Welcome to the thread
Just wondering, who are you working under?
The most important thing in pursuing Masters or phD degrees is that you choose the right supervisor with a good lab environment (assuming you are taking Masters by research here)

It's a good motivational anecdote to capricorn89, and it can be better when you tell that “Right Supervisor” is like what?, and What kind of good lab environment is that environment? Maybe you can define the factors as well.

Very likely capricorn89 will treat you with more respect, when you share your beliefs and values later on what’s important to you about having the right supervisor with a good lab environment.

Haha, thanks man
Din't elaborate more because I'm not sure whether capricorn89 would come back or not haha

Well, the "right" supervisor will want the best for his/her students, and willing to help them out (and putting their progress as 1st priority) instead of leaving students to handle their own project (and eventually scolding them for messing up the projects ). Unfortunately quite a lot of supervisors are like that, so one has to be smart, and do a little bit of survey (asking the potential supervisor's students would be a great way of starting) before joining the research team. The "right supervisor" should have a grant with sufficient money; and also a well-equipped lab to support his/her students' researches. And of course, he or she should have ample of knowledge regarding the field

A good lab environment includes: good and well-maintained facilities, well-managed purchasing systems, safe etc. But I guess the most important thing is the students/ researchers etc. in the lab. If the research team is good. helpful and efficient. Students will be more encouraged to push on with their research. Again, unfortunately there are alot of backstabbing (so I've heard) and stealing in many labs

Hey guys, I'm currently considering a PhD in Economics/econometrics. Focus of research will be an attempt to model or map out the psychology of the equity markets, specifically with respect to certain conditions (haven't decided which of several) to try an establish a correlating relationship.

The problem is I have never done economics before, or am I involved in my day-to-day job (I'm an Engineer). However, I am involved very closely in the stock market from a personal standpoint (investing) and am very interested in it, especially on a macro level.

Do you think this is feasible? I do have a decent mathemathics background (Masters in Engineering) although God only knows if I still remember most of it now that it was more than 7 years ago I last left academia.

Anyone have a PhD in econs that can provide some advice?

PS: I'm probably going to do it in Aus (if I decide to do it after all).

Hi all, may I know if anyone use these software before can state the advantages and disadvantages.

R (S)
SPSS
SAS
Python

I'm not a statistician, but I've learnt abit on R and SPSS.
Not sure what you mean by R "(S)"
R is a command based program and the learning curve is very steep... but it will be very flexible once you get the hang of all the commands And since R is often updated with extra packages, it can cover a wide range of applications, such as phylogenetics for my case.

SPSS has a user interface which is a bit more easier if you ask me
But then of course its better to have someone teach you how to use it rather than trying everything out yourself

@joeblows
I have a colleague (who now left for PhD study oversea) who did a research in the things you're saying: specifically, he uses some sort of neuron structure in mapping equity market behavior. Has the wording of 'artificial intelligence', sounds too high tech for me, both of us were in business faculty.

Academic research i.e. PhD requires the candidate to

be critical in examination of the issue concerned (problem statement, justify why current problem is worthy to be solved),
apply analytical skill (discussion),
having taking into consideration of previous works (literature review), and
able to set up a feasible strategy in solving the problem (research design).

If you think that's what you want, we welcome you, arms open wide, into the world of academia =)

@Ivangile

I know SPSS and SAS (limited). In essence, both are statistical software, with GUI

SAS is much better than SPSS in terms of coverage, though SPSS is good enough for social science research.
SAS enables more rigorous test, I would say some functions are only applicable in business setting (e.g. predicting the lifecycle of product stuff like that).

Hope it helps.

Just to update guys: I've finished collecting data, and is now in the stage of data analysis. Submitted one journal paper last month, hope for the best. If it's accepted, it would be a major milestone for me.

As a MPhil candidate, I'm moving toward work completion. I'm glad that people are interacting with this thread =) all the best!

Oh, so you are in phylogenetics field? (Taxo, popgen, quantitative, epidemiology?) Do you really use biostatistics in research, I find a lot of biological research with untreated result. Erm, is biologist generally not good in math xD

R is an application of S language actually, that's why I put (S). Thank you for the input! In view of flexibility, I think I am just going to go with R.

---

Added on January 2, 2013, 9:36 pmJust an addon, anyone here doing System Biology or Computational Biology?

This post has been edited by Ivangile: Jan 2 2013, 09:36 PM

Hi Dr PF T.J.

The increasing number of biotech enterprises in Malaysia is likely to create a need for Bio-engineers in the years to come. Could you tell us what kind of meaningful research contribution you are currently making that brings credit and prestige to Malaysia, especially in the Biotechnology Sector?

