The PSM scientific curriculum, together with “Plus” component for professional skills and the immersive Internship prepare the PSM graduates to pursue a professional career. The Computational Sciences Concentration allows students to gain knowledge and industry experience in developing bioinformatics methods, tools and/or databases for modern biotechnology or medicine. The Life Sciences Concentration allows students to gain knowledge and industry experience in applying bioinformatics methods, tools and databases as an integral approach to modern biotechnology and medicine. The BINF-PSM graduates will be well positioned to pursue a professional career in industry, business, government agencies, or non-profit organizations.

The Professional Science Master’s in Bioinformatics requires 37 credits, including 15 credits in the Bioinformatics & Computational Biology Core courses, 3 credits of Ethics, 1 credit of Seminar, 6 credits of Internship and 12 credits of PSM PLUS coursework.

BINF-PSM (37 Credit Hours Total)
Bioinformatics & Computational Biology Core15 Credits
Ethics Core3 Credits
Seminar1 Credit
Internship6 Credits
Professional Science Master's Plus Courses12 Credits

An internship is required for the PSM degree (see options). The internship can be completed at participating companies/institutions in the PSM program and be jointly supervised by the Faculty Advisor and a Co-Mentor in the hosting institution. Unless special permission is granted, students need to complete 12 credit hours of coursework prior to the start of their internship. The mentors and student will develop the internship objectives for approval by the Director of the PSM program prior to the start of the internship. A final written report and a poster presentation are required to complete the course.

Internship (6)
InternshipBINF 864 Internship (1-6)

The PSM degree requires at least 12 credits of PSM PLUS coursework in addition to their science core. Whereas students in the PSM program may have professional goals that would lead them into business and industry (BI) or to government or non-profit employment (GN), the University of Delaware offers two tracks for the PSM PLUS component. The University recommends the student follow one of the PSM PLUS tracks below, however students may cross over tracks to fit their interest.

Professional Science Master's Plus Courses
Accounting (3)ACCT800 Financial Accounting and Analysis (3)
Leadership and Organization (3)
[Select One]
BUAD 870 Leadership and Organizational Behavior (3)
BUAD 872 Organizational Development and Change (3)
UAPP 761 Conflict Resolution Collab Prob Solving (3)
Project Management, Operations or Entrepreneurship (3)
[Select One]
BUAD 811 Globalization and Business (3)
BUAD 831 Operations Management and Management Science (3)
BUAD 835 Managing for New Product Development Projects (3)
BUAD 871 Managing for Creativity and Innovation (3)
ENTR 860 High Technology Entrepreneurship (3)
MISY 840 Project Management and Costing (3)
UAPP 827 Program and Project Analysis
UAPP 697 Leading Organizations in Public & NP Sectors (3)
UAPP 698 Management Decision Making in Public & NP Sectors (3)
Intellectual Property (3)CHEG 595 Intellectual Property for Engineers and Scientists (3)

Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Core Courses

Students must take 15 credits of breadth courses, one course in each of the following areas:

Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Core (15 Credit Hours)
BioinformaticsBINF644 Bioinformatics (3)
Systems Biology
[Select One]
BINF694 Systems Biology I (3)
BINF695 Computational Systems Biology (3)
Database
[select one]
BINF640 Databases for Bioinformatics (3)
CISC637 Database Systems (3)
Biostatistics
[select one]
STAT656 Biostatistics (3)
STAT611 Regression Analysis (3)
Intro to Discipline
[select one]
Computational Sciences Concentration
BISC609 Molecular Biology of the Cell (3)
BISC654 Biochemical Genetics (3)
PLSC636 Plant Genes and Genomes (3)
Life Science Concentration
BINF690 Programming for Bioinformatics (3)

Ethics Courses

Students must take one of the following ethics core courses (3 credits)

  • PHIL655 The Ethics in Data Science and AI
  • BUAD840 Ethical Issues in Global Business Environments
  • PHIL648 Environmental Ethics
  • UAPP650 Values Ethics and Leadership

Seminar

Students must take three semesters of seminar (two 0 credit; one 1 credit) and give a presentation in their final semester.

Seminars (1 Credit Hour)
SeminarBINF 865 Seminar (0-1)