Courses

All BICB courses and seminars listed below are Pass/Fail (where applicable). Courses are divided into core and elective courses.

Description of BICB Courses

Core Courses

1. BICB 8510 Computation and Biology (2 crs; up to 2 repetitions totaling up to 4.0 crs)
   This course will be taught in modular form and will provide first‐year graduate students with an overview of topics in molecular biology and genetics; mathematics, statistics and biostatistics; programming in FORTRAN and C/C++; programming in Perl; data management; and data mining. The modules will be offered based on the needs of each incoming class of BICB graduate students.
2. BICB 8990 Seminar on Current Topics (1 crs; up to 4 repetitions totaling up to 4.0 crs)
   Sections in this seminar will vary depending on instructor.
3. BICB 8991 Independent Study (1‐2 crs; up to 2 repetitions totaling up to 4.0 crs)
   This course may be used by graduate students for reading courses with appropriate faculty or to conduct other independent studies. Ph.D. graduate students may only register for this course prior to passing the preliminary oral exam. M.S. graduate students may register for this course at any time.

Elective Courses

4. BICB 8940 Education and Pedagogy Seminar (1 crs; up to 4 repetitions totaling up to 4.0 crs)
   This seminar will meet weekly in the fall semester. It will give students and faculty the opportunity to discuss effective teaching methods, advising methods, etc., with an emphasis on interdisciplinary training and training across multiple institutions.
5. BICB 8970 Leadership Seminar (1 cr; 2 repeats allowed) : not currently offered
   This leadership seminar will focus on clinical and translational research and entrepreneurship. It will meet every other year and will feature invited speakers who are involved in clinical and translational research.

Mayo Clinic Courses and UMTC MOT Courses

6. BICB 5620 Topics in Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology (0.5‐4 crs; up to 6 repetitions totaling up to 24.0 crs) Each section of this course corresponds to a Mayo Clinic 5xxx or 6xxx course. Contact DGS before enrolling
7. BICB 8620 Topics in Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology (0.5‐4 crs; up to 6 repetitions totaling up to 24.0 crs)
   Each section of this course corresponds to a Mayo Clinic 8xxx course. Contact DGS before enrolling.
8. BICB 8670 Topics in Management of Technology (0.5‐4.0 crs; up to 6 repetitions totaling up to 24.0 crs)
   Each section of this course corresponds to a MOT course. Contact DGS before enrolling.

Other Courses

9. BICB 8920 BICB Colloquium (1 cr; up tp 2 repetitions totaling up to 2.0 crs)
   This is a weekly seminar for BICB graduate students that introduces students to current topics in the research area. The seminar features outside speakers and will utilize existing seminar series when appropriate, such as the CBCB seminar series. Ph.D. students must take two semesters of this seminar; M.S. students must take one semester.
10. BICB 8930 Journal Club (1 cr; up to 4 repetitions totaling up to 4.0 cr)
    This seminar will meet weekly for 60 minutes during both fall semester and spring semester. The seminar is required of 1st and 2nd year Ph.D. graduate students and 1st year M.S. graduate students. This seminar consists of discussions of journal articles that are led by 2nd year Ph.D. graduate students. The journal articles will be chosen by the 2nd year students in consultation with their advisors/co‐advisors
11. BICB 8932 Proposal Writing Seminar (1.0 crs; no repeats allowed)
    This seminar is required for all 2nd year Ph.D. graduate students. Its purpose is to teach students how to write proposals and to guide them through the writing of their preliminary written exam. This seminar will meet during the spring semester.
12. BICB 8994 Directed Research (1‐3 crs; up to 2 repetitions allowed totaling up to 6.0 crs)
    This course may be used by Ph.D. graduate students to engage in research projects prior to passing the preliminary oral exam. These research projects may lead to thesis research or could be independent of the planned Ph.D. or M.S. thesis research. M.S. graduate students may register for this course at any time.
13. BICB 8960 Internship Course (1‐6 crs; up to 6 repeats allowed totaling up to 12.0 crs)
    All students are required to complete 120 hours of internships. Students may register for up to 6 credits per semester. Students are not required to register for credit for internships. However, they must provide documentation of completion of internships that are kept on file as outlined in Appendix B.

