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Note: This is the 2010–2011 edition of the eCalendar. Update the year in your browser's URL bar for the most recent version of this page, or click here to jump to the newest eCalendar.
Note: This is the 2010–2011 edition of the eCalendar. Update the year in your browser's URL bar for the most recent version of this page, or click here to jump to the newest eCalendar.
This program will train students in the fundamentals of biology - with a focus on molecular biology - and will give them computational and mathematical skills needed to manage, analyze, and model large biological datasets. Two integrative features of the program are a three-credit joint independent studies course, and a one-credit seminar.
Students may complete this program with a maximum of 73 credits or a minimum of 69 credits. This depends upon the student's choice of required courses and whether or not the student is exempt from taking COMP 202.
Advising notes for U0 students:
It is highly recommended that Freshman BIOL, CHEM, MATH, and PHYS courses be selected with an adviser to ensure they meet the core requirements of the COMP-BIO program.
6 credits from the following:
Mathematics & Statistics (Sci) : Taylor series, Taylor's theorem in one and several variables. Review of vector geometry. Partial differentiation, directional derivative. Extreme of functions of 2 or 3 variables. Parametric curves and arc length. Polar and spherical coordinates. Multiple integrals.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Summer 2011
Instructors: Jonsson, Wilbur; Sancho, Neville G F (Fall) Jonsson, Wilbur (Winter)
Mathematics & Statistics (Sci) : Review of matrix algebra, determinants and systems of linear equations. Vector spaces, linear operators and their matrix representations, orthogonality. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors, diagonalization of Hermitian matrices. Applications.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011
Instructors: Loveys, James G; Huang, Hongnian (Fall) Loveys, James G (Winter)
12-16 credits from:
* Students who have sufficient knowledge in a programming language are not required to take COMP 202.
** Students take either COMP 462 or COMP 561.
Computer Science (Sci) : Overview of components of microcomputers, the internet design and implementation of programs using a modern high-level language, an introduction to modular software design and debugging. Programming concepts are illustrated using a variety of application areas.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Summer 2011
Instructors: Petitpas, Mathieu; Frydrychowicz, Maja (Fall) Frydrychowicz, Maja; Pomerantz, Daniel (Winter) Pomerantz, Daniel (Summer)
Computer Science (Sci) : Comprehensive overview of programming in C, use of system calls and libraries, debugging and testing of code; use of developmental tools like make, version control systems.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011
Instructors: Vybihal, Joseph P (Fall) Vybihal, Joseph P; Dudek, Gregory L (Winter)
Computer Science (Sci) : An introduction to the design of computer algorithms, including basic data structures, analysis of algorithms, and establishing correctness of programs. Overview of topics in computer science.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011
Instructors: Precup, Doina (Fall) Langer, Michael (Winter)
Computer Science (Sci) : Design and analysis of algorithms. Complexity of algorithms. Data structures. Introduction to graph algorithms and their analysis.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011
Instructors: Verbrugge, Clark (Fall) Crepeau, Claude (Winter)
Computer Science (Sci) : Application of computer science techniques to problems arising in biology and medicine, techniques for modeling evolution, aligning molecular sequences, predicting structure of a molecule and other problems from computational biology.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Waldispuhl, Jerome (Fall)
Computer Science (Sci) : Application of computer science techniques to problems arising in biology and medicine, techniques for modeling evolution, aligning molecular sequences, predicting structure of a molecule and other problems from computational biology. An in-depth exploration of key research areas.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Waldispuhl, Jerome (Fall)
20 credits from:
Biology (Sci) : The physical and chemical properties of the cell and its components in relation to their structure and function. Topics include: protein structure, enzymes and enzyme kinetics; nucleic acid replication, transcription and translation; the genetic code, mutation, recombination, and regulation of gene expression.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Roy, Richard D W; Brown, Gregory G; Fagotto, Francesco; Zetka, Monique (Fall)
Biology (Sci) : This course introduces the student to our modern understanding of cells and how they work. Major topics to be covered include: photosynthesis, energy metabolism and metabolic integration; plasma membrane including secretion, endocytosis and contact mediated interactions between cells; cytoskeleton including cell and organelle movement; the nervous system; hormone signaling; the cell cycle.
Terms: Winter 2011
Instructors: Levine, Robert; Hewitt, Kathryn; Brouhard, Gary (Winter)
Biology (Sci) : Introduction to basic principles, and to modern advances, problems and applications in the genetics of higher and lower organisms with examples representative of the biological sciences.
