Computational Biomedicine and Biotechnology (MS)

Admissions

CoBB welcomes students from various backgrounds, including but not limited to life science, computer science, physical science, mathematics and statistics, and engineering majors, students with interdisciplinary or multi-disciplinary backgrounds.

Application

Required Materials:

• The Online Application
• Statement of Purpose
• Three letters of Recommendation
• Unofficial Transcripts
• Unofficial TOEFL Scores/IELTS/Duolingo Scores (for international applicants)
• Application Fee

Financial Assistance

Financial guidance is available through the University of Pittsburgh Office of Admissions and Financial Aid: https://financialaid.pitt.edu/graduate-students/. All students are responsible for their own tuition.

Degree Requirements

To receive the CoBB MS, all students are required to complete a minimum of 30 credits of masters-level coursework and to maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher. Additionaly information can be found in the Student Handbook.

Curriculum

• At least four research credits of independent study with a research mentor
• A summer internship or additional directed study, worth three credits
• 3 credits of Fundamentals of Computational Biology
• A Professional Development Course and a Faculty Seminar course
• One course (taken or waived) from each of the six core areas of study
  1. Data Science, Programming, Probability, and Statistics
  2. Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Bioimage Analysis
  3. Genomics and Precision Medicine
  4. Molecular and Cell Systems Modeling
  5. Drug Discovery and Quantitative Pharmacology
  6. Specialized Courses, based on the student’s interests, can be selected from a wide range of offerings at the University of Pittsburgh, including the Schools of Medicine, Engineering, and Health Sciences, among others. 

Directed Study

Gaining hands on experience in solving problems in computational biology is an essential part of CoBB training. Each student is therefore required to take a minimum of 4 credits of directed study with a University of Pittsburgh faculty member. Students are expected to select a research mentor for the directed study in their first semester, and to complete the research requirement in the second and/or third semesters.

Internship

To gain experience in the professional application of computational biology, students are encouraged to participate in a 2-to-3 month summer internship at a company of their choosing. Acceptable internship sites include industrial labs, biotech/pharma companies, and governmental organizations.

Students will present a written report with well-defined structure and content at the end of their internship to summarize their experience and the skills they acquired during their experiential training, and to make recommendations for future work. They will also make an oral presentation to share their experience with others.

Completion of Degree

The program is structured in such a way that students can finish their degree within 12-20 months, depending on the background of the student. To complete the degree in one year, students must demonstrate proficiency in programming, calculus and linear algebra.

For more information on the program, please visit www.csb.pitt.edu/cobb/