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Master of Science in Biological Informatics

As a professional school specializing in information management and systems, GSLIS is a natural fit to offer a concentration within the campus-wide M.S. in Bioinformatics. In the GSLIS Concentration in Biological Informatics, we define "bioinformatics" broadly as the management of biological information of all types. The biological informatics program is an entirely separate program from the existing GSLIS M.S. degree; students may not be simultaneously admitted to both programs; and the new concentration is not accredited by the American Library Association. The biological informatics program has been approved by the Graduate College and is under review by the Faculty Senate.

Program Information | Coursework | Admission Requirements

Program Information

In the biological informatics program, students may take courses in several departments across the University of Illinois campus. This breadth of training provides students with the multidisciplinary skills that are required for a career developing and managing information systems for the biological community. The program provides training from faculty who are international experts in many areas of information management, including bioinformatics, biology, chemistry, statistics, and computer science.

Library and Information Science (LIS) as a discipline has emphasized the use of information technology to support new approaches to the organization of and access to information. The biological informatics program provides applied skills in building and evaluating systems that mediate effectively between users and collections. The biological informatics program emphasizes the range of library and information science including: collection development, classification schemes, information retrieval, knowledge representation, user evaluation, data curation, and policy standards. Our students are taught to develop information management systems in biological applications, with opportunities to consider a broad spectrum of domains including molecular biology, environmental ecology, and biomedicine.

Coursework

A GSLIS committee for admission to and oversight of the biological informatics program reviews the suitability of each student's program of study, including any necessary remediation in biology or computing. The biological informatics program requires a total of 36 hours of coursework, either with 36 hours of core required and elective courses or with 28 hours of core required and elective courses plus 8 hours of thesis work. At least 12 hours must be at the 500 graduate level. Students are allowed up to 4 hours of independent study as elective credit, with approval from their advisor. This program cannot be completed through the LEEP program.

Core Requirements

To satisfy the campus core requirements, one (1) course must be taken from each of the three (3) Core Areas: Biology, Computer Science, and Fundamental Bioinformatics. The courses approved for the core in the Biology, Computer Science, and Bioinformatics areas are listed on the campus-wide M.S. in Bioinformatics site. Additionally, GSLIS requires one (1) four-hour course in three of the following four (4) areas:

Information Organization and Knowledge Representation

LIS 590II Interfaces to Information Systems
LIS 590I Indexing and Abstracting
LIS 590DM Document Modeling
LIS 590IM Information Modeling
LIS 590OD Ontology Development
LIS 590ON Ontologies in Natural Science
LIS 590RO Representing and Organizing Information Resources

Information Resources, Uses and Users

LIS 503 Use and Users of Information
LIS 522 Information Sources in the Sciences
LIS 590BI Introduction to Biological Informatics Problems and Resources
LIS 590TR Information Transfer and Collaboration in Science

Information Systems and Access

LIS 453 Systems Analysis and Management
LIS 456 Information Storage and Retrieval
LIS 590DL Digital Libraries
LIS 556 Implementation of Information Retrieval Systems
LIS 566 Architecture of Network Information Systems
LIS 590EP Electronic Publishing
LIS 590LD Literature-based Discovery

Disciplinary Focus

LIS 530B Health Sciences Information Services and Resources
LIS 590HI Healthcare Informatics (Healthcare Infrastructure)
LIS 590BD Biodiversity Informatics

A typical student will thus take 6 required courses (24 hours) – 1 Biology, 1 Computer Science, 1 Fundamental Bioinformatics, and 3 GSLIS. The student must then choose 3 courses (12 hours) of electives to complete the degree. It is strongly encouraged that up to 2 courses of these electives (8 hours) are thesis. A recommended list of electives is given below. Our expectation is that each student will arrange a custom program of study, suitable for the information management of their particular biological informatics application.

A student who has already completed coursework comparable to one or more of the required courses for the M.S. in biological informatics prior to enrolling in the degree program may petition to waive enrollment in that required course and replace it with a comparable number of hours of elective credit toward the M.S. in biological informatics. Such a petition needs to be approved by the advisor, the GSLIS associate dean, and the Graduate College. Additionally, students may request transfer of credit for graduate level coursework from any accredited institution (maximum 8 hours) that has not already been applied towards a degree.

Recommended Elective Courses for GSLIS Concentration

Computer Science

CS 410 Text Processing Algorithms (joint with LIS)
CS 412 Introduction to Data Mining
CS 413 Introductory Combinatorics
CS 446 Machine Learning
CS 511 Design of Database Systems
CS 512 Data Mining

Other Departments

EPSY/PSYC 594 Multivariate Analysis
STAT 400 Introductory Statistics
PSYC 509 Multidimensional Scaling
UP 519 Spatial Analysis with GIS

Biology

IB 441 Plant Ecology
IB 452 Ecosystem Ecology
IB 462 Mammal Classification and Evolution
IB 468 Insect Classification and Evolution
CHLH 421 Health Data Analysis
CHLH 474 Principles of Epidemiology (VP 517)
CHLH 527 Statistics in Epidemiology
CHLH 590 Biostatistics

Instructions for Thesis Work

Note that the thesis option in the GSLIS biological informatics Master’s program is OPTIONAL.