Other Program Credits

14. BICB 8333 FTE: Master’s (No Grade Associated)
15. BICB 8444 FTE: Doctoral (No Grade Associated)
16. BICB 8666 Doctoral Pre‐Thesis Credits (1‐6 crs; 2 repeats allowed; DGS consent for 3rd/4th registrations; No Grade Associated)
17. BICB 8777 Thesis Credits: Master’s (1‐18 crs; 10 repeats allowed; No Grade Associated)
18. BICB 8888 Thesis Credits: Doctoral (1‐24 crs; 10 repeats allowed; No Grade Associated) 

List of Core, Elective, and Other Courses with Course Designators Other Than BICB

The courses below have been approved by the BICB graduate faculty to count towards the Ph.D. or M.S. in BICB.  A student who takes a course that is not on the list must seek approval to count towards the degree.  Students and faculty may suggest additional courses that are not currently on the list.

A ‘*’ indicates that the course is offered via ITV or UNITE or online and can therefore be taken at UMR. Courses offered at Mayo Clinic are in caps. Note that
courses at the University of Minnesota are offered under the semester system (Fall 2010, Spring 2011), and that courses at Mayo Clinic are offered under the
quarter system (Fall 10, Winter 11, Spring 11, Summer 11). An “x” in the column to the left of the course indicates that the course is offered in the specified
semester or quarter. Classes are in session during the following periods:

UMN Academic Calendar

Fall 2012

• September 4: Classes begin
• November 22‐23: Thanksgiving Holiday
• December 12: Last Day of instruction
• December 13, 16: Study day
• December 14-15, 17‐19: Final examinations
• December 20: End of term

Spring 2013

• January 22: Classes begin
• March 18‐22: Spring Break
• May 10: Last day of instruction
• May 11-12: Study Days
• May 13-17: Final examinations
• May 18: End of the term

Mayo Clinic

• Fall 2012
• Winter 2013
• Spring 2013
• Summer 2013

Core Courses

1. Biochemistry, molecular and cell biology
(NOTE: only one 4xxx level course may count towards the degree)

2. Database, data mining, and computing

 3. Informatics, analysis, and machine learning

4. Mathematics, biostatistics, and statistics 

5. Computational and systems biology

Elective Courses

1. Biochemistry, molecular and cell biology

2. Informatics, database, data mining, and computing

3. Mathematics, biostatistics and statistics

4. Chemistry, chemical engineering, and physics

5. Biophysics and structural biology

6. Imaging, information theory and signal processing

7. Computational chemistry, medicinal chemistry and drug design

8. Clinical and translational sciences

Additional Elective Courses

Ethics

Leadership and Management

Suggested courses to fill gaps

Courses to fill gaps may not count towards fulfillment of core degree requirements. They may count as elective courses to satisfy credit requirements. However, no 3xxx courses and at most one 4xxx course may count towards the degree.

Biology

MIT has made its courses publicly available. An excellent introduction to Biology is the MIT course 7.012 Introduction to Biology (Fall 2004):http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Biology/7-012Fall-2004/CourseHome/. The first 19 lectures provide a basic introduction to modern biology. This series of lectures is highly recommended to students who lack a basic introduction to biology. Students are expected to work through the materials on their own, using the class materials provided on the web page.  The 4xxx level courses below may be included in the degree program (at most one 4xxx course may be included in the degree program):

Chemistry

MIT has made its courses publicly available. A basic introduction to chemistry for students with a background in chemistry is the MIT course 5.112 Principles of Chemical Science (Fall 2005): http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Chemistry/5-112Fall-2005/CourseHome/. Students are expected to work through the materials on their own, using the class materials provided on the web page. To review Organic Chemistry, MIT courses 5.12 Organic Chemistry I and 5.13 Organic Chemistry II are useful. This course does not have audio or video lectures:
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Chemistry/5-12Organic-Chemistry-ISpring2003/CourseHome/
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/chemistry/5-13-organic-chemistry-ii-fall-2003/

Computer Science

 The 4xxx level courses below may be included in the degree program (at most one 4xxx course may be included in the degree program):

Calculus

 This course may be included in the degree program: