NC State Bioinformatics PhD?

[bioguy88]

I was wondering if anyone had any information on how North Carolina State University is viewed in the field of Bioinformatics (to other academics)? I know they have a great Statistics program and that their Bioinformatics program draws heavily on that, but does anyone have any insight? I would really appreciate anything! I'm hoping to go into academia, but am concerned about "prestige" which I have been told is pretty important in the acadmeic world. Any advice? Thanks!

[floridabio]

You should look up placement info on the program's alumni.  If they are at good postdoc positions, then that's an indication the school has the tools and resources needed for success of its students.  In general though, I think postdoc placement is more dictated by the quality of your research/publications, which is highly influenced by the excellence of your PI and not of the school's prestige.  An anecdote: I know of a student who obtained her PhD from the hardly-prestigious University of Western Ontario.  She did a post-doc at the University of Florida and just recently interviewed for an assistant professorship position as UC Berkeley (she hasn't heard back yet).  

Edited April 3, 2013 by floridabio

[floridabio]

I should follow up by saying that while NC State isn't necessarily a prestigious university, it's still a large, R1 state university.  With respect to my stats, I would have no reservations in attending that school.  

Edited April 3, 2013 by floridabio

[bioguy88]

Thanks for the advice floridabio. I definitely agree with everything you said. It's good to know it is more about individual experience sometimes too.

[bamafan]

I actually applied to bioinformatics and sys bio this application season. In truth, there is kind of a dearth of programs; it's not exactly a new field anymore but compared to most others, it's very recent (past 20 years or so max). Therefore, the majority of programs are the handful of ones that have been around for a while and then every other school in the world suddenly deciding to have a program since it's an exploding field.

 

I would probably put NC state in the latter group. That doesn't mean it's bad at all -- in fact, if you look at schools some schools like Berkeley, their programs in comp bio is also basically brand new, but already considered elite because of the faculty starpower. That's probably the most important thing for you to do. Look up the faculty in the PhD program at NC State and determine if you think you'd want to work with them. 

 

For reference though, I would say you can't go wrong with the following four: USC, UCSD, Michigan, BU and beyond that of course, your usual suspects (Harvard Systems Bio, MIT CSBi, UCSF iPQB, etc).

[bioguy88]

Thanks for the input, Bamafan. I agree with a lot of what you are saying.

 

What would you suggest looking for in faculty? I mean, besides getitng along well enough on a personal level and interest in their research. I mean I know to look at publications and citations and all that but I have no idea what is a "good" number for that at all to be honest. Any advice?

Edited April 4, 2013 by bioguy88

[bioguy88]

Also, would you suggest attending a Master's program in bioinformatics at one of the more "top-tier" universities you listed such as Michigan or BU instead of going straight into a PhD at a place like NC State? (since I have an option like that currently but ultimately want to get a PhD) And then applying for PhDs in the coming years? Do you think the added debt and time is really worth it?

[bamafan]

For me, it was research fit first and foremost, but also the breadth of the department. I think that says a lot of how much the university is putting into the program. If there's a lot of faculty covering a range of topics (all the main "-omics", super computing, machine learning, if they have a core, etc.). Some schools are very topic specific like all cancer focused, and if that's not what you want to do, then it won't be a very good fit. 

 

I wouldn't bother with a Masters unless you feel you are very in need of supplementing some area of your training. Most of the programs today, at least the ones I applied to, have evolved to assume applicants are mostly Bachelor's only and have a strong amount of classwork that covers most topics including CS, stats, informatics, epidimeology, etc. so you'll learn it all anyway in all likelihood.