Applicable only to students admitted during the 2012-2013 academic year.

Bioinformatics

Interdepartmental Program
College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Bioinformatics Program offers the Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Bioinformatics.

Admission

Program Name

Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics is an interdepartmental program.  Interdepartmental programs provide an integrated curriculum of several disciplines.

Address

114 Hershey Hall
612 Charles E. Young Drive
Box 957246
Los Angeles, CA 90095-7246 

Phone

(310) 825-7929 

Email

bioinformaticsphd@lifesci.ucla.edu  

Leading to the degree of

M.S., Ph.D.

The department admits only applicants whose objective is the PhD. 

Admission Limited to

Fall 

Deadline to apply

December 1st 

GRE (General and/or Subject)

GRE: General 

Letters of Recommendation 

3, from professors, supervisors, or others who may provide an evaluation of the applicant's accomplishments or potential in research, teaching, and related scholarly activities 

Other Requirements

In addition to the University's minimum requirements and those listed above, all applicants are expected to submit a statement of purpose.

The program encourages applications from students in all areas of science, with successful applicants expected to have or acquire a background comparable to the requirements for UCLA's bachelor's degree in Computational and Systems Biology. A background in computer science and mathematics is desirable. Applicants with deficiencies in these or other subjects should address these deficiencies at the earliest opportunity, generally by preparatory study at an appropriate institution. Applicants with academic deficiencies in these areas may be admitted on a provisional basis. 

Master's Degree

Advising

All academic affairs for graduate students in the program are directed by the program's Graduate Adviser, who is assisted by staff in the Graduate Affairs Office. Upon matriculation, students are assigned a three-person guidance committee by the Graduate Adviser.

The chair of the guidance committee acts as the provisional adviser until a permanent adviser is selected. Provisional advisers are not committed to supervise examination or thesis work and students are not committed to the provisional adviser. Students select a permanent adviser before establishing a comprehensive examination or thesis committee.

Areas of Study

Study consists of a core curriculum, computer science, genomics, mathematics, neuroinformatics, protoeomics and statistics.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

The program consists of a minimum of 36 units. Students must complete all of the following: (1) the three core courses: Bioinformatics M260A and Chem CM260B, and Statistics M254; (2) three approved elective courses; (3) enrollment in Bioinformatics M252 is expected throughout study for the master’s degree; (4) enrollment Bioinformatics 596 and/or 597 research units, although no more than two courses (eight units) of 596 and/or 597 may be applied toward the requirements for a master’s degree. Courses must be taken for a letter grade, unless offered on S/U grading basis only.

Students who have gaps in their previous training may take, with the Graduate Adviser's approval, appropriate undergraduate courses. However, these courses may not be applied toward the required coursework for the master's degree.

Teaching Experience

One quarter of teaching experience is required.

Field Experience

Not required.

Comprehensive Examination Plan

The master's comprehensive examination is in the format of a written report on a research project.  The report should describe the results of the student's investigation of a problem in the area of Bioinformatics under the supervision of a faculty member in the program, who approves the subject and plan of the project, as well as reading and approving the completed report. While the problem may be one of only limited scope, the report must exhibit a satisfactory style, organization, and depth of understanding of the subject. A student should normally start to plan the project at least one quarter before the award of the M.S. degree is expected. The advisory committee evaluates and grades the written report as not pass or M.S. pass and forwards the results to the Graduate Adviser.

Thesis Plan

Every master's degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research.

Students must choose a permanent faculty adviser and submit a thesis proposal by the end of the third quarter of study. The proposal must be approved by the permanent adviser who served as the thesis adviser. The thesis is evaluated by a three-person committee that is nominated by the program and appointed by the Graduate Division. Students must present the thesis in a public seminar.

Time-to-Degree

Normative time-to-degree is three to four quarters.

