Biomedical Informatics Doctoral Degree

The PhD program in Biomedical Informatics is part of the Coordinated Doctoral Programs in the Biomedical Sciences and trains students in a scientific approach to the use of information in health care and biomedicine. Students enrolled in the predoctoral program must attend full-time as required by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS). The first two years are generally devoted to coursework and research, and successful completion of two qualifying exams leading to candidacy.  The third and fourth years focus on research leading to the doctoral dissertation. Course approval forms are to be completed by the students and their academic advisor at the beginning of each semester. Progress in the doctoral program is tracked each semester using a set of standard reporting forms.

Curriculum

Students must complete a minimum of 60 units of Columbia University instruction at the 4000 level or higher, address any admission deficiencies, and complete six residence units. The following table shows the minimum number of courses required to meet the program's educational objectives. Students who meet biomedical, computational, or mathematical objectives through prior graduate preparation as assessed by the Graduate Degree Program Director are not required to take further courses in these areas. Students must consult with their academic advisor to choose appropriate courses in one of four specialization tracks: bioinformatics, clinical informatics, public health informatics, or translational informatics.

*The number of research points is dependent upon the semester (see Research Project below).

Research Project

Research is the primary focus of the doctoral program, and accordingly represents more than half of the required points. Doctoral students enroll in the research project course (BINF G6001) for 6 points per semester in the first year, 9 points per semester in the second year, and 12 per semester in the third and subsequent years. After successful completion of the second qualifying examination, students are to enroll in BINF G9001 Doctoral Research for 12 points each semester in lieu of BINF G6001.  In the final semester, students also enroll in BINF G9999 Doctoral Dissertation.  Each student has an advisory committee which consists of the primary faculty advisor, and two additional faculty members, at least one of whom must be a member of the core faculty of the department. Two external committee members are selected after the internal adivsory committee has been formed in consultation with the student's research advisor.  The internal advisory committee must meet with the student at least once each year to review the student's progress. The student should take the initiative to arrange these meetings.  Students are expected to work a minimum of 25 hours per week on research in the first year, increasing to 60 hours by the third year.  Research should be the primary occupation of the student's time during the summer, due to the absence of coursework. The doctoral dissertation is the culmination of the student's research activity.

Additional Requirements

All doctoral and postdoctoral students are required to take CMBS G4010 Responsible Conduct of Research and Related Policy Issues and to participate in the teaching activities of the department, serving as a teaching assistant (TA) for two courses.  They will enroll in two sections of BINF G8010 MPhil Teaching Experience for 2 points for their role as a TA. In all semesters, students must attend, but not enroll in, the weekly research seminar (BINF G4099). They will also give a presentation at least once in the research seminar during their time as a student in the department.