Goal of the Minor
The Minor in Scientific Computation is a natural complement to the
curriculum for majors in natural sciences, mathematics, economics, and
CSOM finance concentrators. A minor in Scientific Computation enriches
training in any of these disciplines, adding an applied emphasis on the
methodologies which have been developed for empirical research, and
stressing the cross-fertilization of research methods across disciplines.
The advancement of science in many fields is becoming less
discipline-specific, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the common
tools used for challenging computational problems. For instance, the
solution of 'hard' optimization problems or the simulation of large-scale
nonlinear models are common to many fields of science and applied
mathematics. Significant resources exist among the Boston College faculty
for the advancement of applied computational methodologies.
An interdisciplinary minor in Scientific Computation
provides students with a valuable, intellectually challenging experience
and marketable skills applicable in many fields, but would also stimulate
interdisciplinary collaboration and exchange among faculty. The program
does not have significant overlap with existing offerings and programs in
Computer Science, which are not generally oriented toward the scientific
applications of computation such as simulation, modelling, and data
visualization. Thus, a minor in Scientific Computation would be a useful
complement to a major or concentration in Computer Science.
The interdisciplinary minor in Scientific Computation
consists of six courses and a one-credit senior seminar (lecture series).