FAQs

• Do I have to be a computer scientist to apply?

  No, you don’t. In fact, we are interested in seeking a diversity of backgrounds. We have created special internal class to "jump-start" students in areas they may be lacking in.

• I’m a little confused by the terms "Bioinformatics", "Computational Biology", "Computational Science", and others. What do all these mean?

  Like any new area of research, the terminology itself needs some time to settle. Although you might find people disagreeing on the terms themselves, the unifying principle is the work on improving our understanding of life utilizing resources outside of what has traditionally been done. Another theme you’ll find is that data plays a prominent role—a lot of data. Thus, bioinformatics includes even the creation, design, and implementation of Informatics Systems—typically DBMSs—to help manage the massive amounts of data. A third theme you’ll encounter is search. In Bioinformatics we spend a great deal searching through the data—and that’s probably no surprise.

• What kind of collaborations and opportunities would I have while pursing the degree?

  We have many ongoing and projects and initiatives that students can participate in. At Indiana University, Bloomington, there are projects with the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, the newly formed Department of Biochemistry; the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics (http://cgb.indiana.edu) that is a center devoted to fostering interdisciplinary work; National Center for Glycomics and Glycoproteomics; the OSU-IU Integrated Cancer Biology Center; Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, and Biocomplexity Institute at Indianapolis (http://compbio.iupui.edu/) home to our Director Keith Dunker. More than half of graduate students are directly engaged in multidisciplinary projects.

• What are the areas that the core faculty work in?

  We work in lot of areas, but specialize in a number of exciting areas—you’ll find a more complete description on the research page, but here’s a brief outline of what we’re working on:

  • Evolution and Comparative genomics: evolution of transcriptional regulation, evolution of gene families, population genomics, evolution of genetic networks, gene team analysis, mobile genetic elements)
  • Protein bioinformatics: structural bioinformatics, automated functional annotation, protein-protein interactions, text mining
  • Proteomics: computational glycomics and glycoproteomics, peptide/protein identification and quantification using mass spectrometry
  • Sequence analysis: string pattern matching, motif discovery, fragment assembly, RNA editing, genome alignment and segmental duplications
  • Systems biology: biochemical pathways, data integration, discovery in gene/protein networks, regulatory genomics, theoretical enzymology, embryology

  If you have any questions at all please contact one of us—and we’ll be happy to speak with about our program.