Giving your degree-granting program worldwide recognition!

ISCB is pleased to offer the Degree-granting Endorsement Program.  This program is intended to provide a process by which degree program directors can have the ISCB certify that the degree meets standards for an education program in the domain of computational biology and bioinformatics. For prospective students, it provides some confidence that the program has been reviewed by the ISCB and meets the standards of the Profession.

ISCB Endorsed Degree Programs receive:

• Listing on the ISCB website with logo linked to chosen URL as an approved degree program
• A certification certificate and logo from the ISCB that can be displayed on a program website or within other promotional materials
• Announcement of the endorsement in the ISCB Newsletter, at ISCB official conference, and via other media outlets used by ISCB

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If an official degree program affiliation is of interest to you, please apply by completing this form and emailing your packet to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line - ISCB Degree-granting Endorsement Program

For the purposes of this application, a degree program is defined as a set of courses or other requirements culminating in the awarding of an academic degree. The ISCB provides endorsement for the following programs types:

• Bachelor’s degree (B.S./B.A./B.Eng.) in Computational Biology or Bioinformatics
• Master’s degree (M.S./M.Eng.) in Computational Biology or Bioinformatics
• Doctoral degree (Ph.D./Sci.D.) in Computational Biology or Bioinformatics
• Certificate (non-degree-awarding) in Computational Biology or Bioinformatics

Note that programs need not have these specific names, but endorsement certifies they meet the Society’s requirements for degrees by these names.

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Nominal Application Fee* Requirements

At this time, ISCB is not charging an application fee to be part of this program.  ISCB reserves the right to charge a fee in the future.

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Review and Approval Process

If the application passes an initial review then it will be sent to a panel of referees to provide a detailed evaluation of the proposal, known as a Phase I evaluation. It generally takes up to four weeks from the time an application is submitted before an initial determination is made and up to eight weeks for the refereeing process for Phase I. If the referees have questions or concerns about the application, then more than one round of Phase I review may be required. Applications approved after Phase I review will proceed to a Phase II review involving solicitation of additional evidence that the program meets appropriate standards of rigor and that the offering institution has the means, facilities, and institutional support to offer the program as described.

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Application Requirements

• Name(s) and contact information of principal applicant(s) – must be ISCB member(s)
• Institution
• Official institution postal mailing address for correspondence
• Name of the degree awarded
• Location(s) at which the degree program is offered
• Language(s) in which program is taught
• Which agencies, aside from the offering university, if any, have certified the degree? (e.g., national degree certification agencies), one per line
• How long has this degree program been in operation? NOTE: The ISCB does not review degree programs until they have been in operation for at least three years
• How many cohorts have graduated to date? NOTE: The ISCB does not review degree programs until they have graduated at least two cohorts
• Total number of program alumni
• Total number of students currently enrolled
• Minimum student effort required for the degree (in hours of time)
• URL to course website
• Program outline (<250 words): Please comment on the purpose of your program, the applicant pool it is intended to serve, the current or intended size of the program, and summarize activities of the program to date.
• Program faculty, providing a list of course instructors, student advisors, program directors, and other key personnel, with titles and affiliations and role in the program. (We understand these roles may change from time to time, so please provide a current or recent snapshot.)
• Summary of course requirements, listing required courses and restricted elective courses, total program requirements, and a sample curriculum
• Summary of learning objectives for the curriculum
• Mapping of course requirements and learning objectives to computational biology core competencies (further explanation provided on the website)
• How do you/will you ensure that the course is inclusive and non-discriminatory, consistent (<250 words)

ISCB strongly encourages the review of the following publications:

• The ISCB competency framework v. 3: a revised and extended standard for bioinformatics education and training https://zenodo.org/records/10466596
• The development and application of bioinformatics core competencies to improve bioinformatics training and education. (2018) Mulder N, Schwartz R, Brazas MD, Brooksbank C, Gaeta B, Morgan S, Pauley M, Rosenwald A, Rustici G, Sierk M, Warnow T, Welch L.
• Applying, Evaluating and Refining Bioinformatics Core Competencies (An Update from the Curriculum Task Force of ISCB’s Education Committee) (2016), Welch, L., Brooksbank, C., Schwartz, R. et al,
• Bioinformatics Curriculum Guidelines: Toward a Definition of Core Competencies. PLoS Comput Biol 10(3): e1003496. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003496. Welch L, Lewitter F, Schwartz R, Brooksbank C, Radivojac P, et al. (2014)

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Competency Framework

• A link to the current version of the ISCB Competency Framework can be found here: https://competency.ebi.ac.uk/framework/iscb/3.0

For questions about the ISCB Degree-granting Endorsement program, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and include in your subject line – ISCB Degree-granting Endorsement Program

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Endorsed Degree-granting Programs

Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Master's programme from VU Amsterdam and theUniversity of Amsterdam (UvA)

https://www.uva.nl/shared-content/programmas/en/masters/bioinformatics-and-systems-biology/bioinformatics-and-systems-biology.html

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