The role of computer science in undergraduate bioinformatics education

• Published in: Proceedings of the thirty-fifth SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education : SIGCSE 2004 : Norfolk, Virginia, USA, March 3-7, 2004 Virginia, USA, March 3-7, 2004, 2004-03, Vol.36 (1), p.417-421
• Main Authors: Burhans, Debra T., Skuse, Gary R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0097-8418
• DOI: 10.1145/1028174.971442

The successful implementation of educational programs in bioinformatics presents many challenges. The interdisciplinary nature of bioinformatics requires close cooperation between computer scientists and biologists despite inescapable differences in the ways in which members of these professions think. It is clear that the development of quality curricula for bioinformatics must draw upon the expertise of both disciplines. In addition, biologists and computer scientists can benefit from opportunities to carry out interdisciplinary research with one another. This paper examines the role of computer science in undergraduate bioinformatics education from the perspectives of two bioinformatics program directors. Their respective programs exemplify two substantively different approaches to undergraduate education in bioinformatics due to the fact that they are at markedly different institutions. One institution is a large, technical university, offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees in bioinformatics while the other is a small, Jesuit liberal arts college with an undergraduate program in bioinformatics. Despite these differences there is considerable overlap with respect to the role of computer science. This paper discusses the ways in which computer science has been integrated into these two undergraduate bioinformatics programs, compares alternative approaches, and presents some of the inherent challenges.