1. Make friends with local bioinformatics groups
2. Talk to your computing group
3. Obtain clear expectations
4. Rewrite your job description
5. Papers
6. Attend bioinformatics meetings
7. Try first, ask later

Address of the bookmark: http://biomickwatson.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/a-guide-for-the-lonely-bioinformatician/

Why Bioinformatics Matters More Than Ever

Every day, our world generates massive amounts of biological data—from genome sequences to microbiome profiles to real-time pathogen surveillance. Hidden within these datasets are the answers to some of the greatest challenges humanity faces: emerging diseases, antimicrobial resistance, environmental stress, genetic disorders, sustainable agriculture, and more.

Bioinformatics isn’t just a skill.
It’s the language of the future of biology.

By mastering it, you give yourself the power to:

Decode genomes and understand life at its most fundamental level

Identify patterns no microscope could ever reveal

Predict disease outbreaks before they occur

Accelerate drug discovery with computational precision

Contribute to open-source tools that empower scientists worldwide

You don’t just follow science—you drive it.

Every Expert Was Once a Beginner

Many newcomers feel intimidated. Command-line interfaces. R scripts. Python packages. Next-generation sequencing data. Complex machine learning models.

But here’s the truth: every bioinformatician started exactly where you are now—curious, unsure, but excited.

No one writes perfect code on day one.

No one understands genomics pipelines immediately.

What makes you a bioinformatician is not perfection, but perseverance.

When your script throws a cryptic error…
When your data refuses to format…
When your pipeline runs for 6 hours only to crash…

Remember: this is part of the journey.
Every error teaches you. Every retry strengthens you. Every breakthrough energizes you.

Bioinformatics Is Not Just a Career—It’s a Mindset

It’s the mindset of:

Problem-solving.

Continuous learning.

Turning chaos into clarity.

Seeing what others can’t.

Bioinformaticians are detectives of biological complexity. You sit at the intersection of innovation, using tools that can shape public health, medicine, agriculture, and ecology. Few fields give you such direct impact on the world.

Your Contribution Matters

As you work on your script, pipeline, genome, or model, remember:

Somewhere, your analysis might contribute to:

A new therapy

A faster diagnostic test

A better understanding of a pathogen

A more resilient crop

An open-source dataset that helps thousands

A discovery that rewrites textbooks

Your code may be small, but its ripple effect is powerful.

The Future Is Bioinformatics—And You Are Part of It

The world is shifting. Wet labs are integrating AI. Hospitals rely on genomic insights. Farmers use gene-level predictions. Governments monitor disease in real time. Students launch pipelines that become global tools.

This is a golden era—and you are not late.
You are exactly where you need to be.

Keep Pushing. Keep Learning. Keep Discovering.

Bioinformatics is a journey filled with challenges, but also with unmatched rewards.

So the next time you feel stuck, frustrated, or overwhelmed, remember:
You’re building the science of tomorrow.

Be proud. Stay curious. Keep going.
Your work matters more than you think.

The Job detail

Advancing the SNP-discovery and polymorphism assessment work across several germplasm panels representing global genetic diversity
Population genetic and genomic analyses, testing the hypothesis related to adaptation in multiple geographic regions
Develop SNP assays from large scale GBS and other re-sequencing data for several target traits utilizing available phenotyping data
Combined analyses of genotypic and phenotypic data for discovery of marker-trait associations, and conducting GWAS
Processing, analyzing, and archiving large-scale genomic data sets, assessing data quality, conducting analyses, interpreting findings, and communicating findings to others including preparation of reports, presentations, posters and journal articles
Providing support to MSc and PhD students on topic related to its major core of research
Any other work assigned by the supervisor

The Person:

PhD in bioinformatics, genetics, computational biology preferably with 1 to 2 years of experience;
familiar with standard bioinformatics tools and scripting languages and emerging and evolving software platforms relevant to bioinformatics and computational biology;
ability to create new analytical pipelines; experience with handling large data sets;
ability to program in at least two of the following: C++, PERL, Python, R, Java.
will use next-generation sequencing technologies to generate marker data for genetic mapping and transcriptome data for expression QTL mapping, and will be responsible for data generation as well as data analysis.

Period and Remuneration: The assignment is for a period of two years, and can be extended for another year depending on performance. ICRISAT pays a very attractive all inclusive lump sum assignment fee payable in Indian Rupees.

