CSCI 4810: Computational Biology and Health Informatics

  • Instructor: Katie A. Siek
  • Department: Computer Science
  • Office: ECST 322C
  • Office Phone: (303) 492-5066
  • Email: ksiek - at - cs.colorado.edu
  • Office Hours: 10am-11am Mondays & Thursdays (or by appointment)

COURSE INFORMATION

Meeting Times: Lectures: Mondays 4-4:50p (Time varies - see below)

Location: Initially ECCR 105, but will vary (see below)

Most locations will be in the Engineering Center, Porter, Muenzinger, and Ekeley.

Readings: Students will research appropriate readings for each of the presentations they attend.

Course Overview

This course provides an overview of current research topics in computational biology and health informatics, with a focus on research conducted on campus or within the CU system. Each week, students will attend an on-campus seminar or a presentation by an on-campus research group. Some presentations will be aimed specifically for the students in this class. This course prepares students to participate in a research project.

Course Expectations

Each week students are required to: (1) attend a presentation or discussion section and (2) write a short summary of the presentation with suggestions and questions for the presenter(s). Suggestions can be about research, presentation style, etc.

Grading

  • Semester Plan - 10%
  • Participation during discussion sections - 30%
  • Written Assignments - 30%
  • Project Idea Brainstorm with a Professor - 30%


COURSE ELEMENTS

Semester Plan

Students must create their own semester plan that details the papers they will read in preparation for their attendance at a presentation/seminar/lab meeting during weeks 4-6, 8-10, 13-15. Discussion sections will happen during weeks 1, 3, 7, 12, and 16, thus students only have to review their summaries in preparation for the discussion sections during these weeks.

To create the semester plan, students should download the Semester Plan Template from the course website (please save the Semester Plan Template as [LastName]-SemesterPlan.doc/docx/pdf). Then, students must look over the schedules of the various colloquiums listed below to plan what colloquium/seminar/lab meeting they will attend. Presentation selection should have a good balance between CB and HI.

Students can propose to attend a presentation/lab meeting not listed above, however the instructor must approve of the event.

Students should research the person giving the colloquium to select an appropriate paper to read in preparation for the colloquium. Typically, professors give colloquiums on papers they have published, thus look for similar material from the colloquium abstract. Students should do this research on their own and not contact the professor to ask for a reading.

Students must submit their plan via email to Professor Siek by 5pm on 17 January 2011.

Discussion Sections

Students should read over their summaries for the month before attending discussion sections and be prepared to summarize for the rest of the class what presentations they attended and any questions or suggestions they had.

Discussion sections will happen during weeks 1, 3, 7, 12, and 16.

Written Assignments

Students should read appropriate materials before a lecture and attend the lecture. After the lecture, students should submit a write-up that details:

  • Name
  • Written Assignment #
  • Selected Accompanying Paper Citation
  • Paper Summary - 1 paragraph (In your own words)
    • What was the goal?
    • What did they do? (methods, population, etc.)
    • What did they find?
    • How does it extend/summarize the field?
  • Collquium Summary - 1 paragraph
    • What do you think the colloquium was about?
    • What did you learn from the colloquium? (About the area, about presentation style, etc.)
  • Discussion (if relevant)
    • Did the paper/colloquium make you wonder about anything?
    • Any concepts/terms you had to look up with their definition?
    • Any references of interest that you should consider looking up?
    • Any points in the paper/colloquium that you have issues with?
    • Is the paper/research dated or could the results still be applied today/in the future?
    • Does this paper/talk relate to any other papers/talks you read or attended?
Written assignments are due each week - with the exception of the discussion week.

Assignments must be submitted through this link: http://tiny.cc/4810

Project Idea Brainstorm with a Professor

Students should research professors within the CU system and select one professor who they would like to work with possibly in the future. The student should read 3 papers that the selected professor has written to gain a better understanding of the professor's research. Then, the student should either attend the professor's office hours or set up a meeting with the professor (note: most professors require 2 weeks notice to schedule a meeting outside of office hours) to brainstorm possible project ideas.