NUS::School of Computing

The main objective of this programme is to provide a multidisciplinary education to produce graduates who would be equally at ease with algorithm design and mathematical and statistical analysis as they would be with biochemistry, biology/genetics, and wet-lab know-how. Besides an opportunity to pursue a career in IT, graduates from the programme will also be equipped for a career in the fast-paced pharmaceutical, biomedical or biotechnology industries. This will help meet the demand of the local market for talents with such skill sets. Moreover, the breadth of instructions will pave the way for good students to pursue graduate studies in Bioinformatics.

The programme is structured such that both Computing and Faculty of Science students share a common core multidisciplinary curriculum (lower division) in their first two years of study.

The lower division embraces a fundamental body of knowledge in which a computational biologist should be proficient. This body of knowledge consists of the following:

• Discrete mathematics and combinatorics, i.e., logic, sets, graphs, counting techniques, etc.;

• Probability and statistics, i.e., sample spaces, random variables, conditioning, distributions, design of experiments, significance tests, statistical inference, etc.;

• Algorithm design and proficiency in some current programming language, i.e., combinatorial algorithms, algorithmic paradigms, analysis and design, working knowledge of current languages (for example, C, C++, Java) and experience in writing actual nontrivial code;

The upper division specialised track trains students in algorithmic design to facilitate the design of computationally efficient software and tools in both centralised and networking environments. Students in this track will pick up skills in software engineering, networking and advanced techniques in algorithmic design. Students may also take modules from the Computational Biology elective list.

The Computational Biology programme degree requires at least 160 MCs. Modules are classified as follows (note that every module can only be counted towards satisfying exactly one requirement):

As specified in Section 3.2.1. Students are required to read CM1121 Basic Organic Chemistry, and PC1432 Physics IIE towards Unrestricted Electives. Students are encouraged to take up CS3880 Advance Technology Attachment Programme (ATAP), and special permission must be granted by the Computational Biology coordinator and ATAP coordinator.

Summary of degree requirement for Bachelor of Computing in Computational Biology

Modules	MCs	Subtotals
UNIVERSITY LEVEL REQUIREMENTS		20
PROGRAMME REQUIREMENTS		120
*Common Essentials*
CS1101/S Programming Methodology	5
CS1102/S Data Structures and Algorithms	5
CS2100 Computer Organisation	4
CS2102 Database Systems	4
CS2103 Software Engineering	4
CS2105 Introduction to Computer Networks	4
Major Requirements
Level-1000 CS and LS major requirements
CS1231 Discrete Structures	4
LSM1101 Biochemistry and Biomolecules	4
LSM1102 Molecular Genetics	4
MA1101R Linear Algebra	4
MA1102R Calculus	4
Level-2000 CS and LS major requirements
CS2220 Introduction to Computational Biology	4
CS2301 Business and Technical Communications	4
LSM2101 Metabolism and Regulation or LSM2102 Molecular Biology or LSM2103 Cell Biology	4
LSM2201 Experimental Biochemistry (or LSM2201A at 4 MCs) or LSM2202 Experimental Molecular and Cell Biology (or LSM2202A at 4 MCs)	6 6
ST2334 Probability and Statistics &	4
Level-3000 CS and LS major requirements
CS3230 Design & Analysis of Algorithms	4
CS3225 Combinatorial Methods in Bioinformatics or MA3259 Mathematical Methods in Genomics	4
LSM3231 Protein Structure and Function	4
Level-3000 Electives^ : Choose any three from the following: CS3103 Computer Networks and Protocols ++ CS3225 Combinatorial Methods in Bioinformatics or MA3259 Mathematical Methods in Genomics CS3240 Human-Computer Interaction CS3241 Computer Graphics CS3243 Foundations of Artificial Intelligence CS3244 Machine Learning & Neural Networks	12
Level-4000 CS and LS major requirements
CS4220 Knowledge Discovery Methods in Bioinformatics	4
LSM4241 Functional Genomics	4
Either CS4101 Honours Project @ Sufficient number of modules from CB Elective course list* or Sufficient number of modules from CB Elective course list*	20
UNRESTRICTED ELECTIVES %		20
Grand Total		160

&: Students should choose ST2131 Probability and ST2132 Mathematical Statistics in place of ST2334 if they plan to pursue higher level Statistics modules.

^: With the special permission from the UROP coordinator and Computational Biology Programme Coordinator, CS3208/CS3209 Undergraduate Research in Computing I/II can be used to replace two of the level-3 Computational Biology electives if the project is on Computational Biology.

*: The Computational Biology (CB) Elective Course List may be revised from time to time to include new Computational Biology electives that are introduced and approved by the Department of Computer Science .

++: Students who take CS3103 (Computer Networks and Protocols) must also take CS3103L(Computer Networks Laboratory).

%: Students are required to read CM1121 Basic Organic Chemistry, and PC1432 Physics IIE towards Unrestricted Electives. Students are encouraged to take up CS3880 Advance Technology Attachment Programme (ATAP), and Special permission must be granted by the Computational Biology coordinator and ATAP coordinator.