Is it a good course to take especially here in Malaysia? Are there any alumni here? How about job prospect in Malaysia.

This post has been edited by Ezad99: Jun 6 2013, 08:40 PM

Very in-demand, since majority of research in biology now involves some sort of computation and handling large data. Even ppl who work in experimental labs need some level of computational level.

That said, bioinformatics is too broad, just like "biology" since there's a lot of specialisation these days. You will need to find an area to focus on: programming/developing scripts, database management, image analysis, genome assembly, data analysis etc. Most ppl are good in several of these areas.

How about Biostatistics?

thank you for the reply!
which is the best university that offers this course? MMU? any suggestions?

This post has been edited by Ezad99: Jun 6 2013, 08:46 PM

Well, statisticians are useful but depends on what you want to do. If you want to work in industry e.g. pharma, statistics alone might not be useful since biologists can usually do some simple statistics. If you want to go into research, that is fine but again...the life science research is expanding quickly and becoming very competitive. Statistics knowledge alone will not be sufficient, if you can do statistical programming/analysis and handling of large data for statistics, that would be good.

I.e. computational skills are very needed these days, where research labs handle tonne of data.

No idea, but a basic degree is generally just so-so. if you want to go further in academia, you definitely need to do masters/phd.

I dunno bout MMU, but my previous uni UKM is quite good. They have a good lab facility and support for experimental molecular biology (i.e. the Malaysia Genome Insitute is nearby). That might give you a strong biological background (i.e. what goes on in an experiment, how is the data derived) to complement your computational knowledge.

A big problem for biologists looking for computational help is they often need to spend a lot of time explaining what they do, what they need, what are the nature of biological data etc to the other person. So as a bioinformatics guy, having a strong biological background to quickly understand what the needs are and to solve those needs specificially might be beneficial.

How about bioengineering or biotechnology ? Seems all related to biology !

so you taking bioinformatics too? where you work now?
what type of job that qualify me if i only have a basic degree

jonoave works at one of the Max Planck Institutes in Germany, and I guess probably at Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, @ Tübingen, the same place with Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. The Max Planck Institutes are very well-known for their research excellency in the life sciences, natural sciences and the social and human sciences.



1 Max Planck Institute for the Biology of Ageing, Köln
2 Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig
3 Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/Saale
4 Bibliotheca Hertziana - Max Planck Institute of Art History, Rome
5 Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg
6 Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching
7 Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried
8 Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena
9 Max Planck Institute for Bioinorganic Chemistry, Mülheim/Ruhr
10 Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Münster
11 Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer Institute), Göttingen
12 Max Planck Institute for Biophysics, Frankfurt/Main
13 Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt/Main
14 Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden
15 Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Otto Hahn Institute), Mainz
16 Max Planck Institute for Coal Research, Mülheim/Ruhr
17 Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig
18 Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn
19 Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces, Golm (Potsdam)
20 Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen
21 Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock
22 Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen
23 Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen
24 Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen
25 Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Magdeburg
26 Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena
27 Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena
28 Max Planck Institute for Experimental Endocrinology, Hanover
29 Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching
30 Max Planck Research Unit for Enzymology of Protein Folding, Halle/Saale
31 Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön
32 Max Planck Florida Institute, Jupiter, Florida
33 The Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the MPG, Tübingen
34 Fritz Haber Institute of the MPG, Berlin
35 Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin
36 Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Golm (Potsdam)
37 Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research (W. G. Kerckhoff Institute), Bad Nauheim
38 Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin
39 Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin
40 Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Freiburg
41 Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin
42 Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Saarbrücken
43 Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property and Competition Law, München
44 Max Planck Institute for Iron Research GmbH, Düsseldorf
45 Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz - Max Planck Institute, Florence
46 Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, Freiburg
47 Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg
48 Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Hamburg
49 Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Social Law, München
50 Max Planck Institute for European Legal History, Frankfurt/Main
51 Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, Bonn
52 Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig
53 Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg
54 Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine, Göttingen
55 Max Planck Institute for Metals Research, Stuttgart
56 Max Planck Institute for Meteorology,[1], Hamburg
57 Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen
58 Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg
59 Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics, Halle/Saale
60 Max Planck Working Groups for Structural Molecular Biology at DESY, Hamburg
61 Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Martinsried
62 Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research, Köln
63 Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Andechs-Erling
64 Max Planck Institute for Physics (Werner Heisenberg Institute), München
65 Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg
66 Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden
67 Max Planck Institute for the Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden
68 Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology, Seewiesen closing
69 Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology, Dortmund
70 Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, Golm (Potsdam)
71 Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Köln
72 Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Garching and Greifswald
73 Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz
74 Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, München
75 Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen
76 Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching
77 Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn
78 Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen
79 Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, Kaiserslautern and Saarbrücken
80 Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Tübingen
81 Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Lindau (Katlenburg-Lindau)
82 Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart
83 Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Köln
84 Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, Munich
85 Max Planck Princeton Research Center for Plasma Physics, Princeton, New Jersey

