Questions tagged [biology]

On standards or conventions specific to biology as an academic discipline, and programs that lead to a degree in this field

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336 votes
12 answers
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I don't want to kill any more mice, but my advisor insists that I must in order to get my PhD

When my supervisor pitched the PhD to me, it was all about analyzing "big data". I had BSc/MSc experience in wet-lab biology (mainly culturing cells), however I wanted to branch out into ...
Wetlab Walter's user avatar
40 votes
5 answers
14k views

Where can I do a research paper or thesis without enrolling in a college or university?

I am not seeking a masters or PhD degree, but I would like to do a research paper and have it peer reviewed academically? Is this possible? If so, where and how to do it? Addendum: Thank you for ...
0tyranny0poverty's user avatar
27 votes
4 answers
9k views

What are alternatives to Journal of Theoretical Biology? [closed]

I am considering joining the recent boycott of Elsevier, however I work with biologists on theoretical/mathematical biology (in particular, evolutionary game theory and population biology). However, ...
Artem Kaznatcheev's user avatar
16 votes
2 answers
4k views

Should I decline unrelated work assigned by PhD advisor?

During the past years of my PhD program in biology, my advisor has developed a habit of lending my service to other labs/groups for potential collaborating opportunities. In addition to helping fellow ...
Well_uneducated's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
3k views

Rules for notifying co-authors about re-presenting a project at a conference

I am a PhD student in molecular biology & bioinformatics in Australia. I have previously presented one of my projects as a poster at a conference. This was sent for review to all co-authors, ...
hydra_hamster's user avatar
11 votes
4 answers
4k views

Can I ask for authorship/acknowledgement for writing small data analysis program for a large study?

Earlier this year I entered into a high-profile molecular biology lab and started doing wet lab work (I am an undergraduate). Knowing that I have a computational background, my PI asked that I also ...
Biology Lover's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
687 views

Effect of bland cover letter for journal submission in biology

I'm not used to writing covering letters for journal submissions, and I believe this is pretty standard in maths. However, I got into a conversation with a friend in biology, who said they expect to ...
Jessica B's user avatar
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7 votes
3 answers
4k views

Should I explain change of major in my statement of purpose?

During my masters program I changed my major from Molecular Biology to Biotechnology. Should I explain in my statement of purpose for PhD programs why I changed my major?
user42804's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

Dr.rer physiol. title in Germany

I am a future PhD student here in Germany and I am worried about whether the PhD German title (Dr.rer.physiol.) will be accepted internationally in general and in Germany in particular. In fact here ...
Marta's user avatar
  • 51
5 votes
1 answer
759 views

Applying for a PhD after taking a year off

I completed my Master's in biotechnology exactly a year ago, and after failing to find a job in science took an office job to pay the bills. Now I'm thinking of applying to a bio PhD, but I'm worried ...
Marie's user avatar
  • 51
4 votes
2 answers
536 views

Author order - seniority vs contribution

I have a manuscript (in the field of biomedical research) close to submission with four authors: me (as first author) (ME), my ex-boss (as senior author) (EB) and two more authors of which one is a ...
lordy's user avatar
  • 9,561
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

Non academic career for PhD in Biology

This question has asked previously for PhD in mathematics and computer science in this StackExchange forum. However, the situation will be completely different for Biology graduate because of the ...
Dexter's user avatar
  • 1,009
1 vote
0 answers
100 views

How will a bad grade from a somewhat unrelated course look on applications? [duplicate]

I'm taking a second year genetics course as a math major (I was interested in bioinformatics, and I need genetics for that). I'm doing poorly in the course so far (I'm passing, but not with great ...
user43258's user avatar