Questions tagged [biology]
On standards or conventions specific to biology as an academic discipline, and programs that lead to a degree in this field
150
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When should service providers (core or external) expect authorship?
There are a number of areas of biology research where specialist knowledge requirements or expensive equipment mean that it's more efficient to outsource work to core or external facilities. This ...
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Public archives for PhD thesis
I am aware that PhD theses can be self archived in university site, personal webpage or sites like researchgate (ePrint Archive for PhD Dissertation in the Social Sciences).
I am not really fond of ...
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Differences between subfields of biology related to mathematics?
My undergraduate studies were in the area of applied mathematics and statistics and I am interested in doing postgraduate studies in the area of mathematical biology. But when I looked into different ...
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1
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Following up with a potential supervisor
I have been applying to join up for an MSc in Universities in Canada. One particular faculty member conditionally expressed his interest in being my supervisor. The dept is considering applications ...
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Which undergraduate major leads to a research career in development of new medical drugs?
Let's say someone wants to study biochemistry and his main goal is to do research in drug design (development of new drugs). So, his main interests concerns with Pharmacology, right?
However, there ...
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Research in computational neuroscience or computational medicine in Europe [closed]
How popular is research in computational neuroscience, or computational medicine in (mainland) Europe? I'm aware that INRIA in France does some good work, but do you know any other such groups and ...
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What are the differences between PhD programs in the US and UK? (biology/bioinformatics)
A significant part of the PhD process in the US involves deciding on and doing the background research for your project. Is it true that in the UK you basically get a predetermined project handed to ...
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Do professors from different fields use the same data set in different ways?
I have no experience with data analysis but a data analysis project was offered to me in the past by one of my math professors. It would have been a PCA project, where PCA means "Principle Component ...
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3
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Minor revision- Editor implied to do the experiment, however a rebut would clarify the issue
We recently received comments from the reviewers after revision. Comments were positive, one reviewer asked us to do an experiment. EES status says its minor revision, editor's email do not say it's a ...
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1
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How to avoid letters while searching pubmed portal?
I am retrieving disease related articles from pPMC. Some of the articles contain letters starting with "Dear friends" , "Dear Editor", etc. Can these be considered valid articles? How to filter the ...
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336
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12
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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 ...
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How to reply to an unofficial offer from my second choice when I also have an unofficial offer from my first choice?
Here is my situation. I am looking for a post-doc position. I have two choices, A and B.
My first choice is A. And I already got an un-official offer from A. I was told that A is working on a ...
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2
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A career path for synthetic biology
I am thinking about a career in synthetic biology, but I am not sure what route should/needs to be taken. I don't want to do technician work--I want to be involved in the planning. Y'know, the ...
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1
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Is it feasible to become a paramedic full time and do a PhD in an unrelated field? [closed]
Do you think this is reasonable?
I am graduating with a BSc in neuroscience next year. I would like to be a paramedic for a little while (throughout my 20's) before switching careers and becoming a ...
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4
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Is it possible to do research in cell/molecular biology without doing experimental work myself?
I am currently a master’s student hoping to shift into a PhD. The thing is, I hate the lab work. I love all the literature review, designing experiments, troubleshooting problems and data ...
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0
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Best course of action to get into theoretical and mathematical biology [closed]
I have long harboured a passion for the application of mathematics and physics towards problems in biology and from my microbiology and bioinformatics experience, I very much consider myself much more ...
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How do you validate a scientific paper that uses a non-public cell/animal line?
Recently my lab published a paper that uses a mouse line from another lab.
Without going into too much detail since not everyone here is a Biologist, this other lab has a mouse with a reporter gene ...
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1
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What are good resources to read up on funding policies, especially pertaining to biology in the United States?
I am a biology PhD. student in the United States. I would like to know a little bit more on how to navigate the politics and processes that guide grant funding. In addition to this I am looking for ...
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Career outside academia for biologist + cognitive scientist
I would like to think of my options for a job outside academia and was hoping to get ideas from others. I feel I'm between fields:
I studied biology as an undergrad; but never pipetted anything ...
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How to transition from pure biology PhD to bioinformatics/biostatistics?
I've been working as a PhD student in biology and currently in my last year. However I realised just a year into my PhD that I hated doing experiments, I really hated it. I think one of the reasons ...
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Should I mention the reason I changed labs so often on my C.V. and/or cover letter? (Due to lack of funding)
I have changed labs 5 times in the past 13 years as a research lab technician. Every time the reason was only because a lab ran out of funding. Unless the recruiter contacts my references, they might ...
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0
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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 ...
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3
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What category in my C.V. should I put papers where I've contributed but was not listed as an author, nor in acknowledgments?
I performed a small set of experiments for a few published papers. The authors of these papers decided that my work was not significant enough to warrant my name on the papers. I am not mentioned in ...
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1
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Is teaching for a biology program without "specialized accreditation" bad for your career?
