Career Information
Bioinformatics is considered one of the hottest career areas in the
life sciences. Many are called, but few are trained.
The following seems to be a consensus for what is needed by most bioinformatics groups:
- computer-savvy research analysts who can analyze sequences using genomics-specific tools;
- biology-savvy software developers who can write PERL scripts and communicate clearly with biologists to formulate proper research questions;
- scientific software developers writing programs that fit the needs of the group but who do not necessarily have specific training in biology;
- database and system administrators with no biology background "who know Sybase and UNIX but who needn't know what a gene is";
- One computer-savvy biologist with managerial skills per group--AND it could be YOU.
Nevertheless, one of the questions each biologist should be asking herself these days is: how has genomics and bioinformatics changed the way that I think about biology. If the answer is, I don't know, you probably need this class.
Scan the Classified Section of Science or Nature for recent openings.
Peruse Science's NEXT WAVE and related job listings for current info.
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