Program Requirements

About the major

Computational science is a new field, rapidly emerging out of collaborative research by teams of mathematicians, computer scientists, and scientists and covering a wide variety of disciplines from the physical, health, behavioral, and natural sciences. Rather than viewing computational science simply as potential applications of core subjects in their disciplines, mathematicians and computer scientists see these collaborative projects as a source of new algorithms and ideas that will extend and enrich those fields. Scientists also see computational science as a new endeavor, taking a place alongside theoretical science and experimental science as a fundamental new mode of scientific inquiry.

Because computational science seeks to integrate knowledge and methodologies from all of these disciplines, it is a subject which is distinct from any of them. The Bachelor of Science degree in Computational Science draws heavily from the disciplines of computer science and applied mathematics, as well as the scientific discipline in which the student chooses to minor.

Students majoring in Computational Science are required to have a minimum of 46 semester credit hours.

To complete the B.S. in Computational Science, students must satisfy the Additional Depth of Understanding requirement of the General Education program by completing a major or minor program of study in a scientific discipline offered in the College of Liberal Arts.

About the minor

Computational Science minors must be majors in one of the following areas of study: Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chemistry, Chemical Commerce, Economics, Global Development Studies, Global Health Studies, International Affairs, Neuroscience, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, or the Bachelor of Science in Engineering in the School of Engineering. To earn a minor, students must complete a minimum of 19 semester credit hours.