Updated July 17, 2025

Biomolecular data is rapidly transforming Modern Biology into a computational and data science. This one-of-a-kind major provides an opportunity for students to understand the sources of biomolecular data, instruments that generate the data, and the computational methods--- algorithms, machine learning, statistics, and databases---used to analyze the data and make biological discoveries. It is intended for students who would like to pursue careers in academia, healthcare, biotechnology, and data science companies.  

The explosion in biological knowledge spawned by the various genome projects has created entirely new fields and industries, and a need for trained computational biologists who are familiar with biology, mathematics, and computer sciences. The computer science and engineering department offers rigorous, interdisciplinary training in the new and rapidly evolving field of bioinformatics.

Bioinformatics refers to advanced computational and experimental methods that model the flow of information (genetic, metabolic, and regulatory) in living systems to provide an integrated understanding of the system properties of organisms.

This interdisciplinary major also is offered by the Division of Biological Sciences and the Department of Bioengineering

UCSD- CSE General Catalog

Degree Planning:

• BS Computer Science with Specialization in Bioinformatics Checklist: a checklist for all major requirements for students on the Fall 2025 curriculum

CS27 Major Policies

• All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade AND passed with a C- or better (with the exception of CSE 91, 95, 197, 198 and 199).
• A maximum of 4 units of special studies coursework may count from the following: CSE 197, 198, 199, 199H ENG 100D, ENG 100DR, ENG 100L

2025-2026 CS27 Electives:

Computer Science and Engineering

Any upper-division CSE course between CSE 100-190, 193, 194 that is not being used for another major requirement (and is taken for a letter grade and passed with a C- or better) may be used towards an upper-division "CSE Elective" for the CS29 major.

Cognitive Science

COGS 108 - Data Science in Practice (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS 109 - Modeling and Data Analysis (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS 118A - Supervised Machine Learning Algorithms (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS 118B - Intro to Machine Learning II (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS 118C - Neural Signal Processing (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS 120 - Interaction Design (5) - Applications of Computing

COGS 121 - Human Computer Interaction Programming Studio (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS 122 - Startup Studio (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS 123 - Social Computing (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS 124 - HCI Technical Systems Research (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS 125 - Advanced Interaction Design (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS 126 - Human-Computer Interaction (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS 127 - Designing Human-Data Interactions (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS 181 - Neural Networks/Deep Learning (4)  - Applications of Computing

COGS 185 - Advanced Machine Learning Methods (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS 186 - Genetic Algorithms (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS 187A - Usability and Information Architecture (6) - Applications of Computing

COGS 187B - Practicum in Professional Web Design (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS 188 - Artificial Intelligence Algorithms (4) - Applications of Computing

COGS 189 - Brain Computer Interfaces (4) - Applications of Computing

Please use the UC San Diego EASy Course Pre-Authorization Forms for COGS course clearance.

Data Science

DSC 100 - Introduction to Data Management (4) - Applications of Computing

DSC 102 - Systems for Scalable Analytics (4) - Systems

DSC 120 - Signal Processing for Data Analysis (4) - Systems

Design

DSGN 100 - Prototyping (4) - Applications of Computing

Economics

ECON 172A - Operations Research A (4) - Applications of Computing

ECON 172B - Operations Research B (4) - Applications of Computing

Education Studies

EDS 124AR - Teaching Computation in the Digital World  (4) - Applications of Computing

EDS 124BR -  Teaching Computational Thinking for Everyone (4) - Applications of Computing

Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE)

ECE 111 - Advanced Digital Design Project (4) - Systems

ECE 140A - The Art of Product Engineering I (4) - Systems or Applications of Computing

ECE 140B - The Art of Product Engineering II (4) - Systems or Applications of Computing

Engineering (Global Ties)

ENG 100D/ENG 100L: Principles of Team Engineering: globalties.ucsd.edu

• Students may use up to 8 units of ENG 100D/ENG 100L courses towards upper division CSE Elective credits (as part of the 8 units maximum of CSE 198/199/199H Special Studies courses allowed). You are NOT able to take ENG 100D twice.
• Students must take ENG 100L twice (2 units each time) to receive credit for upper division CSE Elective (not exceeding the 8 units of CSE 198/199/199H Special Studies courses); students may not combine this course with another 2 unit or 6 unit course.
• Students may request to have their degree audit updated by contacting the Virtual Advising Center.

