Core Curriculum

PDF documents describing the Academic Progression for Bioinformatics students in the iPQB program is available for download below. These documents include course numbers, units and quarter in which the course is held. Select a PDF corresponding to your class:

First Year Students:

	Summer	Fall	Winter	Spring
Bootcamp¹	Math / MatLab Biology Didactic Molecular Biology Biochemistry
Required Courses		Statistical Mechanics Macromolecular Interactions I	Theory I: Physical Principles & Bioinformatics Macromolecular Interactions II	Theory II: Systems & Cells Algorithms
Lab Rotations²		Rotation I	Rotation II	Rotation III
Team Challenges³		Genomics	Synthetic Biology

¹ For entering students: 2 weeks in August / September
² One of the three should involve a wet lab project
³ Inter-quarter sessions: team-based project requiring multiple disciplines to solve a problem

Other Requirements

Journal Club (3 quarters):
Student presentations, coached by 2 faculty members

Research seminars (3 quarters):
Attendance at weekly research presentations by scientists, generally from outside of UCSF

Research Opportunities (Pizza talks) (Fall / Winter):
Short overviews of research opportunities in iPQB faculty labs

Student research presentations:
Research presentations by 2nd year students - All students are required to attend

Second Year Students:

Elective:
One elective course, typically in an area of specialized knowledge pertinent to the student’s research interests

Ethics (Spring):
Ethical Conduct of Research

Becoming Effective Science Teachers (BEST) - Theory and Practice (Fall):
TA Training Course

Journal Club (3 quarters):
Student presentations, coached by 2 faculty members

Research seminars (3 quarters):
Attendance at weekly research presentations by scientists, generally from outside of UCSF

Student research presentations:
Research presentations by 2nd year students. All students are required to attend. Evaluated by faculty as a prerequisite to taking the oral qualifying exam.

Third Year + Students:

Qualifying Exam:
A qualifying exam is taken not later than the beginning of the student’s third year.

Research seminars (3 quarters):
Attendance at weekly research presentations by scientists, generally from outside of UCSF

Student research presentations:
Research presentations by 2nd year students - All students are required to attend