Now, take a good look at the bioinformatics software applications, Geneious, and the features.

wow!! *speechless*

don't get me wrong.. but i don't have any idea what is this.. so complex... do you think i should take this course? :S

thanks for the kind introduction, lol. Unfortunately since I'm a biologist turned bioinformatician wannabe, I doubt my skills are sufficient for Biological cybernetics. A lot of the max-planck institutes have a lot of overlap in terms of the skills employed, since for a lot of biological centres these days you would require some large data handling, qPCR, image analysis etc. : )

I did my degree in molecular biology. I'm now doing a phd in Germany which is heavy on computational, so I'm kinda a bioinformatician wannabe.

If you have a basic degree, you can try to apply for jobs like technical assistance/support in research centres/universities. E.g. at my research institutes there are bioinformatics department, microscopy department etc that provides facilities and support for research groups. But even here, they hire a lot of folks who have at least masters/phd in the relevant fields. I'm not sure how it is right now in Malaysia, but my previous university doesn't have any these kind of specialised support departments. However you can try to check around and ask, I think things might have developed quite a bit e.g. at Malaysia Genome Institute, IMU etc.

Else you can also consider working for companies like MGRC that offers some professional computational services. There are also other life science companies like firstBase or Qiagen Malaysia which hire folks with biology science degrees.

If you're more ambitious, you can also look for project/contract-based employment. I've seen advertisements for 2 year-contract or "computer scientist needed for project involving genome assembly etc.." by research institutes and sometimes universities across Europe. It is similar to the one I mentioned in the first paragraph but just that this is contract-based. They pay quite well, but they are very specific, "must have experience in designing pipelines/worked with genome data/languages C++, R, etc". This goes to show you that highly-skilled bioinformaticians are very in demand.

Don't worry too much bout understanding. When you enter uni, you will also know little but your education in school gave you the foundation to learn and study further. Same with working/graduate studies, you'll probably know very little but you build upon you basic knowledge in uni/school etc.

Whether you want to take the course, I can't say. If you like molecular biology, things like DNA/RNA etc then this could be interesting for you. If you like to work in front of a computer, this could also be a job for you.

On another note, there is also a lot of crossover from different fields. Don't think that because you're doing microbiology for your degree (e.g.) you will do microbiology in the future. I've seen a lot of computer science guys crossover into biology due to the huge demand for IT specialist and then these ppl start to pick up the biological knowledge along the way. Other ppl like me is experimental biologist -> computational biologist. i started out with basic molecular biology and along the way found out I hate dealing with live subjects and my interest is in phylogenetics.

At the end of the day it really boils down to your attitude and interest. It's ok if you take a course and find out later you don't like it. At least you realise you don't like it. For example if you take bioinformatics, you might find later that you really hate biology and want to do computer stuff only - that's ok too. As there is a lot of computer science grads around, you'll need to polish yourself up by being expert in different languages and areas. : )

UTM

http://web.utm.my/fsksm/content/academic/u...bio/BscBio.html

Biology is wide, and also very specialised in every type of way. Life science is the new booming thing.

Bioengineering is engineering using biological materials or the study of biological materials. Here's a look at what some people are doing:
http://www.bcube-dresden.de/

Biotechnology is a too general term, which basically means "the application of biology for technology". Anything can be biotechnology, from the better crops to supplements to drug design to image analysis. For my previous university, there is not such program, only "biotechnoglogy management" (molecular biology + business management) and plant biotechnology (molecular biology + plant biology).

It's really a good field since everything is IT-based now. However, job prospect in Malaysia - any bio-based programmes, kinda lacking here compared to others IMO

thanks for the good explanation.
i think i need more time to think about it

yeah it's a shame
wonder what happened to all bio graduate especially those who take biotechnology

hmmmmm.....
acctually mmu is not bad...
since it's major in IT & Engineerings,
computer and engineering labs were available,

since engineering is there,
chemistry lab and biology lab was available too....

Hi Jono,

May I know what kind of computational algorithm you used in the searching and identification of the transitions in phylogenetic nomenclature? Are you developing algorithm for Fuzzy C-Means Clustering in your PhD research?

Not that canggih to develop algorithms myself. I'm trying to develop a computational pipeline to detect and predict unique evolutionary events by comparing different genomes. : )

What about you?

A lot drop out and work in other sectors like sales, banking etc.

Some choose to continue masters,phd.

Some work in life science product companies like MGRC, Firstbase, Science valley etc. This kind of job can either be sales type (sell lab stuff, reagents) or technical (services in computing, sequencing etc).

