Graduate Training in Bioinformatics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Dr. Lynda Ellis
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Thursday February 13, 11am 
Campus Center 120

On February 8, 2002, the Regents of the University of Minnesota approved a
new Graduate Program in Bioinformatics (URL = http://www.binf.umn.edu/).
The Graduate Program offers Graduate Minors at the Masters and PhD level
and includes 18 faculty members from 12 departments.  Faculty research
interests span a wide range of topics in quantitative biology, from
statistical mechanics of biopolymers to the inheritance of traits in plant
and animal communities.  On April 26, the Graduate Program held a daylong
symposium "Bioinformatics: Building Bridges" with world-renown speakers, a
poster session, and a lunch hosted by the Graduate Faculty.  The symposium
was presented to an overflow (100+) audience and will be repeated on March
28, 2003. An informal Bioinformatics Journal Club met weekly in Spring
2002, was favorably evaluated at its end by 18 participants, and is
now a formal class (BINF 5480) offered every Fall and Spring, starting
with Fall 2002.  A Bioinformatics email list, open to all, began in
September 2001.  It now has over 130 subscribers and receives over 30
posts a month.  The Graduate Program's present curriculum, administration,
and structure will be discussed and plans for development will be
outlined.  Challenges remain, but we are poised for success.