RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Bioinformatics Core Competencies for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 170993 DO 10.1101/170993 A1 Melissa A. Wilson Sayres A1 Charles Hauser A1 Michael Sierk A1 Srebrenka Robic A1 Anne G. Rosenwald A1 Todd M. Smith A1 Eric W. Triplett A1 Jason J. Williams A1 Elizabeth Dinsdale A1 William Morgan A1 James M. Burnette III A1 Samuel S. Donovan A1 Jennifer C. Drew A1 Sarah C. R. Elgin A1 Edison R. Fowlks A1 Sebastian Galindo-Gonzalez A1 Anya L. Goodman A1 Neal F. Grandgenett A1 Carlos C. Goller A1 John Jungck A1 Jeffrey D. Newman A1 William Pearson A1 Elizabeth Ryder A1 Rafael Tosado-Acevedo A1 William Tapprich A1 Tammy C. Tobin A1 Arlín Toro-Martínez A1 Lonnie R. Welch A1 Robin Wright A1 David Ebenbach A1 Kimberly C. Olney A1 Mindy McWilliams A1 Mark A. Pauley YR 2017 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/08/03/170993.abstract AB Bioinformatics is becoming increasingly central to research in the life sciences. However, despite its importance, bioinformatics skills and knowledge are not well integrated in undergraduate biology education. This curricular gap prevents biology students from harnessing the full potential of their education, limiting their career opportunities and slowing genomic research innovation. To advance the integration of bioinformatics into life sciences education, a framework of core bioinformatics competencies is needed. To that end, we here report the results of a survey of life sciences faculty in the United States about teaching bioinformatics to undergraduate life scientists. Responses were received from 1,260 faculty representing institutions in all fifty states with a combined capacity to educate hundreds of thousands of students every year. Results indicate strong, widespread agreement that bioinformatics knowledge and skills are critical for undergraduate life scientists, as well as considerable agreement about which skills are necessary. Perceptions of the importance of some skills varied with the respondent’s degree of training, time since degree earned, and/or the Carnegie classification of the respondent’s institution. To assess which skills are currently being taught, we analyzed syllabi of courses with bioinformatics content submitted by survey respondents. Finally, we used the survey results, the analysis of syllabi, and our collective research and teaching expertise to develop a set of bioinformatics core competencies for undergraduate life sciences students. These core competencies are intended to serve as a guide for institutions as they work to integrate bioinformatics into their life sciences curricula.Significance Statement Bioinformatics, an interdisciplinary field that uses techniques from computer science and mathematics to store, manage, and analyze biological data, is becoming increasingly central to modern biology research. Given the widespread use of bioinformatics and its impacts on societal problem-solving (e.g., in healthcare, agriculture, and natural resources management), there is a growing need for the integration of bioinformatics competencies into undergraduate life sciences education. Here, we present a set of bioinformatics core competencies for undergraduate life scientists developed using the results of a large national survey and the expertise of our working group of bioinformaticians and educators. We also present results from the survey on the importance of bioinformatics skills and the current state of integration of bioinformatics into biology education.