Some work in research centres like in IMU, MGI, UMBI. There are also many companies that hire ppl for R&D e.g. Sime Darby, Nestle (where you think ppl develop inulin and DHA), FRIM, oil palm centre malaysia which I don't remember name (I remember one of my friends work on this pest which devastate oil palm trees).

Hi Jonoave, what do you think about pharmacy? between pharmacy and bioinformatics.. which is the best? Is it pharmacy graduate guaranteed the job after finish the program?

Well the thing in Malaysia there is no distinction between treating and drug dispensing, both is still done by doctors in most clinics. In hospital yes they do have pharmacists who do drug dispensing and check on patients, but this is a very low number compared to other healthcare personnel (and the number of hospitals is lower than clinics).

The gov has said they will mandate the separation of doctor and pharmacist for dispensing drugs, and I've heard this since early 2000 until now also belum buat. Then only will this create a big job market for pharmacists. If you are optimistic the gov will do it in 4 years by the time you habis belajar then go for it.

The pharmacist that I know usually go work for private pharmacies e.g. Caring/Guardin, but of course there is big supply from pharma grads > available positions. Some work for companies like Nestle etc. but I'm not sure as consultant or sales. And again, you can also do sales e.g. for certain types of supplements/over-the-counter medication.

The best advice that I will give again, is no need to worry too much what subject your degree is unless you're going really specific like doctor. Doing your degree is a time to learn and discover who you are and what you like. I've seen my bio friends jadi bankers, chem friend work in Wisma Putra, others in construction companies (QA control). Also I've seen ppl with geology degrees become journalist or work in consultants.

It usually boils down to your overall skill and interest, not what you study. That's why you can see a lot of ppl jump across different areas - even a lot of jobs only require a basic degree and not a specific degree (unless that company is looking for a specific person in Chemistry, for e.g.).

I’m a “Controlist” and I'm just wondering, to predict unique evolutionary events, you’ll need some kind of control mechanism and inference procedure to compare different genomes.

What's a "controlist"? Lol, sounds like a race/group from Starcraft... : ) What do you do and where do you work?

Well, I'll be mostly using various tools currently available, but through different combinations and optimisations. I will need to come up with some scripts of my own, mostly to manipulate those tools but nothing too fancy or by developing new algorithms.

As controlists, we usually purchase an off-the-shelf controller (e.g. Siemens SIMATIC S7), install it in an instrumentation panel, and then proceeds to make the controller work and get the process plant under control. However, this often is not trivial because there may be control input sensor problems and control output actuator problems. More crucially, there may be challenging process dynamics problems, which require careful controller parameters tuning. So, in many ways, solving instrumentation issues can be the most challenging aspect of a controlist's job.

So, it requires some kind of phylogenetic profiling?

Ah ok. And where do you work then? Which company and in Malaysia?

Sort of. The main challenge is since that this will be a pipeline, it needs to be automated so the program should be able to assess the results and determine if a "unique' event happened. Currently you still need to analyse and interpret the results manually, which makes it infeasible to run across genomes.

wow jonoave, you're really great!! thank you very much

actually mmu quite good in bio-informatics. some of the graduates doing pretty well.
mmu bio-informatics course is under faculty of science & technology.
they have their own biology labs, well equipped, & few computers in bio-informatics room.
they are not sharing with engineering.

This topic should be bumpped. I hope the TS has got a good headstart in bioinformatics by now. Anyone in this field?

Wow it is great to know that there is someone working at Max Planck, jonoave. I am right now studying biotechnology at a university somewhere upstate New York. I posted a question here asking about the current landscape of biotech industry in Malaysia (but sadly no one answers that yet). I wonder if we can exhange email some time in the future, because I am interested to read about your works there.

Btw, Critical_Fallacy, the picture of Geneious Pro that you posted is a plasmid, right? Because I can see the EcoR1 there.

Hey NightlyArt,

The current landscape of the biotech industry is somewhat complicated but it's actually quite bright. Need talents first and foremost and I am proud to tell you that i have built a startup in biotechnology and we are growing from strength to strengh 5 years and counting.

Hi there fadetob|ack, thanks for the input. It is good to hear that your biotech startup is going fine, and I hope it will continue to progress. I hope that I can exchange email with you, if that's possible. Would love to create networking first before going back home within next 2 or 3 yers. Thanks!

sure thing. just send me a pm. Biotech in our country should have a more inclusive policy and as pioneering startup this is what we will push forward in our dialogs with the government as well.

Just dropping in a couple of years later, being a recent bioinformatics graduate myself. Anyone here able to give their opinions and thoughts on how the field is faring here in Malaysia?

Can you help me to explain about advanced skill?

to be honest, most of my friend which have graduated from bioinfo,
either they work in pure IT field or they work in pure Bio field,
that's the current situation in Malaysia