Apply through the UVA BIMS application portal. All PhD programs in the UVA School of Medicine operate through the Biomedical Sciences (BIMS) umbrella. Students apply through the umbrella BIMS admissions. Then, after addmittance, students affiliate with one of the BIMS degree-granting programs. The Computational Biology PhD program is one of these options.
The BIMS program has some admissions criteria that are listed on the BIMS webpage for prospective students. Most of the criteria for the Computational Biology program are covered by the BIMS prerequisites, but the CompBio PhD program has a few additional criteria. You must have taken: mathematics through Linear Algebra, at least one course in Statistics, at least one course in Computer Science, and at least one course in Molecular Biology. Competitive students lacking one or more of these requirements will be expected to satisfy these prerequisites prior to or during their first year or to secure approval from the Director of Graduate Studies based on similar coursework or experience.
The UVA BIMS umbrella application operates on an annual cycle. The application portal opens around September 1 and is due around December 1 for admission the following year. Off-cycle admissions are not possible.
Once you are admitted to the BIMS program, your first year will be filled with research rotations and core coursework. After rotations are finished, you’ll select a mentor, and together you’ll choose among the degree-granting programs. If you choose Computational Biology and have satisfied the program’s prerequisites, you’ll then become part of the COBI PhD program around February of your first year.
If you’re interested in transferring, the process for transferring is this (in order):
Secure permission from your mentor to transfer. Importantly, your mentor must be a member of the Computational Biology PhD program faculty (see list of approved faculty on the program website).
Schedule a meeting with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), Dr. Nathan Sheffield, who will assess whether you have satisfied the admissions criteria for the Computational Biology PhD program (see admissions requirements above). In addition to the criteria for BIMS, these include at least one class in each of statistics, computer programming, linear algebra, and single-variable calculus. In addition, he will discuss the coursework that must be completed in order to satisfy the degree requirements for the Computational Biology PhD.
Secure permission from the DGS of your current program. You will need to be in good standing in your current program to transfer.
Complete a new BIMS declaration form indicating Computational Biology as your degree program. This must be signed by you, your mentor, the chair of the department in which they hold their primary appointment, and the DGS of the Computational Biology program. If you have a co-mentor, they will also need to sign and the nature of the co-mentoring arrangements be made clear.
See the Courses tab for a description of the required and elective coursework completed by Computational Biology PhD students.
Computational Biology PhD students must choose a mentor on the approved list of mentors for the program.
To earn the degree, you must:
Since our program was approved in 2024, we do not have any graduates, so we cannot give a historial average. However, we expect students to finish the program within 4-5 years in the typical case.