Doctoral Degree

Advising

The program provides a comprehensive system of advising throughout a student's graduate study.  During orientation, the advising committee and the program chair meet with new students to review first-year requirements.  Throughout their first term, students are expected to meet individually with the chair or other members of the advising committee to identify faculty is closest to the student's own interests and whose laboratory rotations would be most appropriate to join.  At the end of the fall quarter, the entire advising committee meets with the first-year students to answer questions that have arisen.  In subsequent quarters, each student's enrollment and performance in core courses and laboratory rotations are closely monitored, and students are counseled individually by the advising chair.  At the end of spring quarter of the first year, students submit a Faculty Mentor Approval form, co-signed by the proposed mentor, to the advising committee, which considers the choice of mentor and the ability of faculty to serve in this capacity.

The advising program continues after a student has chosen a faculty research mentor.  Each year, students receive a memorandum outlining current requirements (e.g., course electives, the written and oral qualifying examinations and midstream seminar).  The advising committee also meets annually to discuss student progress and identify potential problems.  Students then receive a letter assessing their current progress and making specific recommendations as needed.  An overall assessment of student progress is also made annually to the neuroscience committee. 

In addition to the formal advising procedures outlined above, students are encouraged to seek advice on career development from faculty members in the Bioinformatics community at UCLA.  An annual retreat serves to allow informal and organized contacts between faculty and students, providing further opportunity for advising.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

These fields include computer science, genomics, molecular evolution/comparative genomics, mathematics, neuroinformatics, proteomics and statistics.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

Students must complete all of the following: (1) the three core courses: Bioinformatics M260A and Chem CM260B, and Statistics M254; (2) Bioinformatics M202 (only during Fall Quarter of the first year); (3) three laboratory rotations (enrolling in six units of Bioinformatics 596 during each rotation); (4) three approved elective courses; (5) enrollment in Bioinformatics M252 is expected throughout study for the Ph.D.
Students are required to enroll full-time in a minimum of 12 units each quarter. In addition to basic course requirements, all students are required to enroll in Bioinformatics 596 or 599 each quarter.

Students who have gaps in their previous training may take, with their thesis adviser's approval, appropriate undergraduate courses. However, these courses may not be applied toward the required coursework for the doctoral degree.

Teaching Experience

One quarter of teaching experience is required.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass University written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations the University oral qualifying examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to University requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

Doctoral students must complete the core curriculum before they are permitted to take the written and oral qualifying examinations. Students are required to pass a written qualifying examination that consists of a research proposal outside of their dissertation topic and the University Oral Qualifying Examination in which they defend their dissertation research proposal before their doctoral committee. Students are expected to complete the written examination by the beginning of the second year and the oral examination by the end of Spring Quarter of the third year.

During their first year, doctoral students perform laboratory rotations with program faculty whose research is of interest to them and select a dissertation adviser from the program faculty inside list by the end of their third quarter of enrollment. By the end of their second spring quarter, students must select a doctoral committee that consists of three program faculty and one outside member and is approved by the program chair and the Graduate Division. By the end of their second year, students must submit a written dissertation proposal.  All members of the doctoral committee must receive a copy of the proposal before the oral qualifying examination is scheduled.

Approximately one year after the successful completion of the qualifying examinations and advancement to doctoral candidacy, students must present, within an oral seminar format, a summary of their research to date and proposed future research.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of the Dissertation)

Required for all students in the program.

Time-to-Degree

Students are expected to complete the written qualifying examination by the beginning of the second year of study and the University Oral Qualifying Examination by the end of Spring Quarter of the third year. The normative time-to-degree is 16 quarters.

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

Students must receive at least a grade of B- in core courses or repeat the course. Students who received three grades of B- in core courses, who fail all or part of the written or oral qualifying examinations twice (the examination committee determines the form of re-examination for students who fail all or part of the written examination), or who fail to maintain minimum progress may be recommended for termination by vote of the entire interdepartmental program committee. Students may appeal a recommendation for termination in writing to the interdepartmental program committee and may personally present additional or mitigating information to the committee, in person or in writing.