NSF Program Goals

The goal of the Undergraduate Biology and Mathematics (UBM) activity is to enhance undergraduate education and training at the intersection of the biological and mathematical sciences and to better prepare undergraduate biology or mathematics students to pursue graduate study and careers in fields that integrate the mathematical and biological sciences.

Add an Academic Minor to Your Course of Study

To realize this goal, students selected as UMB Scholars will be required to add an academic minor to compliment their major. Students majoring in biology must add a minor either in mathematics or statistics while students majoring in either mathematics or statistics will have to add a minor in biology. In order to remain in the program and receive stipend support, students must show that they are making satisfactory progress towards the completion of both their major and minor in a timely manner. All students at UTSA, irrespective of their academic major, have a fairly large number of "free elective" hours as part of their degree plan. By adding an academic minor, UMB Scholars are using these free elective hours to maximum advantage. It is much more impressive to the admissions committees of graduate and medical schools that your diploma states the you have received your Bachelor of Science Degree with a Major in Biology and a Minor in Mathematics (or Major in Statistics and a Minor in Biology). Competition to get into graduate programs and medical schools is increasing (click here to read more...). By adding an academic minor to your degree you will make yourself standout in a very large and growing crowd of qualified applicants. If you think about it, it really makes sense to use your free electives to add real value to your undergraduate degree, not just to take an unrelated series of courses that your friends told you that they were "cool".

Do Collaborative Research in Computational Biology

Additionally, all UMB Scholars will be required to spend 10-15 hrs per week doing research under the direction and guidance of faculty mentors from the departments of Biology, Applied Math and Statistics. During both the fall and spring semesters, UMB Scholars will engage in various aspects of collaborative research. Students entering their senior year are also required to spend the summer doing research. Students will be assigned to one of two collaborative research groups depending upon their interests and the availability of space. The two research groups are (1) Computational Neuroscience Group and (2) the Bioinformatics/Comparative Genomics Research Group.

You May Not Have an Outside Job

Your Scholarship is a stipend that is given to you to help you achieve your academic and educational goals without having to hold down an outside job. As a UMB Scholar, you are expected to spend 20 or more hours a week engaged in your research activities. Students who feel that the amount of stipend support will be inadequate for their economic needs should not apply for this program.