The Bioinformatics major offers rigorous, interdisciplinary training in the rapidly growing and evolving field of bioinformatics within the Division of Biological Sciences. Bioinformatics uses computational approaches to analyze biological data (e.g., large scale genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic datasets) to investigate living organisms and their communities. An understanding of the qualitative and quantitative biological data that are accruing, and the tools used to analyze them, requires substantial mastery of biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and computer science. The interdisciplinary bioinformatics specialization will be offered by two other departments (computer science and engineering and bioengineering). All three versions of the bioinformatics specialization share a common set of core requirements, and also have distinct requirements reflecting each unit's academic focus. The bioinformatics specialization offered by the Division of Biological Sciences is aimed at a student interested in applying, and to some extent developing, tools of bioinformatics for the study of biological systems. Students will receive a Bachelor of Science degree in biology with a specialization in bioinformatics. This degree will prepare students for graduate studies in biological and biomedical sciences, and provide excellent training for work in the biomedical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and bioinformatics industries.