Prospective Students

Late applications subject to availability.

Admission to the graduate program is competitive. Those who meet stated requirements are not guaranteed admission, nor are those who fail to meet all of those requirements necessarily
precluded from admission if they offer other appropriate strengths. Admissions are made on a case-by-case basis. Students can be admitted for full-time or part-time studies.

How to Apply

• Applicants to the program must be in the last semester of undergraduate study or hold an undergraduate degree in biological, computational, or other disciplines from an accredited four-year college or university. However, applicants are expected to have competence in mathematics, computer science and/or biology.
• PhD applicants may apply to the program prior to arranging a Primary Faculty Advisor; however, all students will need the agreement of a Program Faculty member to serve as the primary faculty advisor before admission into the program. The role of Primary Faculty Advisor is to direct and advise a program of study and be approved by the the Graduate Program Committee. It is the expectation of the Committee that graduate advisors will have active research programs with funding at a level sufficient to support graduate student training. Direct admission to the Ph.D. program immediately after a B.S. degree will only be considered for exceptionally qualified candidates as long as funding is secured and MS core course requirements are satisfied.
• OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT (a minimum grade average of 3.0 on a 4.0 system is considered competitive)
• GRE Scores considered competitive: Quantitative: 151, Verbal + Quantitative: 307 if taken after August 1, 2011. No GRE subject test is required.
  • GRE Scores are recommended for Certificate students but may be waived upon application review.
• TOEFL Scores: Students from non-English speaking institutions require an official paper-based TOEFL score of at least 550 (600 for PhD), at least 79 (100 for PhD) on the Internet-based TOEFL (minimum Speaking Score of 18), or a minimum IELTS score of 6.5 (7.5 for PhD with no sub-score below 6.0). TOEFL scores more than two years old cannot be considered official.
• THREE LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION (Two for ABNF-CERT)
  At lease one letter must be from professors, other letters can be from employers or others who have had a supervisory relationship with the applicant and are able to assess the applicant’s potential for success in graduate studies.
• RESUME/CV outlining work and academic experience.APPLICATION ESSAY consisting of the answers to the following questions:
  • What educational background and scientific research or employment experience prepare you for this bioinformatics certificate program?
  • What are your long-term professional objectives?
  • What specific attributes of the bioinformatics program make you feel that this certificate is appropriate to help you achieve your professional objectives?

There are multiple paths to a degree (see comparison).

• Master of Science in Bioinformatics & Computational Biology (BICB-MS)
• Professional Science Master’s in Bioinformatics (BINF-PSM)
• PhD in Bioinformatics & System Biology (PhD)
• Certificate in Bioinformatics (BINF-CERT)
• Certificate Online Applied Bioinformatics (ABNF-CERT)

Common to each degree program are Bioinformatics & Computational Biology Core coursework. The MS requires 31 credits and a thesis. The PSM requries 37 credits and an internship (6 credits). The PhD requires 36-45 credits and doctoral research. The On Campus Certificate requires the 15 credits while the Online Certificate requires 12 credits.

Note that each degree has two distinct paths to graduation. There is a Life Sciences path that emphasizes the biology and a Computational Sciences path that aims for the computer side of bioinformatics and computational biology.

Students currently matriculated in other UD graduate degree programs and students within the bioinformatics degree program moving to a different academic plan should complete a Change of Classification Form to seek approval to enter the Bioinformatics degree programs. The Bioinformatics Graduate Committee will evaluate each request on a case-by-case basis. Any Bioinformatics student funded on a Graduate Assistantship will require the consent of the Faculty Advisor for transfer to another degree option in the program.

Provisional status is offered to applicants who are seeking admission to a degree program but lack specific prerequisites needed in the University of Delaware degree requirements. All provisional requirements must be met within the deadline given before regular status can be granted. Failure to meet the provisions by this deadline is grounds for dismissal from the program. Students admitted with provisional status to a degree program are generally not eligible for assistantships nor fellowships.

Students may request that credit earned in graduate courses taken at the University of Delaware as a continuing education student, or at another institution, be applied toward their degree requirements. Request may be made by using the Request for Transfer of Graduate Credit form and following UD transfer policies found on the form.

For more information, please email bioinformatics@udel.edu