Project Leadership: Gen 712/812 Gen 996 Bio 7xx (independent study) UNH *Graduate school *Genetics Program *Hubbard Center for Genome Studies

Gen 712/812: Perl for Bioinformatics Being the sole instructor both in lecture and lab sessions of my course was as rewarding as it was tough. One of the advantages was that I was also the guide in the final project. In this capacity I oversaw the development of 9 final projects and in doing so I have learned a few important lessons: : What really is a project? For the purposes of Gen 712/812, A project meant a well defined practical application development exercise that simulated or solved a real world problem. It embodies an assignment that is aimed at testing the ability of students to apply what they learned in class in solving actual problems. It gives the students a chance to exercise higher level of reasoning analysis and decision making as they have to pick and choose their tools and make their programs efficient and accurate. :Should students chose or be assigned to a project? Assigning a project makes it easy to assess students in a uniform fashion but it comes at a cost as not all students will find the project equally interesting or motivating. In Gen 712/812, my students were given a free hand in choosing developing and defending their projects. As the instructor, I gave the necessary guidance so as to make the projects as comparable as possible. Interestingly, all my students came up with problems they wanted to solve in their research projects and picked something they would not only use in real life but also continue to develop too. I found this rewarding as I know from experience that students resent being assigned to something they do not have a vested interest in or something they think not useful to them. Working to solve their own problem also have the positive impact of always knowing what it takes to make it work, what it takes to make it complete. They also work with purpose and focus and with the anticipation of sharing it with colleagues, supervisors etc … :What does a project entail? A project entails identifying a problem, planning its development, devising and implementing solutions, testing the solution, fixing loopholes and maintaining it. Done step by step, the processes enable the learners to grow in many ways: project development; resource location; seeking help and guidance; critical thinking, analysis and decision making; time management; presentation skills. :What should be the role of the instructor in project development The instructor should weigh in on every aspect of project development: Design: by suggesting to scale up or down in relation to time and resource constraints students will be made to work in projects of comparable levels of difficulty. Giving clues as to how a program could be made to come up to measure by adding functionality or to let students know what and how to scale down their proposed project to fit the scope of the assignment and the course limits. Development: Giving guidance, directing students to good resources, making available alternative solutions etc would make the development process smooth and enjoyable. :What are the limitations of a project? How far would a project stretch the students’ ability? How much would it require out of the boundaries of the course and whether they could easily be met or they should be stricken out. Following the development of these projects I was aware of how a badly designed project could fry a student and how important close monitoring and timely guidance are. I also learned that no matter how difficult a project is students will surmount it if they get the right guidance and led to the correct resources. Some requirements that are not part of the course are reasonable and attainable but some are not. The latter should be stricken out immediately and substituted with things that are within the course dimensions. Gen 996: Applied Bioinformatics I took Gen 996 in the year 2006 and led a project that included a fellow biologist and a professor in Computer science. I consolidated my programming capabilities as well as my group working and interpersonal skills. In 2007 I was requested to lead two projects in bioinformatics. · group one specialized in comparative genomics and while · group two adopted publicly available Genome Visualization tools to our use and automated the process. Biol 7xx Independent Research Fall 2007 I had the opportunity to mentor an undergraduate who was doing an independent investigation at the Genome center aka HCGS (Hubbard Center for Genome Studies) – University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH I Trained the undergraduate in molecular biology and project write up: • Investigated an antibiotic PCR gene swap of an Ampicillin resistant gene in SCBI with Trimetoprim and CAT via λ-red mutagenesis cassettes and molecular cloning techniques • Assisted with production of fosmid DNA libraries and later sequencing of Daphnia magna via fosmid end sequencing