<p>My daughter is a high school senior who is interested in Math.</p>
<p>I see that some colleges such as Indiana and UC Irvine offer a major in informatics.
I’m embarrassed to say that when I read the explanation of the program described on the college websites, I don’t understand what the field is about.</p>
<p>Can anyone explain what informatics is.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>It is a major that intersects computer science with a cognate area. For example, she will take computer classes in database design, human-computer interface design, network design, and programming. She will also complete a siginficant number of courses in a cognate, quite often in a science, social science, or business (This will not be enough courses for a major in the cognate field). It will also require a few statistics classes and the math classes as required for the comp science courses.</p>
<p>The idea is to apply the computational power of computing through the use of programs and data to solve problems in the cognate area…computational biology, geographical info science are two common uses.</p>
<p>Here is a link to the program at UIowa. I think it gives a good explanation.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.cs.uiowa.edu/undergraduate-programs/informatics[/url]”>https://www.cs.uiowa.edu/undergraduate-programs/informatics</a></p>
<p>Thank you Haystack.</p>
<p>Could you please tell me how it would be applied in a cognate field such as geographical info or accounting or psychology</p>
<p>Accounting…designing systems, programs and databases for accounting data analysis. As an example…marketing wants to send an email coupon blast to 20,000 of our 100,000 customers. NOt just any customer, but only those 20,000 that are most likely to use the coupon and spend the most money. A program/report will have to be designed to segment customers by things such as average revenue per purchase, average profit per purchase, frequency of purchases, past response rate to email blasts, etc in order to pull the appropriate 20,000 customers. If the data is not easily available, you may have to design a database and programs to pull the necessary data in so you can analyze it.</p>
<p>Geography…Kohl’s Department store is expanding and wants to build 100 new stores in the next 3 years. Apply geographical modeling /algorithms to help identify the possible locations. Model the impact that the next 500 year flood will have on downtown Cedar Rapids. How will this impact the current flood mitigation efforts?</p>
<p>Psychology…design programs and databases to process research results from a scientific study.</p>
<p>Computational [neuro]biology: design a computer program using real patient data to predict how each of several different cancer treatment protocols will affect the growth of a certain type of brain tumor. (My D worked on a project like this summer.) Develop a computer model that simulates how a single neuron works within a network (the brain). [Paul Allen is pouring big $$ into this research. So is Google.] Develop a computer program which analyzes certain cognitive processes using quantum mechanics calculations.</p>
<p>So can this major could actually lead to a well paying job.</p>
<p>Are there any colleges that are leaders in this field?</p>
<p>My PhD was bioinformatics. I always described this to people as analysing biological data using computers. I essentially mapped genes associated with cancer. I am not a scientist now though, but I am a patent attorney so I guess I do have a well paying job (that is mostly interesting and quite fun too).</p>
<p>The top comprehensive programs are probably UCI, Michigan, and IU. UIowa is a newcomer to the field. Lots of schools have strong programs in specific areas of informatics. There are probably hundreds of programs out there in computational biology. There are also many programs in geo informatics/science. Health Care informatics is also popular with lots of jobs.</p>
<p>If you are interested in any of the schools and programs, I would suggest that you talk with each department about their undergraduate placement. Hiring will be largely regional. Also, a masters degree in the associated cognate area may be helpful. For example, MPH for healthcare.</p>
<p>Here are some sample jobs…
[Informatics</a> Analyst -Entry Level to Senior Job in Newark 07105, New Jersey Us](<a href=“Monster Jobs - Job Search, Career Advice & Hiring Resources | Monster.com | Most popular jobs”>http://jobview.monster.com/Informatics-Analyst-Entry-Level-to-Senior-Job-Newark-NJ-104206040.aspx)</p>
<p>[Informatics</a> Specialist Job in Pittsburgh 15236, Pennsylvania Us](<a href=“Monster Jobs - Job Search, Career Advice & Hiring Resources | Monster.com | Most popular jobs”>http://jobview.monster.com/Informatics-Specialist-Job-Pittsburgh-PA-103996565.aspx)</p>