I plan on graduating with my PhD in May and am currently job searching for academic positions for next fall.
I am looking into applying to be a full-time biology faculty member at a school which is ...
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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?
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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 ...
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4
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What information to share and what to hide?
Science and research is open knowledge. We should always share our knowledge with each other. However in current competitive world, scooping research is very common (specially in bioinformatics, ...
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2
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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 ...
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2
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Geographic differences in bioethics and effect on experimental research in biology
Cultural heritage may have influenced views on life, consciousness, etc. Does it mean that bioethics is different in different countries? And does it mean that e.g. in Israel (Jewish culture) it is ...
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Is there more competition for postdoc/faculty positions in the biological sciences, compared to similar positions in the health sciences?
I am seeking advice/input from graduate students and faculty within the fields of health sciences and integrative physiology/biology regarding employment opportunities, competition, and compensation ...
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Seriously conflicted about a graduate program option
I graduated in 2013 with a degree in Botany from a state college on the west coast. Since then, I've worked for the Forest Service on a rare plants/ invasive weeds survey crew, and currently, work for ...
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Learning Biology, methods? [closed]
I am not sure if this is the right fourm for this question or if it counts as opinion based/subjective (if its not moderators feel free to remove or delete it, I should know better by now), but are ...
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Do PIs ever get outside help when writing grant applications?
PIs can have students assist with grant applications, but do they ever hire outside help?
I have heard of freelance grantwriters who work for non-profits outside of academia, does this ever happen ...
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Should I put a "technician" pseudo-internship on my resume for biology grad school?
I completed a pseudo-internship-like experience offered by one of my undergraduate professors this semester. The job title was "biology technician," but my jobs were more geared towards learning than ...
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1
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In which case does PLOS ONE use a third reviewer?
We have submitted our manuscript 10 weeks ago to PLOS ONE and are still waiting for a first decision.
We sent an inquiry, and they replied that the paper is under review with a 3rd reviewer. Does it ...
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How to build bridges between mathematicians, computer scientists and biologists?
I am part of a recently founded laboratory in computational biology and we are trying to get all the parts (biologists, computer scientists, mathematicians, and so on) to speak the same language, or ...
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3
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No reply from potential supervisor of my dreams: is it OK to try meeting them in person?
After much research at many universities, I have found a supervisor whose research perfectly matches my research interests. I believe that I have truly found a good match...and believe that I would ...
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3
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How much do bench skills matter for a postdoc?
If you're hiring a postdoc, how much do you care about the techniques they've used in the PhD?
I'm thinking ahead to the postdoc search (will probably start in earnest in summer/fall). My current ...
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How can physicists help in theoretical biology, besides math and fresh perspectives? [closed]
By googling this keyword: "theoretical biology" and physics, I get many interesting pages, such as:
Physics meets biology: Bridging the culture gap
Biology is more theoretical than physics
Why ...
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Should biomedical engineering/ biotech academics aim to start businesses?
in my relatively short academic career, I've gathered that academic engineering seems to be more about creating ideas than actually iteratively improving a product using engineering methods. In my ...
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How can I identify research opportunities I am qualified for, and position myself as a competitive candidate, in a different field from my degree?
I currently have a BSc. in Environmental Science and would like to go back for a biology focused PhD in the next few years. I keep seeing the recommendation that having a good research fit will be ...
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Speaking to experience in a statement of purpose for a PhD program.
I am beginning the process of applying to PhD programs in Neuroscience for a fall 2015 start. I will be graduating this December with a Bachelor's in biology and math. I have been working as a ...
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Is it difficult to get admission to a phd in stem cell biology in Europe?
I am looking for a phd position in stem cell biology and have been trying very hard for the last 6 months in Germany or any European country. I have tried to contact many professors via mail but have ...
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Best strategy to learn programing for graduate research data analysis in biology
I'm actually asking this question on behalf of a sibling who's pursuing a PhD in Biology. While I'm a Mechanical Engineering student and am "computer-savvy" and experienced in learning programming ...
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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 ...
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3
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Comparing a career in medicine vs. medical research?
My friend recently graduated with a bachelor degree in biology. He is thinking that he can help more people by studying a biomedical engineering Ph.D., rather than becoming a medical doctor. He is ...
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Is it possible to cross over from chemistry to biology?
I'm currently a chemistry major. However, I am more interested in the life science and want to be a molecular biologist in the future. However it is too late to change my degree to biology so I am ...
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1
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Pedagogy for biology (genetics)
Someone at the biology stack exchange website referred me to this site.
In studying for biology courses I feel as though I have to take things at face value. Is there a way to get around this and ...
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Trying to switch fields from PhD in computational biology to postdoc in machine learning/stats, how to increase likelihood of success?
All of the following takes place in a UK university.
I have a BSc in Physics and an MSc in Computer Science. My thesis was on applying various machine learning/statistical techniques to biological ...
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4
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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, ...
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