Welcome to GCB
The Graduate Group in Genomics and Computational Biology (GCB) is an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program, administered by the Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS) office of the University of Pennsylvania. The program is a cooperative undertaking by the schools of Medicine, Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Applied Science, and Veterinary Medicine, and the Penn-associated Wistar Institute. The faculty represent a wide variety of academic disciplines: genetics, computer sciences, pharmacology, structural biochemistry, bioengineering, and psychiatry.
The GCB program takes advantage of the many academic and research programs sponsored by its affiliated departments and schools. Students in GCB may participate in courses, seminars, and retreats organized by the associated academic units in addition to those organized directly by and for GCB. The activities of the participating academic units in GCB are enhanced through association with two additional units: the Penn Center for Bioinformatics (PCBI), which provides a focus for bioinformatics and genomics research and service to Penn, and the Penn Genomics Institute, established to provide intellectual leadership in studying genomes as a whole and undertaking large-scale analysis of gene products by integrating associated disciplines at Penn.
Applicants are expected to have a strong background in one or more relevant fields, such as molecular biology, computer science, or genetics. Building on these, the graduate program provides advanced education in various aspects of bioinformatics and genomics, including as appropriate genetics, computer science, mathematics and statistics, and molecular and cell biology. While it is not expected that any one student will become an expert in all of these areas, a student who specializes in computational biology, for example, is expected to receive substantial training in areas such as molecular genetics and in particular to obtain laboratory experience in such areas. Similarly, a student who specializes in experimental genomics is not expected to become an expert in computer algorithm theory but is expected to understand the theory behind the techniques, tools and algorithms used in practice.
Site last updated: May 2007.