Education

A key part of QB3's mandate is to educate the next generation of students in quantitative biology. These students will shape California science and technology—they are the academic researchers, industry leaders, and policymakers of the future.

Programs that QB3 supports, generally at the Ph.D. level, guide students to fluency in the concepts and techniques essential to both biology and the hard sciences. These programs include:

• UCSF's Integrative Program in Quantitative Biology, which establishes a core curriculum for graduate students in biophysics, bioinformatics, and complex biological systems.
  
• UC Berkeley's QB3-supported Center for Computational Biology, which provides students with the option of specialized training as they complete a Ph.D. in math, science, and engineering fields, and will soon offer a full doctoral program in computational biology.
  
• UC Santa Cruz's Department of Biomolecular Engineering, founded in 2004 and directed by QB3 member David Haussler, which offers degrees at the bachelor's, master's, and PhD levels.

QB3 recognizes the importance of inspiring younger students to choose careers in quantitative biology. The Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center (SynBERC), a QB3 initiative funded by the National Science Foundation, offers courses and research internships for students at all levels. QB3 also places undergraduate students as summer interns with biotech companies. And QB3 researchers seek out opportunities to give high school students a glimpse of cutting-edge science, sometimes through hands-on work in the lab.