Carnegie Mellon's Pre-College Programs: Computational Biology

The Pre-College Program in Computational Biology immerses students in cutting-edge laboratory techniques and the computational methods that bring biological data to life. Computer science has transformed biology and medicine, and the next generation of life scientists must be fluent in both generating data in the lab and interpreting it with powerful computational tools. Our program gives high school students a rare chance to explore this interdisciplinary frontier in a university setting. Students tackle real research-inspired problems, from studying microbes in Pittsburgh’s local ecosystems to investigating the impact of COVID-19. After collecting samples in the field, they will isolate bacterial DNA, fragment it into millions of sequences, and analyze these sequences using the same approaches used by computational biologists worldwide. Each day highlights the synergy between experimentation and computation. Half the day is spent in a hackathon, with students working in teams to code solutions to computational questions inspired by biology. The other half takes place in the lab, where students generate the very datasets they’ll later interpret with their own code. Carnegie Mellon University, a global leader in automated science, gives students the chance to work with robotic laboratory equipment. Using tools like the Opentrons OT-2 liquid handling robot and custom automation platforms, our students will see firsthand how machine learning and artificial intelligence are reshaping how science is done. To prepare for the program, admitted students will complete foundational coding lessons from Programming for Lovers, an open education project developed by Professor Phillip Compeau. These preparatory materials ensure that every student arrives ready to dive into computational biology, regardless of prior programming experience.