Linguistics

LIGN 165 - Computational Linguistics (4) - Applications of Computing

LIGN 167 - Deep Learning for Natural Language Understanding (4) - Applications of Computing

Mathematics

MATH 114 - Introduction to Computational Stochastics (4) - Applications of Computing

MATH 155A - Geometric Computer Graphics (4) - Applications of Computing

MATH 170A - Introduction to Numerical Analysis: Linear Algebra (4) - Theory

MATH 170B - Introduction to Numerical Analysis: Approximation and Nonlinear Equations (4) - Theory

MATH 170C - Introduction to Numerical Analysis: Ordinary Differential Equations (4) - Theory

MATH 171A - Introduction to Numerical Optimization: Linear Programming (4) - Theory

MATH 171B - Introduction to Numerical Optimization: Nonlinear Programming (4) - Theory

MATH 173A - Optimization Methods for Data Science I (4) - Theory

MATH 173B - Optimization Methods for Data Science II (4) - Theory

MATH 181D - Statistical Learning (4) - Theory

MATH 185 - Introduction to Computational Statistics (4) - Theory

MATH 187A - Introduction to Cryptography (4) - Theory

MATH 189 - Exploratory Data Analysis and Inference (4) - Applications of Computing

Music

MUS 171 - Computer Music I (4) - Applications of Computing

MUS 172 - Computer Music ll (4) - Applications of Computing

MUS 177 - Music Programming (4) - Applications of Computing

Visual Arts

VIS 141A - Computer Programming for the Arts I (4) - Applications of Computing

VIS 141B - Computer Programming for the Arts II (4) - Applications of Computing

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BS Computer Science with Specialization in Bioinformatics Checklist (Fall 2024 Curriculum)

• All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade AND passed with a C- or better (with the exception of CSE 91, CSE 95, 197, 198, and 199). 
• A maximum of 4 units of special studies coursework may count from the following: CSE 197, 198, 199, 199H, ENG 100D, ENG 100L 
• CSE 15L (2 units) will be replaced with CSE 29 (4 units) in Spring 2024. A new updated version of CSE 30 will be offered Fall 2024. For students admitted in FA24, to accommodate the two additional units for CSE 29, the current Technical Elective requirement will be replaced by a two unit Computer Science and Engineering (LD) elective.

• BS Computer Science with Specialization in Bioinformatics Checklist (Fall 2023 Curriculum)
  • All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade AND passed with a C- or better (with the exception of CSE 91, CSE 95, 197, 198, and 199). 
  • A maximum of 4 units of special studies coursework may count from the following: CSE 197, 198, 199, 199H, ENG 100D, ENG 100L 
• BS Computer Science with Specialization in Bioinformatics Checklist (Fall 2022 Curriculum)
  • All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade AND passed with a C- or better (with the exception of CSE 91, CSE 95, 197, 198, and 199). 
  • A maximum of 4 units of special studies coursework may count from the following: CSE 197, 198, 199, 199H, ENG 100D, ENG 100L 
• BS Computer Science with Specialization in Bioinformatics Checklist (Fall 2021 Curriculum)
  • All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade AND passed with a C- or better (with the exception of CSE 95, 197, 198, and 199). 
  • A maximum of 4 units of special studies coursework may count from the following: CSE 197, 198, 199, 199H, ENG 100D, ENG 100L 
• BS Computer Science with Specialization in Bioinformatics Checklist (Fall 2020 Curriculum)
  • All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade AND passed with a C- or better (with the exception of CSE 95, 197, 198, and 199). 
  • A maximum of 4 units of special studies coursework may count from the following: CSE 197, 198, 199, 199H, ENG 100D, ENG 100L 
• BS Computer Science with Specialization in Bioinformatics Checklist (Fall 2019 Curriculum)
  • All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade AND passed with a C- or better (with the exception of CSE 95, 197, 198, and 199). 
  • A maximum of 4 units of special studies coursework may count from the following: CSE 197, 198, 199, 199H, ENG 100D, ENG 100L 
• BS Computer Science with Specialization in Bioinformatics Checklist (Fall 2018 Curriculum)
  • All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade (with the exception of CSE 95, 197, 198, and 199). 
  • A maximum of 4 units of special studies coursework may count from the following: CSE 197, 198, 199, 199H, ENG 100D, ENG 100L 

