Bachelor’s Degree in Bioinformatics & Computational Biology

WPI’s Bioinformatics & Computational Biology program is strongly project-oriented, giving students opportunities to apply computational and mathematical techniques to biological questions rather than relying only on classroom study. Students can participate in faculty research, undergraduate projects, off-campus projects in the U.S. or abroad, internships and co-ops, while senior students complete a Major Qualifying Project that tackles a substantial research or professional problem. The program’s research environment connects biology, mathematics, computer science and computational infrastructure, giving students access to biological databases, bioinformatics software, high-performance computing resources and wet-lab facilities.

Students can gain practical experience through:

• Major Qualifying Project (MQP): Every graduating senior completes an MQP, allowing students to work on a professional-level research, design or creative project and present their work to faculty, sponsors and the wider WPI community.

• Bioinformatics software and databases: Students and researchers have access to major biological databases and a wide range of maintained bioinformatics software packages.

• Computational infrastructure: Grid and cloud computing, high-speed networking and substantial computational resources support biological data analysis and computational research.

• Research areas: Students can engage with research involving clinical and health informatics, comparative genomics, computational epidemiology, biological data mining and machine learning, data visualization, genome-wide association studies, mathematical biology, biological-system simulation, structural bioinformatics, and systems and network biology.

• Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park: The facility supports interdisciplinary biological and computational research, with wet-lab resources available to BCB researchers.

• University of Massachusetts Medical School resources: BCB students and researchers can access research laboratories and facilities at the University of Massachusetts Medical School through the program’s research environment.

• Project-based research: Official WPI examples include projects on high-throughput screening of C. elegans, unusual gene structures in DNA primase, HIV disease-control analysis, and mapping research collaboration using PubMed data.

• Internships and co-ops: WPI supports career-related internships and paid co-op opportunities, including positions lasting approximately four to eight months.

• Faculty research: Students can work with faculty across biology, mathematics and computer science, allowing them to develop interests in areas such as genomics, mathematical modelling, machine learning, biological data analysis and computational biology.

• George C. Gordon Library and academic resources: BCB students have access to WPI’s George C. Gordon Library, academic advising, the Projects Program and dedicated BCB student resources.

Graduates of WPI’s Bioinformatics & Computational Biology program can use their combination of biological knowledge, programming, mathematics, data analysis and project experience across biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, research and technology. WPI identifies career directions including engineering, analysis, research, project management, consulting, development and scientific roles, with graduates moving into organizations such as Moderna, Biogen, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Illumina, 10x Genomics and other life-science companies.

Typical job roles include Bioinformatics Analyst, Computational Biology Researcher, Bioinformatics Scientist, Biological Data Analyst.

Career development and progression can be supported through:

• Career Development Center and Handshake: WPI’s career network gives students access to job, internship and co-op opportunities specifically connected with WPI students and alumni, along with personalized job recommendations.

• Internships and co-ops: WPI supports paid, career-related co-op positions generally lasting four to eight months, as well as summer internships, giving students an opportunity to gain professional experience before graduation.

• Employment and salary: WPI’s BCB department reports an average starting salary of $79,422 for bachelor’s degree graduates from the Class of 2025. The university also reports #15 Best Career Placement in The Princeton Review 2026 rankings.

• Industry exposure: WPI BCB graduates have been hired by organizations including Moderna, Biogen, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Takeda, Broad Institute, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Illumina, 10x Genomics, Ginkgo Bioworks, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Tempus and Foundation Medicine.

• Research and professional preparation: The program’s interdisciplinary structure allows students to work across biology, computer science and mathematics, while MQP projects can address real-world problems and may contribute to publications, presentations, patents or industry-sponsored innovation.

• Long-term accreditation value: WPI’s institutional NECHE accreditation provides recognized institutional quality assurance. The BCB degree itself is not listed among WPI’s ABET-accredited engineering programs, so students should not treat the degree as carrying an engineering professional accreditation.

• Graduate outcomes: WPI identifies graduate destinations including WPI, Boston University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Imperial College London and Dartmouth College.

Further Academic Progression: After the bachelor’s degree, students can continue into WPI’s M.S. in Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, pursue the accelerated BS/MS in Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, or progress to doctoral-level study in Bioinformatics & Computational Biology or related areas. Graduate pathways can deepen expertise in computational biology, biostatistics, mathematical biology, systems biology, genomics, machine learning and biological data analysis.