(1) Do you carry out Bio-energy research on living organisms that power micro electrical devices?

(2) Do you cultivate some kind of new Bio-farming that is more sustainable alternative to milk, chicken, pork and beef?

(3) Do you build any Biological robots using heart cells of small animals that will get sensor-like qualities?

(4) Do you create synthetic life form that combines advances in 3D printing with biosynthesis and molecular construction, by developing one single machine that can “print” drugs by carefully combining nucleotides, sugars and amino acids?

Yup, phylogenetics. Although my main project is mainly on phylogenetics... I am working on other manuscripts which involves seaweed spore cultivation and growth which will definitely need biostatistics
Yeah, you can say that most biologists are not good in maths... all the good ones went to physics or engineering already

Well, I guess if you are good at program language, R will be interesting, if not fun for you
Not sure whether you are new to R or not. You can take a look at a book called "An Introduction to "R"" for starters...
You might wanna check out this blog here from Dr. Khang Tsung Fei of UM's Bioinformatics department, he is one of the few experts that is really good at using "R", and not to mention very good at teaching as well hehe~
http://khanglab.wordpress.com/author/tfkhang/

---

Added on January 3, 2013, 11:12 pmNot Dr. yet

Unfortunately its not always the Bells and Whistles you hear for the biotech sectors, or any other biological sectors

My project is pretty simple and not fancy at all, which is to find out better strains of carrageenan-producing seaweeds (commonly known as seabird's nest) for cultivation and higher yields~
I guess most people do not know what carrageenan is although they are using it everyday haha, carrageenan is basically something like agar (gel) highly valued its thickening, emulsifying and gelling properties. It is widely used in cosmetics, ice cream, fruit juices, milk, lubricants, shampoo, toothpaste etc. etc. (Did I mention its the substitute for "Shark-fin" in Shark fin soups nowadays? )

Me and my supervisors, in collaboration with the Department of Fisheries, will publish a booklet that will hopefully help local seaweed farmers plant and manage their farms better to increase production and income (which will help out the local community. Most seaweed farmers in Sabah are very poor).

Of all the 4 you've listed out.
The Institute that I'm in is only working on the 1st one... in which there are researches on producing biofuel from microalgae (which I'm not involved in haha)

This post has been edited by [PF] T.J.: Jan 3 2013, 11:12 PM

PF T.J.

I really like your meaningful idea of making "seabird's nest" as alternative to "Shark-fin" in Shark fin soups. Tough it is not known in advance whether the "seabird's nest" substitution will be truly accepted by the Shark fin soups enjoyers, and whether a viable seaweed farming model and ecosystem can be created to sustain them.

BENEFICIAL VALUE PROPOSITION
You and your supervisor should make a value proposition which increases the benefits and reduce the sacrifices that customers perceive as relevant, build on the competences and resources that the Seaweed Farming Sector is able to utilize more effectively than its competitors (Shark-fin Hunters), and be recognizably different (unique) from competition to create competitive advantage. How about working with the Department of Fisheries to make promotional documentary on Seaweed Farming on RTM Channel 2?

STRATEGY
Another strategy could be to implement new technologies that contribute to meeting the societal challenges, without necessarily changing people’s behavior. For example, Unilever has been working to increase the concentration of washing detergents with the aim of reducing the energy used in production and transportation. However, they realized that users tend to increase the amount of detergent used above what is needed for good washing results. Hence they decided to design a powder tablet specifically to counteract this ‘rebound’ effect. The tablet form prevents the use of excessive amounts of powder, and enables users to wash more sustainably.

CHANGING BEHAVIORS
People are not likely to change their behavior if it requires a sacrifice. Some users might be willing to make a sacrifice to some extent if their motivational values are of the universalism kind. However, many more people are likely to change their behavior if a pleasurable experience is offered, and the innovation addresses their motivational values.

EXAMPLE
As an example, if people need to change their eating habits to live healthier lifestyles, they might be willing to sacrifice by preparing fresh food themselves if they are given recipes that match their personal taste. However, if the recipes provided take more time to prepare and cook, and this extra time does not fit their lifestyles and other activities, not many people will stick to cooking the healthier recipes. After a while they will return to microwaving the same prepared food that they used to eat before.

---

Added on January 4, 2013, 12:26 am(1) Can Malaysia produce the kind of seaweed better than Japanese Nori?

(2) Can we have Family-Friendly Farming of Seaweed for small consumption?

(3) Can you think of something that expand the seabird's nest to other widely-accepted applications?

(4) If your method is patentable, have you filed any patent application for the efficient Seaweed Farming process?

This post has been edited by Critical_Fallacy: Jan 4 2013, 12:26 AM

Thank you for the blog, will read it when I have got the time to.