How to Apply: Please send your application by email to icrisatjobs@cgiar.org, stating the job title (Special project Scientist-Sorghum Genomics) clearly in the subject column, addressed to the Director, Human Resources and Operations, ICRISAT, Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh 502 324, India, latest by 10 June 2014. The application should include an up-to-date Curriculum Vitae, a short statement of competencies and experience for the position, and the names and addresses (including phone/e-mail) of three referees. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

More at: http://www.icrisat.org/careers/Special-Project-Scientist-Sorghum-Genomics.htm

The best part about the DBT-BET Exam is both the question paper & answer key is released immediately after the exam so you get the upper hand here to check how well you did in the DBT-BET exam, how much you are going to score and if you can pass the Exam with good score. This helps you in planning your career ahead.

DBT Exam is held once in a year by Department of Biotechnology – Govt of India. Candidates willing to get DBT-Junior Research Fellowship – DBT JRF fellowship should take up the  DBT-BET Exam, DBT – Biotechnology Eligibility Test (BET) 2020 to be held on somewhere in the month of April. Official Notification for DBT-BET 2020 will be released in Feb 2020.

Answer at https://bioinformaticsonline.com/file/view/39262/biotechnology-eligibility-test-bet-answer-set

Webpage : https://www.scilifelab.se/about-us/
Opportunity: https://www.scilifelab.se/about-us/career/

More @ http://www.guptalab.org/

The main purpose of OSDDLinux is to provide an in silico platform for computer-aided drug design. This is a collection and compilation of large number of software and web services which will be directly or indirectly useful for researches working in the field of drug design/discovery. Overall objective of OSDDlinux is to promote open source in drug discovery, crowdsourcing and network based collobrations. Following are major features of OSDDlinux ... 

Find more @ http://osddlinux.osdd.net/index.php

Stipend / Fellowship (consolidated)
Post-doctoral = Rs 50,000 per month
Post Masters = Rs 30,000 per month.

Duration of Fellowships:
Both Post-Doctoral and Post-Masters fellowships are for two years extendable to one more year depending on the progress of the project and decision of the technical committee.

The University Innovation Clusters established at the five Universities have their broad scientific areas under which BIRAC Innovation Fellows will be selected. The qualification and eligibility of each UIC has been mentioned below.

Who can apply?
BIRAC along with five UICs invites research proposals from:

 Applicants who have completed their Master/ Ph.D. on and after 1st January 2014 for
Post Masters and Post-Doctoral BIRAC Innovation Fellowships

Applicants will have to submit an online application in the prescribed format. Each application will be reviewed by an expert committee at each UIC, which applicant has chosen. Applications will be identified on the identified criteria. Selected applicants will be called for a detailed project presentation and personal interview in front of an expert committee for final selection of the BIRAC Innovation Fellows.

Mere fulfilling the eligibility criterion does not entitle applicants to be called for interview.

More at http://birac.nic.in/webcontent/UIC_Fellowships_Qualification_Eligibility.pdf

http://www.eva.mpg.de/genetics/bioinformatics/overview.html?Fsize=0%2C%20%40%2F%27

Kelso Group
Department of Evolutionary Genetics
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
Germany
Phone: +49 341 3550 500

Job:
http://www.eva.mpg.de/genetics/bioinformatics/jobs.html?Fsize=0%2C%2B%40

The Academy has an International Exchange Programme with Academies/Organizations in the countries: Brazil, China, France, Hungary, Iran, Israel, Nepal, Philippines, Poland, Scotland, Slovak Republic, Republic of Slovenia, Sudan and Taiwan.

Applications are invited from Indian Nationals for consideration by the Academy for the next calendar year.

• The applicant should be a scientist holding a regular (permanent) position in a recognized S & T Institution/University and actively engaged in research work in frontline areas.
• He/She should not have been abroad during the last 3 years under any INSA Programme.
• The scientist should have been accepted to work in an Institute/Laboratory in the country to be visited and this should be supported by a letter of invitation from the host abroad.
• Those who wish to visit abroad for three months should submit a detailed programme of their collaborative research work to be conducted.

All applications duly completed should be forwarded to the academy through proper channel by the employer/head of the Institute.

• Scientists selected for deputation abroad would be provided 100% travel support (by only Air India excursion class airfare, through shortest route from the place of duty in India to the nearest airport of host Institute and back) by INSA.
• Medical Insurance purchased in India.
• Visa fee (if any).
• The receiving Academy/Organization would provide local hospitality including internal travel abroad.

Contact for detail at 

www.insaindia.res.in

INDIAN NATIONAL SCIENCE ACADEMY
Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi – 110 002.
Telephone: 91-11-23221931 – 23221950 (EPABX),
Fax: 91-11- 23235648, 23231095