If you wish to write a master's thesis as part of your M.S. degree program, you will work with one faculty advisor negotiated in the same manner as an independent study. Advisors may be from departments outside of GSLIS. Prior to registering for LIS 599, Thesis Research, you should prepare a brief proposal of the thesis. Proposals should be reviewed and approved by the faculty advisor. If the faculty advisor is not from GSLIS, the proposal should also be reviewed and approved by a faculty member from GSLIS. Once the required approval(s) is secured, the proposal should be forwarded to the dean for signature. You will need to fill out the thesis proposal and request form. A maximum of 8 hours of LIS 599 credit can be applied to the M.S. degree. The thesis must conform to the requirements of the Graduate College as stated in the latest edition of the Handbook for Graduate Students Preparing to Deposit and be deposited in the Thesis Office before the M.S. degree will be awarded.

Once the thesis is complete, the dean, on recommendation from the faculty advisor, who serves as first reader, appoints a second reader. The first reader (faculty advisor) and second reader will confer and must agree upon the acceptability of the thesis or whether any revisions must be made before final acceptance. Should the two readers be unable to reach agreement about the evaluation of the thesis, a third reader may be appointed. Ordinarily there is no oral defense of the thesis.

The final version of the thesis must have a format check done by Kathy Painter, the GSLIS departmental format checker, and receive a format approval form before it can be deposited in the Graduate College.

Admission Requirements

Applicants must have completed a bachelor's degree with a minimum grade-point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. A minimum grade-point average of 3.0 also is required in the last two years of the applicant's undergraduate degree program. The Admissions Committee makes every effort to assess applicants on their probable degree of success in the program, rather than relying only on how well the applicant meets the formal requirements. Contact the GSLIS admissions officer with questions about the admissions process: (217) 333-0734.

Please see the Admissions section of our website for specific application requirements, deadlines, and forms.

Computer Literacy Requirements

In order for us to teach our courses at the graduate level, you are expected to have certain computer skills. You can acquire these skills before you begin the program or by taking special free workshops that are offered by GSLIS and the LIS Library during the early part of the semester. When classes start, you will be expected to have three basic competencies:

1. Elementary computer literacy. This means that you can perform such tasks as run a program and organize and manipulate files on a personal computer, remote computer (such as a server), or removable media (such as a floppy disk or USB storage device). You are expected to know how to compose and print a research paper with appropriate figures and/or tables using a standard word processing program. If you own a computer, you should know how to set it up, install software, and connect it to a network (via dial-up, broadband, or wireless connection). You may gain these skills at a local community college, through self-tutoring, or elsewhere. You are encouraged but not required to have your own computer. Several computer firms offer educational discounts through the University MicroOrder Center.  The on-campus GSLIS lab is Macintosh-based, however Windows and Unix/Linux users are also supported in the School.
2. E-mail and bulletin board skills. You should know how to communicate using e-mail and electronic bulletin/message boards. This requires both a mastery of the technical issues of usage (how to read and reply to messages) and an understanding of proper etiquette.
3. Information retrieval skills. You need the ability to use the UIUC online catalog, the UIUC Online Research Resources database, and common bibliographic databases found in many libraries.  You should be familiar with finding information on the web using search engines and other common tools.

In addition, certain skills may be expected to be acquired during your time at GSLIS:

1. HTML/XML authoring. Workshops will teach basic HTML and XML syntax for creating documents and putting information on the Web.
2. Basic Linux (Unix). Servers running the Linux operating system can be accessed through the GSLIS local area network. These servers provide a wider range of software applications beyond those ordinarily available on the lab workstations. Programs running on the Linux servers can act on the files stored in student home directories. Some (not all) GSLIS classes will require you to use the Linux servers, and familiarity with Linux/Unix commands will be valuable whether or not you enroll in such a class.
3. Database creation. Students may be expected to design simple databases in several GSLIS courses.
4. Information literacy in LIS.  You will become familiar with key information sources within the discipline of LIS, including journal indexes, full-text databases, online repositories, and major websites.

Some individual courses require additional technical competencies such as more advanced database design and programming languages. These skills can be learned through community college courses, informal short courses offered in GSLIS by staff and professional organizations and through self-study.

During your time at GSLIS, you will have access to many technology resources, including the GSLIS User Services Help Desk. We encourage you to share your feedback and questions with us and do hope you take advantage of the support we offer the GSLIS community. Please feel free to contact us with questions by emailing -help, at support.lis.uiuc.edu-.