CS27 Prerequisite Flow Chart: Updated August 2020

Four Year Plans:

• Academic Planning Worksheet (link to copy a Google Sheet): blank worksheet for students to be able to create a sample long term plan which can be brought to an advising meeting 

• Sample Plans By College: sample long term plan that includes college requirements

• Sample 4-year Plan: 

*1: Students who do not have programming experience should begin with the two-track course: CSE 8A (take CSE 8B in the second quarter). Students who have programming experience may begin with CSE 11 (take CSE 12 and CSE 29 in the second quarter).

*2: CSE 20  is not required for major requirements but recommended to complete for CSE 21 prerequisites. If you want to bypass the CSE 20 to enroll in CSE 21, please submit an EASy request.

*3: CSE 21 may be substituted with MATH 154 or MATH 184. This is a manual update an advisor needs to make. Send a message through the Virtual Advising Center (VAC) *Effective Winter 2023: CSE 21 may be substituted with MATH 154 or MATH 184 or MATH 188*

*4: CHEM 140A taken before Fall 2017 is equivalent to CHEM 40A Fall 2017 and after

*5: CHEM 40B or CHEM 41B or BENG 120 is not required for major requirements, but must be completed for BIMM 100/BIBC 102 prerequisites.

*6 CSE Electives: Students are permitted to take any of these pre-approved courses to fulfill their CSE Elective requirements.  Please note that courses on this list may not automatically populate in the correct area of a student's degree audit.  In order to update the audit, please contact the CSE major advisors through the Virtual Advising Center (VAC). 

Major restrictions - The following majors may NOT double major or minor in CSE: 

- Any majors that fall under the Jacob's School of Engineering

- Data Science majors (DS25)

- Math-Computer Science majors (MA30) 

Transfer Students:

​Transfer students are in a special situation where the credits they come in with vary vastly from one student to another. To assist transfer students with their long term plans for completing major requirements, we have created different long term plans with different entry points depending on the CSE credits students typically come in with. These plans only include CSE major requirements, for questions regarding your college and university requirements please check with your college.

*These plans only focus on CSE coursework. For a list of all CSE Major requirements (including math and general science courses needed), please see the BS Computer Science with Specialization in Bioinformatics Checklist above. 

Incoming Computer Science with a Specialization in Bioinformatics (CS27) majors with transfer credit for CSE 11, CSE 12, and CSE 20, click here for a sample long-term plan. 

Fall Quarter - First Year	Winter Quarter - First Year	Spring Quarter - First Year
CSE 21	CSE 30	CSE 100
CSE 29	CHEM 40A or CHEM 41A	CHEM 40B or CHEM 41B or BENG 120
CHEM 6B	BILD 3	BILD 4
LDE		MATH 186
Fall Quarter - Second Year	Winter Quarter - Second Year	Spring Quarter - Second Year
BICD 100	CSE 181	CSE 182
BIMM 100	BIMM 101	CSE 185
CHEM 114A	BENG183	CSE Elective
CSE 101
Fall Quarter - Third Year	Winter Quarter - Third Year
CSE Elective	CSE Elective
CSE Elective	CSE Elective

*Transfer Students may take CSE 29 and CSE 30 concurrently during first Fall Quarter

Incoming Computer Science with a Specialization in Bioinformatics (CS27) majors with transfer credit for CSE 11, CSE 12, CSE 20, and CSE 30, click here for a sample long-term plan. 

Fall Quarter - First Year	Winter Quarter - First Year	Spring Quarter - First Year
CSE 21	CSE 100	CSE 101
CSE 29	CHEM 40A or CHEM 41A	CHEM 40B or CHEM 41B or BENG 120
CHEM 6B	BILD 3	BILD 4
LDE		MATH 186
Fall Quarter - Second Year	Winter Quarter - Second Year	Spring Quarter - Second Year
BICD 100	CSE 181	CSE 185
BIMM 100	BIMM 101	CSE 182
CHEM 114A	BENG183	CSE Elective
Fall Quarter - Third Year	Winter Quarter - Third Year
CSE Elective	CSE Elective
CSE Elective	CSE Elective