The morning again was presentations from various students. I got to present my research today as well, which went which any huge hiccup. One of the presenters is researching on stromatolites, which personally, I think are really cool.However, after hearing so many students presenting about their research finding this new strain of Vibrio, that research finding a new lateral gene transfer etc, I asked the question that nobody want to ask "SO WHAT?" Imagine the face of the students when I ask this question. Doesn't your funding agency ask what benefits it will bring to them? Well, they couldn't answer that question because they DO NOT need to go out and source for their own research funds! Applied Science - I think this is the new direction! As much as I hate it, gone are the times we do research for the fun of it. Funding agencies are going to ask what benefits the research is going to bring, and it is important to think about it and not live in a bubble!
The afternoon workshop was intense! Metagenomics statistic analysis! This is the main core of the CMB workshop, and for the rest of the course, this will be the main focus. I learnt a lot just within these few hours of lecture and hands-on tutorial. I also learnt that as much as I hate it, I may need a new laptop, probably a Mac! Today, we learnt about TRFLP (Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism), and the software Mothur. WOW...that's the only thing I can say. I never thought that molecular stuffs can be so cool!
Very bold of you to ask "so what,"- I may have crapped my pants, but still had a good reason :)
ReplyDeleteLol, Somehow it doesn't surprise me that you asked that question. You were THAT GUY.
ReplyDeleteYay marine ecology! This sounds just like the stuff we are doing... welcome to the cool molecular stuffs :)