Updated July 10th, 2026
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
Degree Planning:
- B.S. Computer Science with Specialization in Bioinformatics Checklist (Fall 2026 Curriculum): a checklist for all major requirements for students on the Fall 2026 curriculum
- CSE-BS-003 Major Policies
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- All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade AND passed with a C- or better (with the exception of CSE-089, CSE-091, CSE-095, CSE-109, CSE-197, CSE-198 and CSE-199).
- A maximum of 4 units of special studies coursework may count from the following: CSE-197, CSE-198, CSE-199, CSE-199H, ENG-100D, ENG-100DR, or ENG-100L
- A maximum of 12 units of CSE-190 can be used towards Open CSE elective credit. May be repeated for credit max 3 times (maximum of 12 units; assuming courses taken for a different topic).
- Please visit the CSE-190 website for current offerings and to view the tag for each course.
- Undergraduate students may use CSE graduate-level courses towards their major requirements, but may need a petition if they have taken the equivalent/similar undergraduate course.
- Undergraduate students must get instructor's permission and departmental approval (TEA request) to enroll in a graduate course.
- CSE-291's are topics courses and are counted as part of the maximum of three CSE-190's allowed for CSE electives.
- Untagged upper division CSE courses that may be used as Open CSE Electives are CSE-109 (2 units), CSE-190 (tagged based on offering), CSE-192, CSE-195, CSE-197, CSE-198, CSE-199, CSE-199H.
2026-2027 B.S. Computer Science with Bioinformatics Specialization Electives:
Please see your degree checklist for your admit year to find more information about the upper division elective requirements.
- Computer Science and Engineering
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Any upper-division CSE course between CSE-100 to 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".
- Cognitive Science
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COGS-108 - Data Science in Practice (4)
COGS-109 - Modeling and Data Analysis (4)
COGS-118A - Supervised Machine Learning Algorithms (4)
COGS-118B - Introduction to Machine Learning II (4)
COGS-118C - Neural Signal Processing (4)
COGS-120 - Interaction Design (5)
COGS-121 - Human Computer Interaction Portfolio Design Studio (4)
COGS-122 - Start-up Studio (4)
COGS-123 - Social Computing (4)
COGS-124 - HCI Technical Systems Research (4)
COGS-125 - Advanced Interaction Design (4)
COGS-126 - Thinking with Computers (4)
COGS-127 - Data-Driven UX/Product Design (4)
COGS-181 - Neural Networks and Deep Learning (4)
COGS-185 - Advanced Machine Learning Methods (4)
COGS-186 - Genetic Algorithms (4)
COGS-187A - Usability and Information Architecture (6)
COGS-187B - Practicum in Professional Web Design (4)
COGS-188 - Artificial Intelligence Algorithms (4)
COGS-189 - Brain Computer Interfaces (4)
Please use the Triton Enrollment Authorization (TEA) for COGS course clearance.
- Data Science
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DSC-100 - Introduction to Data Management (4)
DSC-102 - Systems for Scalable Analytics (4)
DSC-120 - Signal Processing for Data Analysis (4)
- Design
- Economics
- Education Studies
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EDS-124AR - Teaching Computation in the Digital World (4)
EDS-124BR - Teaching Computational Thinking for Everyone (4)
- Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE)
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ECE-111 - Advanced Digital Design Project (4)
- Engineering (Global Ties)
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ENG-100D(R)/ENG-100L: Principles of Team Engineering: globalties.ucsd.edu
- Students may use up to 4 units of ENG-100D/ENG-100L courses towards upper-division CSE Elective credits (as part of the 4 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 an upper-division CSE Elective (not exceeding the 4 units of CSE-198/199/199H Special Studies courses)
- Students may request to have their degree audit updated by contacting the Virtual Advising Center.
- Linguistics
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LIGN-165 - Computational Linguistics (4)
LIGN-167 - Deep Learning for Natural Language Understanding (4)
- Mathematics
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MATH-114 - Introduction to Computational Stochastics (4)
MATH-155A - Geometric Computer Graphics (4)
MATH-170A - Introduction to Numerical Analysis: Linear Algebra (4)
MATH-170B - Introduction to Numerical Analysis: Approximation and Nonlinear Equations (4)
MATH-170C - Introduction to Numerical Analysis: Ordinary Differential Equations (4)
MATH-171A - Introduction to Numerical Optimization: Linear Programming (4)
MATH-171B - Introduction to Numerical Optimization: Nonlinear Programming (4)
MATH-173A - Optimization Methods for Data Science I (4)
MATH-173B - Optimization Methods for Data Science II (4)
MATH-181D - Statistical Learning (4)
MATH-185 - Introduction to Computational Statistics (4)
- Music
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MUS-171 - Computer Music I (4)
- Visual Arts
Academic 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
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Sample Plans By College: sample long term plan that includes college requirements
- Sample 4-year Plan
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Year
Fall
Winter
Spring
First Year
CSE-008A* or CSE-011*
MATH-020A
CHEM-006A
Lower Division Elective (LDE)*
CSE-011*
CSE-020*
MATH-020B
CHEM-006B
MATH-020C
BILD-001
CSE-012
CSE-029
Second Year
CSE-030
CSE-021*
CHEM-040A or CHEM-041A
BILD-004
CSE-100
CHEM-040B or CHEM-041B or BENG-120*
MATH-018
CSE-101
BILD-003
PHYS-002A
Third Year
BICD-100
BIMM-100
CSE Elective
BIMM-101
MATH-186
Biochemistry
CSE-182
CSE Elective
Fourth Year
BENG-183
CSE Elective
CSE Elective
CSE-181
CSE Elective
CSE-185
*1: Students who do not have programming experience should begin with the two-track course: CSE-008A (take CSE-011 in the second quarter). Students who have programming experience may begin with CSE-011 (take CSE-012 and CSE-029 in the second quarter).
