2021 Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (CBB) Ph.D. Qualifying Examination

Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech

Exam committee

• Lenwood S. Heath
• T. M. Murali, Chair
• Liqing Zhang

Philosophy of Examination

• This exam is based on a set of CBB research papers. Each student chooses his/her set of papers from one of three research areas (see below).

• Each student is responsible for reading beyond the set of assigned papers so as to thoroughly understand the assigned area.

• Each student will be evaluated on his/her written paper synthesizing the area and via an oral exam.

Process and Format

• Students must register for this exam, including the selection of an area (below). Send your request to register to T. M. Murali.

• Students must do the following:
  1. Write a paper in 11 point or larger font as directed by the area below.
  2. On a specific day in February, take an oral exam administered by the committee and based on the research papers and your paper.

• Grading: Written synthesis: 50%. Oral exam: 50%.

Schedule

• November 18, 2020: This page made available.
• December 1, 2020: Exam details made available.
• December 7, 2020: Last day to register for the exam. Send your request to T. M. Murali. Specify which research area you have chosen.
• January 15, 2021: Synthesis paper due. Send your paper as a PDF to T. M. Murali.
• TBD: Oral exam.
• February 15, 2021: Exam results due to GPC.

Before each of the dates above make sure you check this page for updates.

Research Areas

Choose one of these three research areas.

1. Alignment-Free Biological Sequence Analysis: Read the description of the genome comparison exam and follow the instructions given therein.

2. Metagenomic Data Analyses: Read the instructions for metagenomic data analyses and follow the steps given there.

3. COVID-19 and Network Biology: See the instructions for network biology.