A Report of the Curriculum Task Force of the ISCB Education Committee

Abstract

The International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) Education Committee (EduComm) promotes worldwide education and training in computational biology and bioinformatics and serves as a resource and advisor to organizations interested in developing educational programs. The topic of curricula for bioinformatics programs has long been of interest to ISCB and EduComm. Dr. Russ Altman, a founding board member and past president of ISCB, has been associated with one of the first bioinformatics degree programs (at Stanford University) and wrote an article on this topic [1]. Dr. Shoba Ranganathan, as chair of EduComm a decade ago, began organizing a yearly Workshop on Education in Bioinformatics (WEB) at Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB) meetings that generated exchange of information and many productive discussions. Curriculum development was one aspect of bioinformatics education covered in these sessions [2]. The field of bioinformatics has grown in the past decade. There are many such degree granting programs around the world at the bachelor's, master's, and PhD levels. This article provides a status report of the EduComm's ongoing endeavor to identify a set of core curricular guidelines for bioinformatics education at all levels. As a pilot project, the Curriculum Task Force of the EduComm conducted a survey in the spring of 2011. This initial survey was sent to members of the EduComm, consisting of 50 individuals from various regions of the world, and to the EMBnet community, representing 79 people from more than 30 countries. The response rate was 33%, with 41 individuals completing the survey. Analysis of the survey produced an initial set of recommendations to be used as a discussion point from which to launch a larger effort to develop a working bioinformatics curriculum. With increased input from the larger community, the EduComm will continue to refine its results. Individuals who are interested in contributing to this initiative are encouraged to contact the Chairs of the ISCB EduComm. The purposes of this article are to further disseminate the survey results and to solicit participation in the initiative. The initial survey results are summarized, the preliminary working curriculum is defined, and the next steps of the EduComm Curriculum Task Force are outlined.