(Programs of Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, and Physics)
Overview
This certificate is designed to meet the need for scientists and educators with broad, interdisciplinary training in the quantitative biological, biochemical, and biomedical sciences. Students who successfully complete the certificate and degree requirements will receive a certificate in Structural and Computational Biophysics, as well as the degree in the program in which they matriculate. The program is a collaboration among the programs of Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics, Molecular and Cellular Biosciences and Physics.
Following matriculation and at least one semester of coursework in a participating program (currently Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics, Molecular and Cellular Biosciences and Physics), students can apply for admission to this certificate program. Admission is initiated by meeting with the SCB program director. The student will then submit a letter of intent and a graduate transcript to their department representative or to their program director. The letter of intent should express the students interest in the program, a proposed plan of study, and how the program meets the students career and academic goals. Following favorable evaluation, applicants may be recommended for admission by the program director, with final approval determined by the Graduate School.
Students have access to state-of-the-art equipment and facilities in multiple departments, including the Wake Forest Structural Biology Facility (csb.wfu.edu), the DEAC Linux cluster (deac.wfu.edu), and well-equipped research laboratories in biophysics, biochemistry, and biomedical engineering.
The interdisciplinary certificate program in Structural and Computational Biophysics began in 2005. Information on the program and links to faculty research interests can be accessed at scb.wfu.edu.
Students will follow the curriculum for the Graduate Program in which they are seeking a degree. Masters degree students must be pursuing a thesis option. Fifteen hours in SCB-related courses including two hours in each of three areas below, one hour of discussion group for credit and two hours of journal club (the other six hours are in the student's area of specialty). Coursework is deliberately flexible, and courses will be approved by program director. Students will successfully complete a course in scientific ethics (GRD 713/ GRD 714 recommended). Student dissertation/thesis committee must have members from three different SCB associated departments. The dissertation/thesis must involve original, interdisciplinary research in the area of structural and computational biophysics or computational biology; broadly defined.
Courses of Instruction
Approved courses are listed below. Additional courses or substitutions may be approved by the program director. Course descriptions can be found under the department which administers the course.
SCB-Specific Courses
SCB 701. Structural and Computational Biophysics Journal Club. (1 h)
SCB 710. Research Topics in Structural and Computational Biophysics. (1 h)
Curriculum Area 1. Chemistry/Biochemistry
General prerequisites: Two semesters of undergraduate chemistry and one semester of undergraduate biochemistry or molecular biology. Additional prerequisites may be required by course.
Course List
Code |
Title |
Hours |
BIO 672 | Advanced Molecular Biology | 3 |
BIO 775 | Microscopy for the Biological Sciences | 4 |
CHM 624 | Medicinal Chemistry | 3 |
CHM 641 | Physical Chemistry | 3 |
CHM 670 | Biochemistry: Macromolecules and Metabolism | 3 |
CHM 673 | Biochemistry Protein and Nucleic Acid Structure and Function | 3 |
CHM 676 | Biophysical Chemistry | 3 |
CHM 751 | Biochemistry of Nucleic Acids | 1.5-3 |
CHM 752 | Protein Chemistry | 1.5-3 |
CHM 753 | Chemical Biology | 3 |
CHM 755 | Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry: Fundamentals and Applications | 1.5-3 |
CHM 756 | Biomolecular NMR | 1.5 |
CHM 757 | Macromolecular Crysallography | 1.5 |
MCB 700 | | 1 |
MCB 701 | | 1-6 |
MCB 711 | | 2 |
Curriculum Area 2. Physics
General prerequisites: Two semesters of undergraduate physics. Additional prerequisites may be required by course.
Curriculum Area 3. Computer Science/Mathematics/Statistics
General computer science prerequisites: Programming in a high-level language. Additional prerequisites may be required by course.
Course List
Code |
Title |
Hours |
CSC 621 | Database Management Systems | 3 |
CSC 631 | Software Engineering | 3 |
CSC 646 | Parallel Computation | 3 |
CSC 652 | Numerical Linear Algebra | 3 |
CSC/MTH 655 | Introduction to Numerical Methods | 3 |
CSC 671 | Artificial Intelligence | 3 |
CSC 685 | Bioinformatics | 3 |
CSC 687 | Computational Systems Biology | 3 |
CSC 721 | Theory of Algorithms | 3 |
CSC/MTH 753 | Nonlinear Optimization | 3 |
CSC/MTH 754 | Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations | 3 |
CSC 775 | Neural Networks | 3 |
MTH 605 | Introduction to Linear Algebra and Differential Equations | 3 |
MTH 606 | Advanced Mathematics for the Physical Sciences | 3 |
MTH 626 | Numerical Linear Algebra | 3 |
MTH 652 | Partial Differential Equations | 3 |
MTH 757 | Stochastic Processes and Applications | 3 |
PHY 635 | Computational Physics | 3 |
STA 611 | Statistical Inference | 3 |
STA 612 | Linear Models | 3 |
STA 652 | Networks: Models and Analysis | 3 |
STA 662 | Multivariate Statistics | 3 |
STA 663 | Introduction to Statistical Learning | 3 |
Program Director Freddie R. Salsbury Jr
Professors Rebecca Alexander, Edward E. Allen, Ulrich Bierbach, Keith D. Bonin, Martin Guthold, Thomas J. Hollis, W. Todd Lowther, Daniel B. Kim-Shapiro, S. Bruce King, Douglas S. Lyles, Jed C. Macosko, Gloria K. Muday, Paul Pauca, Leslie B. Poole, Freddie R. Salsbury Jr., Peter Santago
Associate Professors Adam Hall, Brian W. Tague, William H. Turkett Jr.
Assistant Professor Derek Parsonage