Graduate Committee
Dr. M. Jordan Rowley (Chair & Program Director), Dr. Dario Ghersi (Co-Chair), Dr. Jonathan Clayton, Dr. Kate Cooper, Dr. John Davis, Dr. Shibiao Wan
The IGPBS - Bioinformatics & Systems Biology (BISB) doctoral program is jointly administered by faculty at UNMC and UNO, two sister campuses with diverse and complementary strengths in areas such as genomics, bioinformatics, computer science, mathematics, statistics, systems biology, etc. The two campuses offer a vibrant learning environment and rich research resources including supercomputers for high-throughput data analysis tasks. The average time to graduate with a Ph.D. at UNMC is about 5 years. Upon degree completion, students from the BISB doctoral program will be well-positioned for a variety of career paths in the rapidly growing field of bioinformatics.
General Requirements
- Completion of coursework.
- Completion of the comprehensive examination.
- Completion of a research project consistent with a Ph.D. level of achievement.
- Completion and successful defense of a doctoral dissertation.
- Concurrence of the mentor and the student's Supervisory Committee.
PhD Curriculum
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| GRAD 800 | RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT IN RESEARCH TRAINING | 0 |
| BIOS 806 | BIOSTATISTICS | 3 |
| BISB 815 | TOOLS AND ALGORITHMS IN BIOINFORMATICS | 3 |
| MGCB 823 | FUNDAMENTALS IN GENETICS AND GENOMICS | 2 |
| PAMM 825 | INTRODUCTION TO R PROGRAMMING FOR BIOMEDICINE | 03 |
| OR BMI 8540 | (Foundations in Programming for Biomedical Informatics. This course is held at UNO) | 3 |
| IPBS 802 | MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY | 2 |
| BISB 970 | SEMINAR | 1 |
| BISB 903 | BIOINFORMATICS IN SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS | 1 |
| ELECTIVE | (Course approved on by supervisory committee related to computer science, bioinformatics, or statistics.) | 3 |
The above courses are required core curriculum, but these requirements can be waived if a student can document extensive expertise or previous comparable coursework. A basic programming course (in either Python or R) may also be required for students who lack experience in programming. Students must take one elective related to Computer Science, Bioinformatics, or Statistics approved by the supervisory committee. Students must take all courses prior to taking the comprehensive examination.