Master's in Biostatistics (MA) - UC Berkeley Public Health

Many issues in the health, medical and biological sciences are addressed by collecting and exploring relevant data. The development and application of techniques to better understand this data is the fundamental concern of our program. We offer training in statistics and biostatistics theory, computer implementation of analytic methods, and opportunities to use this knowledge in areas of biological and medical research.

Berkeley Public Health and UC Berkeley’s Department of Statistics, together with other UC Berkeley departments, offer a broad set of opportunities to satisfy the needs of individual students. In addition, the involvement of faculty from UCSF’s Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology enriches our instructional and research activities.

Curriculum

Our master’s program is a two-year program consisting of 48 units with courses selected from biostatistics and statistics, public health, and biology.

The oral comprehensive examination is designed to test a candidate’s breadth of understanding and knowledge, as well as the ability to articulate and explain the basic concepts gained from the curriculum. Alternatively, a thesis may be submitted to fulfill requirements. However, the decision to submit a thesis rather than take the oral examination must be made early in the final semester of the program.

Students should take the following courses:

STAT 201A: Introduction to Probability at an Advanced Level
STAT 201B: Introduction to Statistics at an Advanced Level
PH C240A: Introduction to Modern Biostatistical Theory and Practice

In addition to Statistics 201A and 201B and PH C240A, students are expected to take PH252D (Introduction to Causal Inference) and at least two other courses from the following list:

PH C240B: Biostatistical Methods: Survival Analysis and Causality
PH 240C: Computational Statistics
PH 252E: Advanced Topics in Causal Inference
PH 244: Big Data: A Public Health Perspective
CS 294.150: Machine Learning and Statistics Meet Biology
PH C242C: Longitudinal Data Analysis
PH 290.X: Targeted Learning in Biomedical Big Data

Qualifications

Previous coursework in calculus and linear algebra is required.

Common undergraduate majors for admitted applicants include statistics, biomedical and biological sciences, mathematics, and computer science.

Employment

Some students pursuing the MA degree intend to continue directly into a PhD program, while others take research positions in tech companies, federal agencies, state and local health departments, health care delivery organizations, and private industry. MA students interested in continuing into the UC Berkeley Biostatistics doctoral program immediately following their MA degree should apply to the new degree program through the Online Application for Admission during their second year of study during the normal admissions cycle.