Transitioning from bench science to computational science

[lrlrlrlrlr]

Is anyone here trained as a biologist and transitioned from doing traditional experimental bench work to bioinformatics to computational/systems biology? I am asking because I am finding out that I am developing more of an interest in human genetics and immunology and it seems there is a demand for scientists who are trained in biology and computer science. 

 

I read this article: https://caseybergman.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/top-n-reasons-to-do-a-ph-d-or-post-doc-in-bioinformaticscomputational-biology/

 

I was wondering, if you have made this transition how did you do it? Did you already have a computer background? I tried asking some people at my research institute but it seems nobody knows anything about the intersection of the two, and are just more medically and biologically trained. Pretty much everyone in the lab just has basic knowledge when it comes to computers, and my advisor types with 1 finger lol.

 

I don't know anything about computer science and have no programming background, and have about 2 years left of my PhD. Is it too late for me to think about exploring this to see if I like it, since I should start looking at postdocs in a year or so?

 

Maybe I should have posted this in "the menu" but it looks like people check "research" more often and I figured I'd have a higher probability of someone replying to this posted here.

Edited July 16, 2015 by pastina

[ballwera]

This is pretty much what I did, however I started to do computational work as a tech. I mostly just fell into it to be honest. My PI wanted to do some stuff that no one in the lab knew how to do. I'm self taught for the most part. I took an intro class to learn some basic Bioinformatics and programming. I know the program I'm going into has a graduate certificate in Bioinformatics that I will be doing alongside my PhD. If your institution doesn't offer a similar option I know that UIC offers something similar that you can do online. I would also look at doing a postdoc in a lab that does a mixture of both. Let me know if you have any questions. 

Edited July 16, 2015 by ballwera

[AhmedSaadawi]

AT first, before embarking to shift from wet bench lab to computational science, you should have a good background in Bioinformatics and programming ( python and R in particular ). There are some wonderful online MOOCs that could be of paramount benefit to you and here are some :

1. https://www.coursera.org/course/bioinformatics

2. https://www.coursera.org/course/bioinformatics2

3. https://www.coursera.org/learn/bioinformatics-methods-1

4. https://www.coursera.org/learn/bioinformatics-methods-2

5. https://www.coursera.org/course/pythonlearn

6. https://www.edx.org/course/cs-all-introduction-computer-science-harveymuddx-cs005x

I hope this helps 

[ballwera]

Based on the above posters idea. Here is a paper I found last year about an Online Comp. Bio Curriculum 

 

Abstract: 

 

 recent proliferation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and other web-based educational resources has greatly increased the potential for effective self-study in many fields. This article introduces a catalog of several hundred free video courses of potential interest to those wishing to expand their knowledge of bioinformatics and computational biology. The courses are organized into eleven subject areas modeled on university departments and are accompanied by commentary and career advice.

 

http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003662

[lrlrlrlrlr]

Thanks for the resources! I've also heard positive things about the programming tutorials on CodeAcademy, I may take a short crash course on a language before moving on to a MOOC on bioinformatics 

[ballwera]

Thanks for the resources! I've also heard positive things about the programming tutorials on CodeAcademy, I may take a short crash course on a language before moving on to a MOOC on bioinformatics 

 

Honestly I wouldn't bother with that too much. Most of those bioinformatics course will start out with some basic coding. I'd also check out Rosalind http://rosalind.info/problems/locations/ It basically teaches one had to code in python in the context of solving biological problems. That's what I use to train our summer students. I'd also look into Beginning Perl for Bioinformatics ( there is a similar book for python). This again will teach you to code in a biological context. Have fun..