Anyway, regarding my second question, is there any one in UM are expert and opening system biology/computational biology PhD position?

And kaypo a bit, how's UM research? Do they rely on biostatistics to treat their data? Or just DATA?

Thanks for the reply
I apologize but I'm not very sure what you are on about

These Seabird's Nests are already been used as SharkFin soup substitutes in most restaurants as we speak
For those who really want real Sharkfin, they will have to get them illegally..
These Seabird's Nest (Scientific names: Genus Kappaphycus and Eucheuma) are already extensive cultivated throughout the globe, and are the top carrageenan producers worldwide. The only problem we have now is poor farm management and technology (and of course corruption ). As preliminary work, we hope to be able to better educate our local farmers to increase their farming efficiency and production, which will in turn help give them a better life.

Still, I agree with you on your Example. Its a good idea to introduce the consumption of raw Seabird's Nest to Malaysians. The Sabah people eat them all the time, but since cultivation of these seaweeds in the Peninsular is pretty limited, most people have no idea what these SeaBird's Nests are. (I've attached a photo below for people who are curious )

Kappaphycus alvarezii:


Kappaphycus striatum:

(Beautiful, aren't they? Can be brown, yellow, red, pink, purple in color too)

Can Malaysia produce the kind of seaweed better than Japanese Nori?
Good question haha, I guess it depends on people's taste. Apart from the carrageenan used in ice cream, fruit juices etc. We are starting to see more raw food/drinks made from SeaBird's Nest. But I doubt at this stage they can compete with Nori at all because of the different texture and taste

The SeaBird's Nest drink is a recent example, and can be found in many cafes now:


An of course, the very popular SeaBird's Nest dish in Sabah (those who have been to Tawau and Semporna will probably have tried it before):


Can we have Family-Friendly Farming of Seaweed for small consumption?
Most of the farmers in Sabah consist of the entire family
And the harvested plants are measured in tonnes
If you are referring to rearing in aquariums, its not a problem as well as long as its a marine environment (like those used to rear marine fishes), after it grows up (it only takes 30-45 days to reach around 1m in the sea), can display or eat

Can you think of something that expand the seabird's nest to other widely-accepted applications?
I think it is already very widely applied haha... the products are mentioned in the earlier post~
Its because of its extensive applications that these seaweeds are so widely cultivated. Taking them as food is only a very minor "application"

If your method is patentable, have you filed any patent application for the efficient Seaweed Farming process?
I don't my findings are worth patenting haha~

Sorry for the long post
**I guess I should promote more on SeaBird's Nest in my blog (thanks for the inspiration! haha)

This post has been edited by [PF] T.J.: Jan 4 2013, 01:12 AM

Sorry man, can't really comment on the 2nd question since I'm not familiar with the field

Like all universities (regardless of whether its ranked No.1 or not), they all have certain fields that they are strong at... so my answer is that it depends.. certain part of UM's research is good, others not good at all. Again I can't really comment since I only know the Bio- side of things
But when it comes to ethics and attitude, definitely we lose... by a huge margin

Yeah, we do apply biostatistics to analyse the data whenever necessary (assuming that was your question)

Maybe true for Physicists. But most engineering students I met are pretty weak in Partial Differential Equations, Numerical Methods, Engineering Optimization, Vector Analysis, Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors of Real Matrices. Some of them cannot even derive the mathematical modeling of basic or simple dynamic systems. Mathematics is an essential tool for physicists and engineers which students must use from the very beginning of their studies.

Whether Biologists or Engineers, as dedicated researchers, our job is to discover the links between two (or more) apparently unconnected things. Understanding and employing the appropriate research methods and statistics have enabled scientists in their field of expertise to develop models of how the system works, ways to improve the system, methods to improve problem solving at super/sub-system levels, and theories of system dynamics.

On the issue of statistical skills, or rather the lack of it, is it possible and ethical for a postgraduate student to 'outsource' data analysis to a statistician? Thanks.

P O S S I B L E ! But, what kind of ‘ethical’ issue is that issue?

It is rather the way I should approach it:
1) Should I tell the statistician my objectives and leave it to him to use the data for those objectives?
2) Should I keep the objectives and data headings confidential and just ask the statistician to run them?
3) Should I pay the statistician or would he be more interested in jointly publishing? What if it is solely for my thesis and not publishable? Whats in it for him?

Thanks.

+1, definitely possible
As you've mentioned, most of the time there should be something in it for him/her as well; either money or joint publications... unless if he/she is your close friend or something

Thanks. So the thesis and papers that we all see filled with tonnes of mathematical formulae and statistical analyses, can't possibly just come from one individual who just has the concept, research questions, objectives and hypotheses in hand. Hats off if that one person can do everything.