Terms: Winter 2011, Summer 2011
Instructors: Schoen, Daniel J; Chevrette, Mario; Western, Tamara (Winter) Dankort, David; Western, Tamara (Summer)
Biology (Sci) : An introduction to the fundamental processes of ecology and evolution that bear on the nature and diversity of organisms and the processes that govern their assembly into ecological communities and their roles in ecosystem function.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Price, Neil; Larsson, Hans Carl; Potvin, Catherine (Fall)
Biology (Sci) : An introduction to laboratory techniques with a focus on methods used to investigate fundamental questions in modern cell and molecular biology. Techniques including gene cloning, DNA and protein isolation and manipulation are covered, along with functional analysis of genes and proteins, basic bioinformatics, and computer-based experimental design and data analysis.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011
Instructors: Moon, Nam Sung; Harrison, Paul; Zheng, Huanquan (Fall) Moon, Nam Sung; Harrison, Paul; Zheng, Huanquan (Winter)
Chemistry : A survey of reactions of aliphatic and aromatic compounds including modern concepts of bonding, mechanisms, conformational analysis, and stereochemistry.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Summer 2011
Instructors: Daoust, Michel; Tsantrizos, Youla S; Moitessier, Nicolas (Fall) Daoust, Michel; Fenster, Ariel; Schirrmacher, Ralf (Winter) Daoust, Michel; Fenster, Ariel (Summer)
7 credits from:
Biology (Sci) : Integrates biological concepts with relevant computer science approaches, including topics and concepts in biology that are enabled through computational biology.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Computer Science (Sci) : A research project applying computational approaches to a biological problem.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011
Instructors: Ruths, Derek (Fall) Waldispuhl, Jerome (Winter)
Computer Science (Sci) : Introduction to current research topics in bioinformatics through a series of seminars by invited researchers.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011
Instructors: Hallett, Michael Trevor (Fall) Hallett, Michael Trevor (Winter)
6 credits, ONE of the following pairs of courses as follows:
MATH 203 and MATH 204 or MATH 323 and MATH 324 or BIOL 309 and BIOL 373.
Biology (Sci) : Application of finite difference and differential equations to problems in cell and developmental biology, ecology and physiology. Qualitative, quantitative and graphical techniques are used to analyze mathematical models and to compare theoretical predictions with experimental data.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Glass, Leon (Fall)
Biology (Sci) : Elementary statistical methods in biology. Introduction to the analysis of biological data with emphasis on the assumptions behind statistical tests and models. Use of statistical techniques typically available on computer packages.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Seizilles de Mazancourt, Claire; Potvin, Catherine (Fall)
Mathematics & Statistics (Sci) : Examples of statistical data and the use of graphical means to summarize the data. Basic distributions arising in the natural and behavioural sciences. The logical meaning of a test of significance and a confidence interval. Tests of significance and confidence intervals in the one and two sample setting (means, variances and proportions).
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Summer 2011
Instructors: Khalili Mahmoudabadi, Abbas; Correa, Jose Andres (Fall)
Mathematics & Statistics (Sci) : The concept of degrees of freedom and the analysis of variability. Planning of experiments. Experimental designs. Polynomial and multiple regressions. Statistical computer packages (no previous computing experience is needed). General statistical procedures requiring few assumptions about the probability model.
Terms: Winter 2011
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Mathematics & Statistics (Sci) : Sample space, events, conditional probability, independence of events, Bayes' Theorem. Basic combinatorial probability, random variables, discrete and continuous univariate and multivariate distributions. Independence of random variables. Inequalities, weak law of large numbers, central limit theorem.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Summer 2011
Instructors: Anderson, William J (Fall) Partovi Nia, Vahid (Winter)
Mathematics & Statistics (Sci) : Sampling distributions, point and interval estimation, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance, contingency tables, nonparametric inference, regression, Bayesian inference.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011
Instructors: Asgharian-Dastenaei, Masoud (Fall) Anderson, William J (Winter)
At least 21 credits selected from the following blocks, with the following requirements:
- at least 9 credits from each of the following two blocks
- at least 9 credits at the 400 level or above
- at least 3 credits at the 400 level or above from each block
Note: All COMP courses at the 400 level (except 401, 462, and 499) and all courses at the 500 level (except 561).
