Bioinformatics
Northeastern University’s Master of Science program in Bioinformatics provides cross-disciplinary training in biology, computer science, and informational technology for today’s cutting-edge jobs in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.
Part-Time
Northeastern University is committed to delivering cutting-edge programs that foster interdisciplinary thinking, research, and the pursuit of innovation-driven discoveries that have an impact on lives. That commitment and vision are at the very core of the MS in Bioinformatics. The program’s cross-disciplinary training prepares graduates to succeed in multiple roles in this new and growing field.
Combining challenging academics in biology, computer science, and information technology with real-world experience, the program helps students integrate the knowledge, skills, experience, and confidence they need to achieve their goals and make a difference in our world. The Master of Science in Bioinformatics is structured to provide students with the skills and knowledge to develop, evaluate, and deploy bioinformatics and computational biology applications. The program is designed to prepare students for employment in the biotechnology sector, where the need for knowledgeable life scientists with quantitative and computational skills has exploded in the past decade.
Concentrations:
- Bioinformatics and Chemoinformatics: Bioinformatics and Chemoinformatics concentration helps prepare students to address the informatics needs for both large molecule biological products as well as small molecule pharmaceutical products.
- Bioinformatics Enterprise: The Bioinformatics Enterprise concentration integrates business and management skills with the science of bioinformatics. Students learn the fundamental concepts of leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation, financial decision making, and marketing. They gain teamwork, management, and business development skills in the process and graduate prepared to become scientist-managers.
- Data Analytics: The Data Analytics concentration is designed to provide students with foundational knowledge in data science—including data management, machine learning, data mining, statistics, and visualizing and communicating data—that can be applied to data-driven decision making in any discipline.
- Health Informatics: The Health Informatics concentration will help prepare students to successfully address the combined clinical, technical, and business needs of health-related professionals.
- Medical Health Informatics: The Medical Health Informatics concentration will help prepare students to successfully address the combined medical needs from a patient's health perspective, technical, and business needs.
- Omics: The omics concentration will prepare students to analyze large data sets related to genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and new-omics fields as they evolve.
- Coursework Option: Students are not required to declare a concentration. With the elective option, students select 12 credits of electives in place of concentration-specific courses.
More Details
Unique Features
- Courses run in the evening to accommodate working professionals
- Students gain up to six months of work experience through co-op positions
- With only one additional class, a student can also earn a graduate certificate in data science
- 94% employment after graduation in industry or research in last three years
Program Objectives
- Attain core knowledge in bioinformatics programming
- Integrate knowledge from biological, computational, and mathematical disciplines
- Gain professional work experience via co-op
Looking for something different?
Program Costs
Requirements
- Online application
- Application fee
- Unofficial transcripts for all institutions attended
(Official transcripts required upon acceptance of admission offer) - Personal statement
- Two letters of recommendation
- GRE scores recommended but not required
- Proof of English proficiency for all applicants (from one of the following):
- Degree earned or in progress at a U.S. institution
- Degree earned or in progress at an institution where English is the only medium of instruction
- Official exam scores from either the TOEFL iBT (institution code is 3682), IELTS, PTE exam or Duolingo English Test. Scores are valid for 2 years from the test date.
General Requirements
Computational Methods
Research and Seminar
Statistics and Programming
Co-op
Concentrations
Choose one from the following:
Please select one elective from the elective list below.
Please select one elective from the elective list below.
Please select one elective from the elective list below.
Note: Students may take either DA 5030 or an elective from the electives list.
Please select one elective from the elective list below.
Please select one elective from the elective list below.
Note: Students can take either BINF 6420 or an elective from the elective list.
Complete 12 semester hours from the approved elective list.
Electives
Electives outside this list may be chosen in consultation with faculty advisor:
Please note: This curriculum is for marketing purposes only and is subject to change. Official curriculum can be found within the course catalog.
Students in the MS in Bioinformatics program gain real-world knowledge, awareness, perspective, and confidence during a three- or six-month graduate co-op in industry or academia. As a recognized leader in experiential learning and a trusted source of high-caliber students, Northeastern enjoys relationships with more than 3,000 public- and private-sector employers on seven continents. Recent bioinformatics co-op partners have included:
- Broad Institute
- Harvard Medical School
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
- Seattle Children’s Research Institute
- Genzyme
- Millennium
- Novartis
Our Faculty
Our faculty represents a wide cross-section of professional practices and fields ranging from finance to education to biomedical science to management to the U.S. military. They serve as mentors and advisors and collaborate alongside students to solve the most pressing global challenges facing established and emerging markets.
By enrolling in Northeastern, you gain access to a network of more than 255,000 alumni and 3,350+ employer partners, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and global nongovernmental organizations. Our current students and faculty across strategically located regional locations further foster a lifelong, global community of learning and mentoring.
Below is a look at where our Science & Mathematics alumni work, the positions they hold, and the skills they bring to their organization.
-
Where They Work
- State Street
- IBM
- Raytheon
- Liberty Mutual Insurance
- Amazon
-
What They Do
- Engineering
- Education
- Business Development
- Research
- Information Technology
-
What They're Skilled At
- Matlab
- Research
- C++
- Project Management
- Data Analysis
Learn more about Northeastern Alumni on Linkedin.