Graduate Field of Computational Biology

Degrees offered: Ph.D.

Computation has become essential to biological research. Genomic databases, protein databanks, MRI images of the human brain, and remote sensing data on landscapes contain unprecedented amounts of detailed information that are transforming almost all of biology. The computational biologist must have skills in mathematics and computation as well as in biology. A key goal in training is to develop the ability to relate biological processes to computational models.

The field provides interdisciplinary training and research opportunities in a range of subareas of computational biology involving topics such as DNA and protein databases, protein structure and function, computational neuroscience, biomechanics, population genetics, and management of natural and agricultural systems.

Students majoring in computational biology are expected to obtain a broad, interdisciplinary knowledge of fundamental principles in biology, computational science, and mathematics. But because the field covers a wide range of areas, it would be unrealistic to expect a student to master each facet in detail. Instead, students choose from specific subareas of study: they are expected to develop competence in at least one specific subdomain of biology (i.e., genetics, macromolecular biology, cellular biology, organismal biology, behavioral biology or ecology) and in relevant subareas of computational science and mathematics.
Students are supervised by field faculty drawn from sixteen departments.

Apply Now Deadline: Jan. 1

Meet the Faculty

Bustamante, Carlos D. Professor
Christini, David J. Associate Professor of Computational Biomedicine / Associate Professor of Physiology and Biophysics / Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering in Medicine
Clark, Andrew G. Jacob Gould Schurmn Professor of Population Genetics
Cooch, Evan G. Associate Professor
Coonrod, Scott A. Associate Professor
Ellner, Stephen Paul Professor
Gilmour Jr, Robert F Associate Dean
Guckenheimer, John Mark Professor
Hoy, Ronald Raymond Professor
Kleinberg, Jon M Tisch University Professor
Lee, Kelvin Hao-Hua Adjunct Professor
Linster, Christiane Associate Professor
Lipson, Hod Assistant Professor
Mezey, Jason G. Assistant Professor
Nielsen, Rasmus Adjunct Professor
Rand, Richard Herbert Professor
Ruppert, David Professor
Schwager, Steven J. Associate Professor
Sethna, James Patarasp Professor/LASSP
Shalloway, David I Professor
Shmoys, David B Professor
Shoemaker, Christine Ann Joseph P. Ripley Professor of Engineering
Siepel, Adam C. Assistant Professor
Siggia, Eric Dean Adjunct Professor
Sullivan, Patrick J Associate Professor
Victor, Jonathan David Fred Plum Professor of Neurology / Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience
Wang, Zheng Jane Associate Professor
Weinstein, Harel The Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Physiology and Biophysics / Tri-Institutional Professor
Wells, Martin Timothy Professor
van der Meulen, Marjolein Dean Assoc