*2: If CSE-008A is taken, the Lower Division Elective (LDE) requirement will be fulfilled.
*3: CSE-020 is not required for major requirements but is recommended to complete for CSE-021 prerequisites. If you want to bypass the CSE-020 to enroll in CSE-021, please submit a Triton Enrollment Authorization (TEA) request.
*4: CSE-021 may be substituted with MATH-154 or MATH-184 or MATH-188* This is a manual update an advisor needs to make. Send a message through the Virtual Advising Center (VAC)
*5: CHEM-040B or CHEM-041B or BENG-120 is not required for major requirements, but must be completed for BIMM-100/BIBC-102 prerequisites.
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).
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 (CSE-BS-003) Checklist above.
- Incoming Computer Science with a Specialization in Bioinformatics majors with transfer credit for CSE-011, CSE-012, and CSE-020, click here for a sample long-term plan.
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Fall Quarter - First Year
Winter Quarter - First Year
Spring Quarter - First Year
CSE-021 CSE-030 CSE-100 CSE-029 CHEM-040A or CHEM-041A CHEM-040B or CHEM-041B or BENG-120 CHEM-006B BILD-003 BILD-004 Lower-Division Elective (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 Biochemistry BENG-183 CSE Elective CSE-101 Fall Quarter - Third Year
Winter Quarter - Third Year
CSE Elective CSE Elective CSE Elective CSE Elective - Incoming Computer Science with a Specialization in Bioinformatics majors with transfer credit for CSE-011, CSE-012, CSE-020, and CSE-030, click here for a sample long-term plan.
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Fall Quarter - First Year
Winter Quarter - First Year
Spring Quarter - First Year
CSE-021 CSE-100 CSE-101 CSE-029 CHEM-040A or CHEM-041A CHEM-040B or CHEM-041B or BENG-120 CHEM-006B BILD-003 BILD-004 Lower-Division Elective (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 Biochemistry BENG-183 CSE Elective Fall Quarter - Third Year
Winter Quarter - Third Year
CSE Elective CSE Elective CSE Elective CSE Elective
Fall 2025 Curriculum and Prior
- Major Checklists and Policies
-
BS Computer Science with Specialization in Bioinformatics Checklist (Fall 2025 Curriculum)
- 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
- A maximum of 12 units of CSE-190 can be used towards Open CSE elective credit. May be repeated for credit, max 3 times (maximum of 12 units; assuming courses taken for a different topic).
- Please visit the CSE-190 website for current offerings and to view the tag for each course.
- Undergraduate students may use CSE graduate-level courses towards their major requirements, but may need a petition if they have taken the equivalent/similar undergraduate course.
- Undergraduate students must get the instructor's permission and departmental approval (TEA request) to enroll in a graduate course.
- CSE-291's are topics courses and are counted as part of the maximum of three CSE-190's allowed for CSE electives.
- Untagged upper division CSE courses that may be used as Open CSE Electives are CSE-109 (2 units), CSE-190 (tagged based on offering), CSE-192, CSE-195, CSE-197, CSE-198, CSE-199, CSE-199H.
- All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade AND passed with a C- or better (with the exception of CSE-091, CSE-095, 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-015L (2 units) will be replaced with CSE-029 (4 units) in Spring 2024. A new updated version of CSE-030 will be offered Fall 2024. For students admitted in FA24, to accommodate the two additional units for CSE-029, the current Technical Elective requirement will be replaced by a two unit Computer Science and Engineering (LD) elective.
- All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade AND passed with a C- or better (with the exception of CSE-091, CSE-095, 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
- All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade AND passed with a C- or better (with the exception of CSE-091, CSE-095, 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
- All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade AND passed with a C- or better (with the exception of CSE-095, 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
- All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade AND passed with a C- or better (with the exception of CSE-095, 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
- All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade AND passed with a C- or better (with the exception of CSE-095, 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
- All major requirements must be taken for a letter grade (with the exception of CSE-095, 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
- 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).
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 (DSC-BS-001)
- Math-Computer Science majors (MATH-BS-003)