Computer Science (Sci) : Number representations, combinational and sequential digital circuits, MIPS instructions and architecture datapath and control, caches, virtual memory, interrupts and exceptions, pipelining.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011
Instructors: Vybihal, Joseph P (Fall) Siddiqi, Kaleem (Winter)
Computer Science (Sci) : Programming language design issues and programming paradigms. Binding and scoping, parameter passing, lambda abstraction, data abstraction, type checking. Functional and logic programming.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011
Instructors: Pientka, Brigitte (Fall) Doherty, Jesse (Winter)
Computer Science (Sci) : Principles, mechanisms, techniques, and tools for object-oriented software development: encapsulation, design patterns, unit testing, etc.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Robillard, Martin (Fall)
Computer Science (Sci) : The object model, objects and classes, verification and testing, object-oriented analysis, unified modeling language and design patterns.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Computer Science (Sci) : Control and scheduling of large information processing systems. Operating system software - resource allocation, dispatching, processors, access methods, job control languages, main storage management. Batch processing, multiprogramming, multiprocessing, time sharing.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011
Instructors: Tropper, Carl (Fall) Swidan, Andraws (Winter)
Computer Science (Sci) : Mathematical models of computers, finite automata, Turing machines, counter machines, push-down machines, computational complexity.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Hatami, Hamed (Fall)
Computer Science (Sci) : This course in software engineering teaches basic concepts and methods for software development. The focus is on engineering and analysing requirements, design and code. Small software development exercises will be given where students would learn how to apply different methods.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Computer Science (Sci) : Computer representation of numbers, IEEE Standard for Floating Point Representation, computer arithmetic and rounding errors. Numerical stability. Matrix computations and software systems. Polynomial interpolation. Least-squares approximation. Iterative methods for solving a nonlinear equation. Discretization methods for integration and differential equations.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Chang, Xiao-Wen (Fall)
Computer Science (Sci) : A study of techniques for the design and analysis of algorithms.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011
Instructors: Vetta, Adrian Roshan (Fall) Nguyen, The Phuong (Winter)
Mathematics & Statistics (Sci) : Mathematical foundations of logical thinking and reasoning. Mathematical language and proof techniques. Quantifiers. Induction. Elementary number theory. Modular arithmetic. Recurrence relations and asymptotics. Combinatorial enumeration. Functions and relations. Partially ordered sets and lattices. Introduction to graphs, digraphs and rooted trees.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Shepherd, Frederick (Fall)
Biology (Sci) : A survey of current knowledge and approaches in the area of regulation of gene expression, post-transcriptional control of gene expression, and signal transduction.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Nilson, Laura; Zetka, Monique (Fall)
Biology (Sci) : Application of finite difference and differential equations to problems in cell and developmental biology, ecology and physiology. Qualitative, quantitative and graphical techniques are used to analyze mathematical models and to compare theoretical predictions with experimental data.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Glass, Leon (Fall)
Biology (Sci) : Ecological bases of the natural causes and consequences of current global environmental changes, including how biodiversity and ecosystem processes are defined and measured, how they vary in space and time, how they are affected by physical and biological factors, and how they affect each other and human societies.
Terms: Winter 2011
Instructors: Loreau, Michel; Seizilles de Mazancourt, Claire; Davies, Thomas (Winter)
Biology (Sci) : Cell biology of eukaryotes focusing on the assembly and function of cellular structures, the regulation of transcription; the dynamics of the cytoskeleton and its motors; mechanics of cell division; cell cycle and checkpoints; nuclear dynamics; chromosome structure and behaviour and experimental techniques.
Terms: Winter 2011
Instructors: Zetka, Monique; Fagotto, Francesco (Winter)
Biology (Sci) : Explains how the selection of undirected variation accounts for some of the leading features of the natural world. Its main focus is evolutionary change and adaptation, but it will also include material from ecological, economic, biochemical and computer systems. It emphasizes experimental studies of evolution.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Biology (Sci) : Conserved processes in Eukaryotic organisms, including the cytoskeleton, the cell cycle, complex traits/disease, global analysis/bioinformatics, and innovative studies/techniques in cell biology.
Terms: Winter 2011
Instructors: Brouhard, Gary; Vogel, Jacalyn (Winter)
Biology (Sci) : Cellular and molecular approaches to characterization of the human genome.
Terms: Winter 2011
Instructors: Haston, Christina (Winter)
Biology (Sci) : The influence of developmental mechanisms on evolution. This course draws on recent examples from plants and invertebrate and vertebrate animals. Topics include homology, modularity, dissociation, co-option, evolutionary novelty, evolution of cis-regulation and gene regulatory networks, developmental constraint and evolvability, heterochrony, phenotypic plasticity, and canalization.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Biology (Sci) : Evolutionary change in DNA and proteins and its implications for cellular, organismal, and population/species evolution.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Biology (Sci) : Advanced techniques in biometry surveying a broad number of statistical tools including: philosophy of scientific inference, experimental design and advanced linear models, generalized linear models (esp. logistic regression), modern regression techniques (quantile, local, etc), temporal and spatial statistics, and multivariate techniques.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.