General Information

Computational Science is a fast-growing interdisciplinary field that is at the intersection of the sciences, computer science, and mathematics. At Wofford, the Emphasis in Computational Science was designed with scientists and for science majors. Applications discussed in the computational science courses are scientific in nature. The Emphasis is truly interdisciplinary among science, computer science, and mathematics.

To obtain an Emphasis in Computational Science (ECS), a student must satisfy the following requirements:

• Bachelor of Science in Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Studies, Mathematics, Physics, or Psychology
• Take five courses:
  Programming and Problem Solving (COSC 235)
  Modeling and Simulation for the Sciences (COSC/MATH 201)
  Data Structures (COSC 350)
  Calculus I (Math 181)
  Data and Visualization (COSC 370)
• Complete a summer internship involving computing in the sciences
  - ECS Internships
  - Internship Information

The Need for Computational Science 

There is a critical need for scientists who have a strong background in computational science.  Much scientific investigation now involves computing as well as theory and experiment.  Computing can often stimulate the insight and understanding that theory and experiment alone cannot achieve.  Moreover, many interesting and significant applied and basic research questions in science today are interdisciplinary in nature, involving physical and/or biological sciences, mathematics, and computer science.  Computer simulation and modeling offer valuable approaches to problems in many areas, such as environmental science, human behavior, energy, and molecular dynamics.  Massive amounts of information in Web-accessed databases (such as those for the human genome project) present to scientists new computational challenges in storage, retrieval, processing, and visualization.  The interdisciplinary field of computational science combines simulation, visualization, mathematical modeling, programming, data structures, networking, database design, symbolic computation, and high performance computing with various scientific disciplines.