ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS RELATED TO BIOLOGY

Bioinformatics is a joint program of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, School of Engineering and the Department of Biology, School of Arts and Sciences. Mindful of the emerging opportunities at the interface of biology and computer science, the Departments of Biology and of Computer Science and Engineering sponsor a Bioinformatics Minor that serves students from both departments and other students with an interest in this field. For online information see http://cse.wustl.edu/undergraduateprograms/Pages/MinorBioinformatics.aspx.

The Bioinformatics Minor requires six or seven courses (20-24 units) as described below:
Core: Bio 280*, DNA Workshop (4u), OR Bio 2960 (4u) plus Bio 2970 (4u), Math 3200, Elementary Probability and Statistics (3u), OR ESE 326, Probability and Statistics for Engineering (3u), CSE 131, Computer Science I (4u), CSE 241, Algorithms and Data Structures (3u)

Advanced Biology Electives (choose one): Bio 3492 Laboratory Experiments with Eukaryotic Microbes (3u), Bio 4181 Population Genetics (3u), Bio 4342 Research Explorations in Genomics (4u), Bio 437 Laboratory on DNA Manipulation (4u)

CSE Electives (choose one): CSE 514A Data Mining (3u), CSE 584A Algorithms for Biosequence Comparison (3u), CSE 587A Algorithms for Computational Biology (3u), Bio 5495 Computational Molecular Biology (3u)

*Because Bio 280 is not currently offered, students in the Bioinformatics minor should take Bio 2960 and Bio 2970 and their chemistry prerequisites/corequisites (Chem 111A, 112A, 151, 152) as core courses.

Biomedical Engineering Majors

The School of Engineering and Applied Science offers undergraduate programs in biomedical engineering with tracks in Bioelectrical Systems, Biomechanics, Biomolecular Systems, and Biotechnology.  These tracks prepare students for the challenges posed by the integration of biology and engineering  Students take engineering course work along with biology courses.  Biomedical engineering majors with strong interests in Biology may supplement the primary major with a Biology second major.

For further information, see http://bme.wustl.edu/undergraduateprograms/Pages/default.aspx.

Biomedical Physics Minor

The Physics Department offers a minor for students interested in the application of methods and techniques from physics to biology and medicine. The program is of interest to the research-oriented science major or the premedical student. Requirements for the Biomedical Physics minor include Physics 117A and 118A (or Physics 197-198). TWO courses from the following four are required: Physics 314 Physics of the Heart (Spring course), Physics 350 Physics of the Brain (Spring course), Physics 351 Intro to Biomedical Physics (Fall course), Physics 355/455 Physics of Vision (Fall Course). In addition, one advanced laboratory course is required from the following current offerings: Physics 316 Optics Lab (Fall course), Physics 321 Electronics Lab (Fall course), Physics 322 Physical Measurement Lab (Spring course), Physics 360 Biophysics lab (Spring course). The lab requirement is intended to give students hands-on experience. Some challenging biomedically related experiments are available in Physics 322. Students registered for the biomedical physics minor can take Physics 322 after completing Physics 117A and 118A.

See http://physics.wustl.edu/undergraduate/biophysics-requirements or contact Professor Anders Carlsson (x5-5739; aec@howdy.wustl.edu) in the Physics Department.

Philosophy - Neuroscience - Psychology (PNP) is an interdisciplinary program that provides an opportunity to examine the mind from multiple perspectives. In addition to philosophy, neuroscience, and psychology, PNP draws upon other disciplines whose investigations contribute to understanding cognition, such as biology, linguistics, education, and cultural anthropology. Each of the disciplines employs different modes of inquiry to examine various aspects of cognition. For example, from the perspective of neuroscience, investigating the workings of the mind means investigating the workings of the brain; from the perspective of linguistics, we gain insight into the mind by investigating one of its most complex products, namely language; and from the perspective of cultural anthropology, we gain insight into the mind's workings by looking at the workings of society. The goal of the major is for students to develop an understanding of the differences among the approaches used by these disciplines, and an appreciation of how they can provide converging perspectives on issues in cognition.

PNP may be taken as a first major, second major or minor. For further information, contact Sara Bernal (5-6684; sbernal@artsci.wustl.edu), look at the web page for the undergraduate PNP program, http://artsci.wustl.edu/~pnp, and see the PNP listing in the Undergraduate Program Book.

Philosophy of Science Second Major and Minor

These programs are designed for science majors to reinforce their scientific training with knowledge of the conceptual, historical, and philosophical foundations of science. The Philosophy of Science track is available only as a second major in combination with work in one or more of the sciences. See http://philosophy.artsci.wustl.edu/undergraduate/philosophy_science or contact Dr. Carl Craver (Ccraver@artsci.wustl.edu) for details on these programs.

Requirements for the philosophy of science major track: Total Credits: 27

I. Core Courses: A. Contemporary/Analytic (6 Credits): Phil 301G Symbolic Logic and Phil 321G Philosophy of Science. B. History (3 Credits): Phil 347 Ancient Philosophy or Phil 349 Descartes to Hume or Conceptual Foundations of Modern Science.

II. Advanced Courses in Philosophy of Science (15 Credits total): A. Phil 4210 Advanced Philosophy of Science I (Causation, Laws, and Explanation Realism, Reduction, and Theory Change) and Phil 4211 Advanced Philosophy of Science II (Induction and Confirmation, Observation and Experiment). B. The remaining nine (9) of the fifteen (15) total credits are to be satisfied by choosing among General Philosophy (Phil 426 Theories and Concepts, Phil 390 Philosophical Writing), Logic and Method (Phil 403 Mathematical Logic I, Phil 404 Mathematical Logic II, Phil 405 Philosophical Logic, Phil 4051 Philosophy of Logic), Epistemology and Metaphysics (Phil 307 Metaphysics and Epistemology, Phil 4142 Advanced Metaphysics, Phil 4141 Advanced Epistemology, Phil 4332 Cognition and Computation), Life and Science (Phil 423 Philosophy of Biology, 452 Aristotle), Mind and Science (Phil 315 Philosophy of Mind, Phil 419 Philosophy of Psychology, Phil 418 Current Controversies in Cognitive Science, Phil 4210 Philosophy of Neuroscience, Phil 495 PNP Seminar (with approval of topic), and History (Phil 347 Ancient Philosophy, Phil 349 Descartes to Hume, Phil 452 Aristotle)

III. Capstone Experience (3 Credits): All students must complete a capstone experience in at least one of their majors. Within the philosophy major, this requirement may be satisfied in two ways: A. Pursuing an Honors thesis in the Philosophy of Science by taking Phil 499 in the Fall and Spring. Three of these credits count toward satisfying (II) above. Students must have an overall GPA of 3.5, a major GPA of 3.5, and a 3.5 GPA in all advanced philosophy courses. B. Taking the Philosophy Capstone Course (Phil 3991). Only seniors in good standing can sign up for this course; preference is given to students not pursuing Honors.

IV. Writing Intensive Requirement: Arts and Sciences requires all students to take a Writing Intensive class. If students wish to fulfill this requirement as part of their Philosophy major, they should take Phil390, listed under General Philosophy.

Requirements for the philosophy of science minor: 18 credits total: 1. Symbolic Logic (L30 301G); 2. One of the three courses in the main History of Philosophy cluster; 3. Philosophy of Science (L30 321G); 4. Advanced Philosophy of Science I; 5. Advanced Philosophy of Science II; 6. One other course chosen from the list under “Advanced Courses in Philosophy of Science” on the Philosophy of Science Major track.