WELCOME TO BIOINFORMATICS AND COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY  AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO 

PhD and M.S. BCB DEGREES at the UNIVERSITY of IDAHO
Bioinformatics and computational biology are new disciplines emerging from the confluence of biology, mathematics, statistics, and computer science. They make sense of the vast quantities of biological data that modern molecular techniques have made available. The advent of high throughput data acquisition in the biological sciences, examples of which are the recent completions of drafts of the entire human and mouse genomes, has created far more data than can be analyzed with current techniques. In order to understand and use these data to improve human health, natural and agricultural resource management, and to simply understand the natural world better will require new techniques and tools. Moreover, industries dependent on that understanding, such as health, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and forestry will require workers who understand this new knowledge. This is what the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (BCB) degree program provides.

STUDY BCB in IDAHO
The BCB program is offered on the Moscow campus of the University of Idaho, and is administered by the College of Graduate Studies. A degree in BCB requires coursework and practical experience in biology, mathematics, statistics, and computer science. The focus of the degree is on learning to develop and use computational and mathematical tools to analyze biological data.

BCB--INTERDISCIPLINARY AT ITS BEST
BCB is a highly interdisciplinary program that requires students and faculty to bridge biological, computational, and mathematical disciplines. BCB faculty members are drawn from nine departments or divisions: Biochemistry (MMBB), Biological Sciences, Computer Science, Fish and Wildlife, Forest Resources, Mathematics, Plant Sciences (PSES), Rangeland Ecology, and Statistics. These academic units span four colleges and one institute: Science, Natural Resources, Agricultural and Life Sciences, Engineering, and WWAMI medical education program. These faculty members are available to serve on BCB graduate student committees.

IDAHO BCB GRADUATES HAVE SKILLS
A graduate degree in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology from UI prepares a student for a lifetime of discovery. It enables the graduate to advance the state of the art, not merely to keep up with it. The graduate program develops the student's critical thinking, investigatory, and expository skills. By understanding the extent and limitation of current knowledge, the graduate will learn to understand what issues are important and why. He or she will acquire the methodological skills to resolve important open problems and tackle challenging new projects. The student will learn to present problems and solutions, both orally and in writing. Graduates of the BCB program will be the vanguard who create the bioinformatics and computational biology of the future.