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.

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.

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. : )

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).

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).

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.).

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.

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.