5. Is local collaboration a good option?

If you are working at a larger academic institution, chances are you will find one or more bioinformatics faculty members in your institution. Is collaborating with them a good option for you? My advice is to take a look at their research interests and see if synergy could be formed between your research and theirs. For example, if one of these local bioinformatics researchers is interested in developing more accurate peak calling methods for ChIP-seq data, and your research project is going to generate a bunch of ChIP-seq data with some unique characteristics, then there is the potential for synergy to form between the two labs, and it could turn out to be a good local collaboration.

If, on the other hand, there is quite a distance between your research interests and those of the local bioinformatics researcher, my recommendation is to not forge a "collaboration" when all you want is a "service." It will not work well. Put yourself in his/her shoes and try to understand that everyone has their own priorities.

Academic collaborations always have some intricate elements associated with them: you want to publish the results first, but he/she wants to publish the method first. You want your student to be the first author of this article, but he/she wants their postdoc to be the first author instead. You want to finish writing this paper quickly, but he/she has to focus on a grant application. Despite the fact that very productive collaborations can be - and have been established between experimental researchers and bioinformatics researchers in many different places, it is important to recognize these intricacies. There will be times when, after thinking these through, you determine that it is better to avoid all of them and go down the easy path - to have a commercial entity take care of your bioinformatics needs.

About the Author: Justin T. Li obtained his Ph.D. in Neurobiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2000 and a M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Houston in 2001. Justin served as an Assistant Professor in the Medical School at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus between 2004 and 2009, and as Chief Bioinformatics Officer at LC Sciences (Houston) between 2009 and 2013. In June 2013, Justin joined AccuraScience as a Lead Bioinformatician. Throughout his career in academia and the private sector, Justin has published approximately 40 research articles in various research domains and led the development of 12 bioinformatics databases and web servers. More information about Justin can be found at http://www.accurascience.com/our_team.html.

Considering outsourcing your bioinformatics work or need assistance in your bioinformatic project? Take a look at the intro to our bioinformatician team, see some of the advantages of using our team's help here, and check out our FAQ page!

Send us an inquiry, chat with us online (during our business hours 9-5 Mon-Fri U.S. Central Time), or reach us in other ways!