Major in Bioinformatics
Vast amounts of information are generated every day. Life Sciences disciplines — biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, environmental science, biochemistry, genetics, microbiology, and many others — must sort through and analyze this data to make breakthroughs to improve our lives.
The emerging field of Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary research area that teaches you how to analyze large-scale datasets and apply that analysis to solve problems in a variety of professional, medical, and scholarly fields.
Why Study Bioinformatics at UAB?
The Bioinformatics program at UAB is the first of its kind in Alabama. It is designed to provide a thorough understanding of bioinformatics, but also give you a background in genetics, molecular biology, computer science, chemistry, and mathematics.
Bioinformatics at UAB is an interdisciplinary program. Students will be able to participate in research with faculty from departments across the university, including:
- Computer Science
- Biology
- Biostatistics
- School of Medicine Basic Science Departments
- School of Medicine Clinical Science Departments
In addition to multidisciplinary faculty and research opportunities, our students will have access to Lister Hill Library – the biggest biomedical library in Alabama and one of the leading biomedical libraries in the South.
Careers
There is a growing need for a new generation of life scientists who understand how to solve complex biology problems with computational techniques — from high-performance computing to mathematical modeling of molecular systems, and computer scientists who understand how to make sense of large datasets using machine learning and mathematical modeling within the context of the biological sciences and medicine.
This major will also prepare students for entry into graduate study in areas like computer science, genetics, molecular biology, chemistry, mathematics, and engineering, as well as bioinformatics graduate programs. Learn more about the Bioinformatics career field.
Explore
Learn more about our faculty and our courses, and feel free to ask us questions about the program. We look forward to seeing you in class.
