Expert: Sridhar Acharya Malkaram - 6/2/2010

Question
hi Mr sridhar'

        Im a BSc Biotech student.I wish to know about      
         bioinformatics.      
       
       1)As u did your masters in biotech was it difficult
        to  go to computational biology having Maths in it?

       2) Can a bioinformatician work entirely with computers or
         will he have to do other lab work also.

       3) Im planing to do an MSc in bioinformatics & get a job
          after the course.What type of jobs will i get without
         a Phd is  Phd necessary in this field ?

Answer
Hi reve,

Thanks for asking. I answer below your questions.

    1)As u did your masters in biotech was it difficult
       to  go to computational biology having Maths in it?

It was not very difficult for me. Initially I had to spend time learning computers and programming. Computational Biology is not entirely math. It is more of computers and programming applied to Biology. You will apply Maths ofcourse more than other fields, but it is basic Maths and Stats. You need to develop an aptitude for quantitave analysis.

      2) Can a bioinformatician work entirely with computers or
        will he have to do other lab work also.

Bioinformaticians mostly work with computers. He may have little time to spend in Wet-lab work. It is not wise to do both (computers and wet-lab), as you will not spend useful good time on either of them.

      3) Im planing to do an MSc in bioinformatics & get a job
         after the course.What type of jobs will i get without
        a Phd is  Phd necessary in this field ?

I don't know correctly about the jobs right now. But I think you can get jobs in companies as bioinformatician. And also you can get temporary jobs for Project Assistants in Research Institutes.


Good luck,

sridhar