Education Requirements For Bioinformatics Work And Research?

Question

[bs]

What are the realistic education requirements for doing bioinformatics or synthetic biology work and research? (Or related fields.)

I'm asking for well thought out arguments and anecdotes for both sides. In my experience doing a bit of undergrad research, bioinformatics is a relatively nascent field without an established canon of thought to parallel other fields, so many of the techniques for analysis are being developed (as opposed to pharmaceuticals, for example). Which means a PhD shouldn't be a barrier to entry into the field; i.e., experience and research impact should be more important than going through a program to learn the craft of computational biology. Is this true?

I ask because I'm a philosophy major about to graduate... not sure if I should continue school or try to enter the workforce... Thanks for any input.

Answer 1

[Charles Warden]

The point of a PhD program is to gain experience learning how to do something that hasn't been done before. The coursework is a relatively minor component, for only the first year or two. In contrast, I would say a bachelor of engineering is more along what you are talking about: you learn the basic skills, where your BSE may be sufficient for an long-term career in industry, etc.

I am actually returning to school for a Bioinformatics PhD program because I would say it is pretty much a requirement to be in a leadership position. There are ceilings of what you can accomplish with a MA/MS, and the limits are even stronger if you only have a BA/BS.

So, yes - if you want to do bioinformatics research as a career, I think grad school is highly likely to be a requirement.

Answer 2

[higgins.gerald]

Doctorates are designed to perform original research, echoing what has been said. Computational biology is not the same as bioinformatics, IMHO. You have to really have the math and programming skills required to perform innovative research in either of these domains. Even though you suggest that the basic canons of bioinformatics have not been set - be very wary. As said by Tom Kuhn, a fellow much brighter than I, "science does not proceed in a linear manner." By that, I mean you have to be willing to embrace change all the time, or don't become a scientist. Engineering is a fundamentally different domain, unless you are a theoretician. Many bioinformatics graduate programs offer terminal master's degrees for professional work. I highly recommend checking out the different doctoral programs, but it really comes down to whom you want as an adviser. I like the PhD program in computational medicine and bioinformatics at the University of Michigan Med. School, but I am biased. I think they graduate about 50 PhD's a year.