Undergraduate Internship Bioinformatics

We are looking for an undergraduate student to participate in a bioinformatics project. Interested candidates should send me their resume.

Project

Synthetic biologists rely on databases of biological parts to design genetic devices and systems. The sequences and descriptions of genetic parts are often derived from features of previously described plasmids using ad hoc, error-prone and time-consuming curation processes because existing databases of plasmids and features are loosely organized. We recently analyzed the annotations of a library of ∼2000 widely used plasmids to build a non-redundant database of plasmid features. We derived a library of biological parts from the database of plasmid features. The library was formatted using the Synthetic Biology Open Language, an emerging standard developed to better organize libraries of genetic parts to facilitate synthetic biology workflows. As proof, the library was converted into GenoCAD (www.genocad.com) files to allow users to import and customize the library based on the needs of their research projects. The student will work on the development of the next version of the GenoLIB library that was originally described in http://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkv272

Requirements

Some prior programming experience is required.

Undergraduate students doing an internship in my lab must commit to be in the lab for several consecutive hours most weekdays for a total of 10-15 hours per week. In addition, we encourage them to commit to their projects for both the fall and winter semesters in order to ensure that they have a meaningful experience.

Our commitment

The successful candidates will work closely with me. A paid summer position may be offered to deserving students who have demonstrated commitment and achieved substantial results during their internship.

For our part, we will endeavor not only to help the student succeed in our research group, but also in their future career. We offer well-equipped and well-supported lab and computer facilities, and the student will learn a variety of computer, molecular, genetic and cell biological methods. About 40% of the undergraduate students, who did a research experience in the lab ended up with a first publication. The candidates can earn research credits for their projects.