Fall 2025
In person in Murdoch 814 from 12 - 1:20 pm Tuesdays and Thursdays.
John P. Barton
Murdoch 830
jpbarton@pitt.edu
Shikhar Uttam
Hillman Cancer Center Research Pavilion Suite 2.6f
shf28@pitt.edu
Mert Gur
Murdoch 832
gurmert@pitt.edu
Rezwan Hosseini
SEH197@pitt.edu
Computers have become essential tools for biology, as well as other scientific disciplines. This course will provide students with experience using the Python programming language to solve problems and analyze biological data. We will also cover general principles of computational analysis that will help students become more productive researchers. Topic areas include:
We will use Python 3 to introduce methods and assignments, along with Jupyter notebooks. The syllabus, course web page, and assignments will all be hosted on GitHub.
Credit will be assigned as follows:
Homework assignments will be automatically graded through GitHub Classroom. A rubric is included with each assignment. You are free to resubmit your work as many times as you like before the deadline.
You are encouraged to collaborate with one another on homework assignments and projects. If you work in a team on an assignment, please add a comment in your code listing your teammates. Similarly, if you receive help from another student on a specific problem or part of an assignment, please add a comment to acknowledge this in that part of the code.
If you get stuck on a problem, to get the most out of the course, it’s worthwhile to take the time to think it through carefully and attempt to work it out individually/within your group. If you’re still stuck, feel free to reach out to other students or instructors with questions.