Prospective Students
The Computational Molecular Biology program is the cooperative effort of several outstanding research departments at the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Due in large part to the exceptional research of the CMB faculty, the University of Washington is ranked in the top ten in Genetics / Genomics / Bioinformatics, Computer Science, and Bioengineering by US News.
The CMB certificate program is open to all PhD students enrolled in the participating departments. The certificate program not only allows enrolled students to receive formal recognition for their work, but facilitates connections and provides a forum for the entire CMB community to showcase work by students and faculty, and to discuss open problems and trends.
The CMB program is not a degree-granting program. Instead, all students in the CMB program must be enrolled in the Ph.D. program of one of the participating departments and must satisfy the Ph.D. admissions and graduation requirements of that department. Prospective students must apply directly to their chosen participating department(s).
The participating departments and programs are:
Applied Mathematics
Biochemistry
Bioengineering
Biology
Biostatistics
Computer Science & Engineering
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Genome Sciences
Microbiology
Molecular & Cellular Biology
Molecular Engineering & Science
Physics
Statistics
Note that additional PhD programs can be added to CMB. If you are a student interested in participating, please contact program assistant Brian Giebel at bgiebel [ a t ] uw.edu.
Program Guidance:
Prospective students who would like guidance on which UW Ph.D. program would be the best fit for their research interests are welcome to contact Dr. Su-In Lee (suinlee [ a t ] cs.washington.edu).
To Apply:
The CMB application procedure has recently been simplified. All students enrolled in the Ph.D. program of a participating department are eligible to enroll in the CMB certificate program, once all prerequisites have been met (please see the section below). To enroll, please send an email to program assistant Brian Giebel (bgiebel [ a t ] uw.edu) indicating your interest in the program and which courses you have taken to fulfill the prerequisites. It's easiest to wait until after you've arrived at the UW to do this.
Prerequisites:
CMB students are expected to have some background in the following areas, either through prior coursework or research experience:
- probability and statistics
- computer programming, preferably including the writing of programs for data analysis
- molecular biology, biochemistry, and/or genetics
If you are unsure whether or not your background is sufficient, please contact program director Dr. Su-In Lee with a list of courses taken in these areas and/or your prior experience.
Please see these pages for program requirements and FAQs.