Entering edit mode
5.7 years ago
kifayatvet
▴
10
Hello everyone,
I'm a beginner in the field of bioinformatics and I have been assigned a task to design a research project on the discipline of **"Animal genetics and breeding" using online bioinformatics tools and databases resources.such as using online RNA-Seq data available for cattle, mouse, on testis and epididymis tissues etc. I would appreciate any suggestions or help in this regard. Thanks
I think this is exactly how one should not plan a study. One should instead first raise a scientific question and then gather tools, resources, strategies and expertise to answer that question. Especially as a beginner you will probably be overwhelmed with the large amount of available literature, tools and pipelines (and very little standardization in the field) that you really should define your question before diving into the technical aspects.
I agree with ATpoint and will add that it sounds like reading some good reviews would be a great first step for you. It's tough to know what to study without having at least some grasp on the field. Once you have some idea of what's known (or not), where the field is heading, etc, you can much better develop an answerable question. Then you can try to determine which resources might be helpful and if your question(s) may need any tweaking to better utilize the available tools and data.
Thanks, Jared.andrews07 for the suggestion, I have tried to get some relevant review papers but it's not very specific according to my proposed project. if you can kindly share and material regarding this will really be helpful,
You should really not design a study yourself as an unexperienced student. I really mean no offense with that but as a student you do neither have the experience nor the overview over the respective research topic to decide what research efforts are well-invested and which are a waste of time. I had the same when I started as a PhD student but my PI kept me on track. A good PI makes sure you do not research things that are already known and that your efforts contribute to the field because you do not want to waste your effort and money on things that (in sloppy language) "no one cares about". You will grow into your topic once you start working on it but project planning and design is nothing you should do on your own. You should really sit together with your supervisor and ask for details. Once you have narrowed down the topic to a very specific research question you can start reading about it and try to suggest experiments and strategies but again, always do this in close contact with your supervisor, otherwise it will be ineffective and frustrating because you lack the experience (as each and everyone of us did/does at the beginning of a researcher career).
Bundle of thanks ATpoint, for the suggestions.