BOL: Related items

Five unique traits of effective computational biologist

Jitendra Narayan — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 13:12:51 -0500

Bioinformatics research is driven by large set of software, scripts, and tools to analyse gigantic biological data. Being a great biological programmer or bioinformatician involves more than writing code that works. The biological programmers who rise to the top ranks of their profession are not only good programmer but also expert in biological stuff. Moreover, In order to be a good and effective biological programmer, you need to possess a combination of traits that allow your computational as well as biological skill, experience, and knowledge to produce working code. There are some technically skilled biological programmers who will never be effective because they lack the other important traits needed. Here are top five traits that are necessary to become a great biological programmer.

1. Learn and get updated

Some of the bad biological programmers only learn new technical or non-technical things when it’s absolutely necessary. The good biological programmers learn new technical skills proactively. But great biological programmers not only learn new technical skills on their own but also learn non-technical skills, and have an open mind to sources of knowledge that others may shut out.

In other concrete term, the bad biological programmer learn Perl's regular expression when they started a project on comparative genomics; the good biological programmer learned it a year before because it looked interesting; and the great biological programmer also read about the BioPerl packages, genomics, DNA string, genomic theories, or some similar course of study so that they could understand the results and explain it biologically.

2. Not a merely coder!!!

I often encountered with biological programmer who call themself a hard-core computer programmer and avoid biology. I can almost guarantee that if you are one of them then you are not doing research but merely writing "dry" codes.

According to my supervisor most of the computational biologist, don't know what they are doing biologically. Even they struggle to explain their own programs output and results. Therefore, It is highly advisable to learn basic of biology which can assist you to explain the result and understand your discovery. Always remember you are a researcher not a coder.

3. Be Social with biologist

The computational biologist spends most of the time in from of computers, writing codes. They always think their job is to produce working codes, not technical research perfections. But, they are completely wrong. You should not forget that apart from your computational skills you also need some biologist, other than your supervisor, to explain and make you understand the complex biological mechanism.

I highly recommend your to interact with biotech researchers and learn how do they explain their one graph (which they generally produce after one year of work) biologically. Remember, the origin of your research project is complex biological phenomenon, which is more complex than that of your limited programming rules.

4. Do not search, research for answers

Researching for answers means more than typing several keywords into a search engine or posting a question at Stack Overflow or the BioStars forums. I have entered problems into search engines that generate no results, and every question I posted on Stack Overflow or the BioStars forums never got anything resembling an answer, yet I solved the issues and moved on. I’m not a magician — I just know how to find answers or discover root causes.

Many problems are situational, and if you depend on search engines and forums, you can waste a lot of time going down a rabbit hole and possibly never getting a solution. Learn to perform root cause analysis, learn enough about the underlying system to look for other clues and solutions, and learn to take a long distance view of an issue before deep diving into it.

5. Love and defend your research

You cannot rise to the top in this research profession without loving your work. There are some very good “it’s just a job” biological programmers (I’ve been one at times), but if that is your outlook, you won’t be willing to do whatever it takes to succeed. This idea gets a lot of folks in a huff, because they feel it is a personal insult. “I’m a good programmer, but I have other priorities and can’t make work my life.” I understand completely; I have other priorities too. As much as I hate to say it, when I am passionate about my work, I am willing (though not eager) to abandon my other priorities to finish the job. It is not an insult to say that if you aren’t willing to pull out all the stops you can’t be the best, it is a fact.

You must be passionate about more than programming — you must also be excited about your research, the tools and technology you are using, and so on. I have seen very good and even great biological programmers operating at mediocre levels because something was not a good fit, such as they hated the project or were using a technology they disliked. Therefore, like your research project and get excited about your discoveries. You have not only to discover but also defend your finding with scientific words.

Thanks to all of you for reading.

The Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), Bailey Lab

Sun, 14 Jul 2013 11:53:08 -0500

Pattern recognition and computational biology

MEME Suite software development; gene expression; mathematical modelling; gene regulation and transcription

Specialization:
Pattern recognition and modelling in computational biology

Link @ http://www.imb.uq.edu.au/tim-bailey

STUDENTSHIP and TRAINEESHIP @ University of Madras

Sat, 16 Nov 2013 19:27:40 -0600

Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facility
University of Madras
Chennai 600 025

Applications are invited for the STUDENTSHIP and TRAINEESHIP vacancies to carry out project/research work in the DBT - Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facility with consolidated stipend of Rs.5,000/- per month.

Essential Qualification

Student Trainee: Those who have completed M.Sc., Bioinformatics/Biophysics/Life sciences or Pursuing M.Tech., Bioinformatics/Biotechnology

Duration : 3-4 Months

Student Trainee: Those who are pursuing M.Sc Bioinformatics/Biophysics/ Life sciences/others

Duration : 2-3 Months

Mail your CV on or before 25th November 2013 to shirai2011@gmail.com and hard copy to "Dr. D. Velmurugan, Professor & Head, CAS in Crystallography and Biophysics, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai 600 025". Also, the applicants are requested to attend the interview on 29th November, 2013 at 11 A.M.

www.unom.ac.in/uploads/announcements/bifadvertisement_20131114080003_23240.pdf

Prime Minister’s 100k Genome Project

Jitendra Narayan — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 09:40:39 -0500

Genomics Ebgland is destined to sequence 100,000 patients over the next five year in England. A landmark project by british government.

Genomics England will play a key role in building on the UK’s long track record as leader in medical science advances to push the boundaries by unlocking the power of DNA data. The UK will become the first ever country to introduce this technology in its mainstream health system – leading the global race for better tests, better drugs and above all better, more personalised care.

http://www.genomicsengland.co.uk/100k-genome-project/

What are the difference between BioRuby and BioGem?

