From owner-comp-bio@hgmp.mrc.ac.uk Wed Mar 27 23:57:52 2002 Return-Path: Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3E64117A6F for ; Wed, 27 Mar 2002 23:57:51 +0000 (GMT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (Postfix) with ESMTP id 11F7C17A97 for ; Wed, 27 Mar 2002 23:57:49 +0000 (GMT) Received: by mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (Postfix, from userid 6023) id 09A6017A6F; Wed, 27 Mar 2002 23:57:45 +0000 (GMT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9D26717B66 for ; Tue, 26 Mar 2002 23:15:00 +0000 (GMT) Received: from cats.ucsc.edu (rumpleteazer.ucsc.edu [128.114.129.45]) by mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5D38B17B6A for ; Tue, 26 Mar 2002 23:14:56 +0000 (GMT) Received: from news.ucsc.edu (darkstar.ucsc.edu [128.114.129.38]) by cats.ucsc.edu (8.9.3/8.8.4.cats-athena) with SMTP id PAA12677 for ; Tue, 26 Mar 2002 15:14:50 -0800 (PST) To: bionet-biology-computational@net.bio.net Newsgroups: bionet.biology.computational From: karplus@bray.cse.ucsc.edu (Kevin Karplus) Subject: Re: Bioinformatics degree questions. References: Message-ID: User-Agent: slrn/0.9.7.1 (Linux) X-Trace: 26 Mar 2002 15:14:40 -0800, bray.cse.ucsc.edu Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 23:57:45 +0000 (GMT) Sender: owner-comp-bio@hgmp.mrc.ac.uk Precedence: bulk In article , Kenneth Blaine wrote: > I'm thinking about going back to school to (eventually) get a PhD in > bioinformatics. My original degree was in a non-technical field (business > administration) so I've got quite a lot of makeup work to do before I can > consider applying to grad school. The way that I look at it, I have three > options I could follow before I apply: > > 1. Take only the standard courses necessary for entrance into a graduate > bioinformatics program. > > 2. Get a (second) undergraduate degree in molecular biology. > > 3. Get a (second) undergraduate degree in molecular biology and take the > extra year of courses required for a masters in molecular biology. > > (Note: I do plan on taking several extra courses in mathematics and > computer science, in any case. But I can take more of them if I don't have > to worry about filling (Lib Arts&Sci) requirements for the 2nd degree.) > > So, which of these options would give me the best chance at getting into a > good graduate program? Or are they all pretty much on par? Also, how > difficult is it to get into a bioinformatics program? I've read that many > universities are having a hard time keeping professors in the field - that > many are being lured away by the private sector. Has this caused it to be > significantly more difficult to be admitted to a bioinformatics program than > to a regular molecular biology program? There are a lot more molecular biology programs than bioinformatics programs, and the necessary training to get into them is not as broad (though possibly deeper). You can look at http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/centers/cbe/FAQ.html to answer a number of your questions about what training UCSC expects for its incoming bioinformatics students. Getting into UCSC (one of the premier programs in bioinformatics, though I say it as shouldn't) is quite difficult---we only accepted about 20 out of 60 applicants this year, and we expect the number of applicants to soar once we actually have an approved grad program. Getting a grad degree in molecular biology is great, but it won't be enough to get you into our bioinformatics program. We want to see a substantial programming background and some statistics, as well as a fair amount of molecular biology. We've found it takes too long to teach someone how to program---that is a skill that need to be obtained BEFORE entering a grad program in bioinformatics. -- Kevin Karplus karplus@soe.ucsc.edu http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/~karplus Professor of Computer Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz Undergraduate Director, Bioinformatics (and grad director-to-be) .