Students have long pursued minors during their college careers, but now, many are tacking one of the UI’s 18 certificate programs onto their résumés.

The university has added several certificates in the past few years, including in entrepreneurial management, sustainablility and, most recently, bioinformatics.

Certificate programs are ideal for students who want to gain a specialty in a field outside their principal area of study, several UI officials said.

Academic adviser Franklin Yoder, who runs the UI’s certificate in sustainablility, said taking on a certificate will help students during their career searches.

“Any certificate gives [an employer] evidence that the student has expertise in an area in addition to their major,” he said. “It helps students have a stronger degree overall and gives them a broader foundation.”

The environmentally friendly certificate allows students to show an expertise in sustainablility, which is valuable to any profession they may pursue, Yoder said.

Pat Folsom, the director of UI’s Academic Advising Center, stressed the importance of adding a specialty on top of a major or two.

“Certificates are a great way to enhance a degree,” she said. “They offer an interdisciplinary perspective on a specific aspect of a major.”

Bioinformatics, the latest certificate to be added at the UI, was created this semester after the National Institutes of Health gave the UI a five-year, $598,500 grant. Doctoral students in 22 programs are now able to receive the interdisciplinary certificate in addition to their traditional degree. The grant money will be used exclusively to pay for student expenses.

Informatics is an advanced development of quantitative fields, such as engineering, mathematics, and computer science. When applied to basic life sciences or biomedicine, the field is known as bioinformatics, according to a release.

The program, titled “Bioinformatics Training in the Life Sciences and Biomedicine,” will provide life-sciences graduates with biomedical problem-solving skills, said Terry Braun, a UI associate professor of biomedical engineering who served as the grant proposal’s assistant author.

Tom Casavant, the director of the Center for bioinformatics and Computational Biology, was the principal investigator for the grant.

On top of the normal expectations of the students’ respective disciplinary doctoral programs, they must complete an average of 18 additional hours of course work in bioinformatics, informatics, or bioscience to receive the certificate.

“Bioinformatics is a new field,” Braun said. “It’s a growing field within the economy.”

Eight student applications are under review so far this fall, he said.

Among other benchmarks, successful research and good grades will be used as metrics for the program’s success, he said.