Neel — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 09:27:57 -0500

I came across two diferent but matching term BioRuby and BioGem. What are the difference between these two term? If both are using same Ruby language for development then why did they develope two different biological packages.

Computational Biology in the 21st Century: Making Sense out of Massive Data

Thu, 29 Aug 2013 08:32:26 -0500

Computational Biology in the 21st Century: Making Sense out of Massive Data Air date: Wednesday, February 01, 2012, 3:00:00 PM Category: Wednesday Afternoon Lectures Description: The last two decades have seen an exponential increase in genomic and biomedical data, which will soon outstrip advances in computing power to perform current methods of analysis. Extracting new science from these massive datasets will require not only faster computers; it will require smarter algorithms. We show how ideas from cutting-edge algorithms, including spectral graph theory and modern data structures, can be used to attack challenges in sequencing, medical genomics and biological networks. The NIH Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series includes weekly scientific talks by some of the top researchers in the biomedical sciences worldwide. Author: Dr. Bonnie Berger Runtime: 00:58:06 Permanent link: http://videocast.nih.gov/launch.asp?17563

BINC (BioInformatics National Certification) Website address

Kamalakshi Mukherjee — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 09:40:22 -0500

BINC (BioInformatics National Certification) is an initiative of Department of Biotechnology(DBT), Government Of India in coordination with Bioinformatics Center, University of Pune. The objective of the examination is to recognize trained manpower in the area of Bioinformatics. Currently, various Indian universities, Government and private institutions are involved in imparting courses in Bioinformatics in India.

Foreign nationals intending to have certification are eligible to appear for BINC examination.
Minimum qualification includes a degree from a recognized university/institute in the areas listed in FAQ.
Formal training in the area of Bioinformatics is not a prerequisite.
Note that the foreign students will only be certified by DBT and are not eligible for the cash award as well as junior research fellowship.

Address of the bookmark: http://binc.scisjnu.ernet.in/

Baumbach Lab

Wed, 21 Aug 2013 10:56:35 -0500

The Computational Biology research group was established in October 2012 at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science (IMADA) at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU). It emerged from the Computational Systems Biology group, founded in March 2010 at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics (MPII) and the Cluster of Excellence for Multimodel Computing and Interaction (MMCI) at Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany.

The group is headed by Prof. Dr. Jan Baumbach and currently hosts nine PhD students and one postdoctoral fellow at both, IMADA/SDU and MMCI/MPII.

More at >> http://www.baumbachlab.net/

Chang lab

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 17:25:49 -0500

The Chang lab is focused on how the activities of hundreds or even thousands of genes (gene parties) are coordinated to achieve biological meaning. We have pioneered methods to predict, dissect, and control large-scale gene regulatory programs; these methods have provided insights into human development, cancer, and aging. A particular interest is how cells know and remember their locations in the body, particularly with the help of long noncoding RNAs.

More at http://changlab.stanford.edu/index.html

PostDocs positions in computer science in HELSINKI, FINLAND

Fri, 06 Sep 2013 10:11:19 -0500

Several university departments in the Helsinki region, Finland, are looking for postdoctoral researchers in the field of computer science and information technology. Jobs are available at:
· Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT, Aalto University and University of Helsinki, http://www.hiit.fi
· Department of Computer Science, University of Helsinki, http://www.cs.helsinki.fi
· Department of Information and Computer Science, Aalto University, http://ics.aalto.fi
· Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Aalto University, http://cse.aalto.fi
· Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Helsinki, http://mathstat.helsinki.fi/english/

Why Helsinki?
The collaborating Aalto University and University of Helsinki form a leading hub of computer science and modelling, including Machine learning, Data mining, Algorithms, Computational Logic, Cloud computing, Distributed computing, Human-centric ubiquitous ICT, Bioinformatics, etc.
Helsinki region is a safe, pleasant and attractive place to live in, with well-functioning services such as public transport etc. Finland has a comprehensive social security and health care system, including exceptionally good parental leaves, and children's day care services.

Positions are offered in:
Algorithm engineering (String Algorithms group)
Algorithmic bioinformatics (Genome-Scale Algorithmics group)
Automated reasoning and search, especially propositional logic (Computational Logic group)
Computational astrophysics and/or data analysis (Computational Methods and Data Analysis for Astrophysics group)
Computational biology and statistical methods in bioinformatics (Computational Systems Biology group)
Computational creativity and data mining (Discovery group)
Dynamic and large-scale networked systems (Data Communications Software group)
Intelligent multimodal information access (Content-Based Image and Information Retrieval Group)
Machine learning and neuroscience (Statistical Machine Learning group)
Machine learning for structured data (Kernel Machines, Pattern Analysis and Computational Biology group)
Machine learning methods for infectious disease epidemiology (Bayesian Statistics Group)
Probabilistic modeling and machine learning (Complex Systems Computation group)
Statistical machine learning (Statistical Machine Learning group)
Analysing ubiquitous sensor data (HIIT-Wide Focus Area)
Interactive visualization (HIIT-Wide Focus Area)
Affective computing and BCI (HIIT-Wide Focus Area)
Intelligent user interfaces and/or recommender systems (HIIT-Wide Focus Area)
Information retrieval and HCI (HIIT-Wide Focus Area)
Machine learning and data analysis, especially information retrieval, HCI, text and context data (HIIT-Wide Focus Area)
Probabilistic modeling and data analysis for bioinformatics (HIIT-Wide Focus Area)

More at http://www.hiit.fi/postdoc-call-2013