list of requirements. See the UMBC Undergraduate Catalog for the full listing of requirements for this program, a list of participating faculty, information about research opportunities, the Biological Sciences Tutorial Center, and Student Organizations.

Download the Bioinformatics Requirements Worksheet (PDF)

NOTE: This is not a complete list of requirements. See the UMBC Undergraduate Catalog (PDF) for the full listing of requirements for this program, a list of participating faculty, information about research opportunities, the Biological Sciences Tutorial Center, and Student Organizations.

A total of three additional courses are required, to be selected from the two lists below; two courses are to be selected from List A, and one course from List B.

• Three-credit Biology Core Course ( BIOL 301, B304, B305, or B442 - only one of these may be applied to satisfying the major requirements for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology)
• Any BIOL 4XX elective approved for the Biology major
• Any CHEM 4XX elective approved for the Biochemistry major (except those on List B - see below)
• CHEM 301 or CHEM 303
• CHEM 438. (NOTE: Students must successfully complete both CHEM 437 & CHEM 438. CHEM 437 can be used as a substitute for BIOL 430 and CHEM 438 will count as a LIST A elective. CHEM 437 by itself will not be accepted as fulfilling any of the major requirements for the BINF major.)

Contact the advising coordinator for a current approved list of BIOL, CHEM, CMSC, IFSM, and MATH courses. Evaluation of student performance is separate for lecture and laboratory courses.

Students who wish to obtain a B.S. degree in Bioinformatics & Computational Biology must meet the following gateway requirements:

• A grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 in the following courses with no grade lower than a "C."
• BIOL 100
• BIOL 302
• CHEM 101
• CHEM 102
• CMSC 201
• MATH 151

If any of the gateway courses are repeated, both the original grade and the first repeat grade will be used in calculating the gateway GPA. Any subsequent repeats after the first two attempts will not be considered in the gateway GPA.

A minimum of three of the above courses must be taken at UMBC.

Students who do not meet the above requirements may petition the BINF Steering Committee and request a waiver or substitution of the gateway requirements.

A majority of the required biology courses must be completed in residence at UMBC. In fulfilling major requirements in bioinformatics, a student must obtain a grade of "C" or higher in all required courses.

Pre-requisites and co-requisites for all BIOL courses will be enforced. Pre-requisites in all biology courses must be satisfied with a grade of "C" or higher.

The department will adhere to university policies that limit to three the number of times a student may register for the same course.