The study of bioinformatics and computational biology includes the development of new computational methods for studying organization and evolution of genes and genomes, computational approaches to macromolecular structure and dynamics, and comparative evolutionary genomics.
Georgia Tech offers an interdisciplinary doctoral (PhD) program in Bioinformatics with participating schools and departments that include Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Computational Sciences and Engineering (College of Computing), Industrial and Systems Engineering, and Mathematics.
We also offer a Professional Science Master's (MS) program in Bioinformatics in the School of Biology.
Bioinformatics is a multidisciplinary field in which life sciences, computer science, physical sciences, and engineering are merged to solve both fundamental and applied problems in biology and medicine. The outcomes of bioinformatics and computational biology particularly include:
- new and global perspectives into the organization and function of biological systems (fundamental biology);
- new and novel targets for drug discovery and development; and
- genetic/proteomic profiling for pharmaco-genomics or personalized medicine.
Thus, Bioinformatics is emerging as a strategic discipline at the frontier between Biology, Biochemistry, Biomedicine, Bioengineering, Computer Science and Mathematics, impacting fundamental science, medicine, biotechnology, and society.
With its broad mission statement, this program at Georgia Tech has the following focus / strength areas:
- Development of software tools, algorithms, and databases for gene identification, protein structural prediction, clustering analysis, and data mining.
- Application of bioinformatics to disease diagnosis, classification, prognosis, and treatment.
- Application of bioinformatics to fundamental biology and systems biology.
To further strengthen teaching and research collaborations between the faculty and participating in this program, the Georgia Tech Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology has been recently formed. Seminars, symposia, meetings and events also include participating faculty from Emory University and University of Georgia.
Funding for Students:
- PhD students are fully supported with tuition waiver and monthly stipend.
- MS students are eligible to apply for Computational Biology Faculty GRA awards after their first semester of study. These are awarded competitively and include a tuition waiver and stipend.