Using interdisciplinary bioinformatics undergraduate research to recruit and retain computer science students

An interdisciplinary undergraduate research project in bioinformatics, jointly mentored by faculty in computer science and biology, has been developed and is being used to provide top-quality instruction to biology and computer science students. This paper explains the benefits of such a collaboration to computer science students and to the computer science discipline. Specific goals of the project include increased recruitment of students into computer science and increased retention within the discipline. The project is also intended to be particularly attractive to women students.