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Education / Graduate Education / PhD Programs / Statistics / Curriculum / Syllabi

Sample Syllabi From Previous Years

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For past copies of syllabi, please contact URBiostat@urmc.rochester.edu.

BST 401 Probability Theory

  • Semester: Fall
  • Description: Probability spaces; random variables; independence; distributions; expectation; characteristic functions and inversion theorems; convergence; laws of large numbers; central limit theorem.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 402 Stochastic Processes

  • Semester: Fall
  • Description: Markov chains; birth-death processes; random walks; renewal theory; Poisson processes; Brownian motion; branching processes; martingales; with applications.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 411 Statistical Inference I

  • Semester: Fall
  • Description: Probability distributions, transformations and sampling distributions; statistical models; estimation, hypothesis testing, and confidence intervals for parametric models; introduction to large-sample methods.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 412 Statistical Inference II

  • Semester: Spring
  • Description: Types of convergence; asymptotic linearity; influence functions; consistency and asymptotic normality; large sample estimation, maximum likelihood estimation; Wald, likelihood ratio, and score tests; generalized Neyman-Pearson lemma; nuisance parameters; efficiency; alternative methods for estimation (M-estimation, GEE, generalized method of moments); resampling methods (bootstrap, permutation tests); decision-theoretic inference.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 413 Bayesian Inference

  • Semester: Spring
  • Description: Posterior distributions for single and multiple parameter models under conjugacy; hierarchical models; noninformative and informative prior distributions; modern computational techniques, including Markov chain Monte Carlo; model checking; posterior predictive checks; sensitivity analysis.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 426 Linear Models

  • Semester: Spring
  • Description: Theory of least-squares; point estimation in the general linear model; projection operators, estimable functions and generalized inverses; tests of general linear hypotheses; power; confidence intervals and ellipsoids; simultaneous inference; linear and polynomial regression; analysis of variance and analysis of covariance models; fixed, random, and mixed effects; correlation; prediction.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 430 Introduction to Statistical Computing

  • Semester: Fall
  • Description: Basic/intermediate R programming; statistical analysis in R; visualization in R; reproducible research and collaborative coding; command line tools and BlueHive. Introduction to SAS programming; statistical analysis in SAS. Topics in statistical analysis provide working examples.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 432 High Dimensional Data Analysis

  • Semester: Fall
  • Description: An overview of modern tools for high-dimensional data analysis, with a particular focus on connecting them to their statistical underpinnings, both applied and theoretical perspectives. Emphasis will be placed on understanding benefits and limitations of these tools. The major topics include: decision theory; basic tail and concentration bounds; univariate/multivariate methods; large-scale testing; penalized methods; dimension reduction; clustering; tree-based methods; support vector machine; network analysis.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 434 Genomic Data Analysis

  • Semester: Spring
  • Description: Introduction to techniques used in modern genomic experimentation and the corresponding statistical methods and software available to visualize, analyze, and interpret these data. Specific topics include mRNA/microRNA expression, protein abundance, protein-DNA binding, copy number variants, single nucleotide variants, DNA methylation, and microbial abundance.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 461 Biostatistical Methods I

  • Semester: Fall
  • Description: Study designs; inference regarding proportions; contingency table analysis; diagnostic testing; one-way and two-way analysis of variance; multiple comparisons involving means; simple and multiple linear regression; analysis of covariance; interactions; logistic and Poisson regression; introduction to survival analysis; multicollinearity; variable selection; model checking; sample size determination.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 462 Biostatistical Methods II

  • Semester: Spring
  • Description: Linear mixed effects models; intraclass correlation; advanced logistic regression; generalized estimating equations; missing data; extensions of the Cox proportional hazards model; shrinkage estimation in regression; nonparametric methods; bootstrap methods; scatterplot smoothing; nonparametric regression (trees, forests, generalized additive models).
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 463 Introduction to Biostatistics

  • Semester: Fall
  • Description: Nonparametric estimation and inference for one-sample location and paired data, two-sample location and/or dispersion, one- and two-way layouts with and without order restrictions, tests of independence, and regression; exact and large-sample results for some commonly used procedures, including the sign test and the sample median, the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test and the Hodges-Lehmann location measure, and some generalizations to more complex data structures; density estimation; nonparametric regression; generalized additive models (GAM); cross-validation; bandwidth selection; exact and asymptotic bias, variance, and mean squared error (MSE).
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 465 Design of Clinical Trials

  • Semester: Spring
  • Description: Introduction to the principles of clinical trials; clinical trial protocols; overview of the drug development process; hypotheses/objectives; specification of response variables; defining the study population; randomization; blinding; ethical issues; factorial designs; crossover designs; equivalence trials; trial monitoring and interim analyses; sample size and power; issues in data analysis and reporting; evaluating clinical trial reports.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Yes

BST 467 Applied Statistics in the Biomedical Sciences

  • Semester: Spring
  • Description: Introduction to statistical techniques with emphasis on applications in the biomedical sciences. Introduction to probability and probability distributions; sampling distributions; estimation, confidence intervals and hypothesis testing in small and large samples; analysis of categorical data; analysis of variance; correlation and linear and nonlinear regression analysis; use of statistical software; illustrations using published articles in the biomedical sciences.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Yes

BST 479 Generalized Linear Models

  • Semester: Fall
  • Description: Generalized linear models; computational techniques for model fitting; logistic and conditional logistic regression; Poisson and negative binomial regression; log-linear models; models for nominal and ordinal categorical data; quasi-likelihood functions; model checking; nonlinear regression models.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 487 Seminar in Statistical Literature

  • Semester: Spring and Fall
  • Description: Provides an introduction to the process of searching the statistical literature, opportunities to acquire knowledge of a focused area of statistical research, experience in organizing, preparing, and delivering oral presentations, and an introduction to the research interests of members of the faculty.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? No

BST 511 Topics in Statistical Inference I

  • Semester: Fall
  • Description: Advanced topics in statistical inference and/or decision theory. Topics may change each year.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 512 Topics in Statistical Inference II

  • Semester: Spring
  • Description: Advanced topics in statistical inference and/or decision theory. Topics may change each year.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 513 Analysis of Longitudinal and Dependent Data

  • Semester: Spring
  • Description: Modern approaches to the analysis of longitudinal and dependent data; random and mixed effects models; marginal models; generalized estimating equations; models for continuous and discrete outcomes.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 514 Survival Analysis

  • Semester: Spring
  • Description: Parametric, nonparametric, and semiparametric methods for the analysis of survival data. Right censoring; Kaplan-Meier curves; log-rank and weighted log-rank tests; survival distributions; accelerated life and proportional hazards regression models; time-dependent covariates; partial likelihood; models for competing risks and multiple events.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact the instructor to discuss your background.

BST 531 Nonparametric Inference

  • Semester: Fall
  • Description: Nonparametric estimation and inference for one-sample location and paired data, two-sample location and/or dispersion, one- and two-way layouts with and without order restrictions, tests of independence, and regression; exact and large-sample results for some commonly used procedures, including the sign test and the sample median, the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test and the Hodges-Lehmann location measure, and some generalizations to more complex data structures; density estimation; nonparametric regression; generalized additive models (GAM); cross-validation; bandwidth selection; exact and asymptotic bias, variance, and mean squared error (MSE).
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 550 Topics in Data Analysis

  • Semester: Spring
  • Description: Advanced statistical methods for data analysis. Topics may change each year.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.

BST 570 Topics in Biostatistics

  • Semester: Spring
  • Description: Advanced biostatistical techniques. Topics may change each year.
  • Can students outside the department’s program(s) take it? Please contact instructor to discuss your background.