Bioinformatics is an emerging field in the life science niche. And taking its Indian status into account, many are unaware of it. Majority of the students wonder about what this subject actually is, when they find it in the curriculum of any University. Those who have already been enrolled in it are also unaware of the future prospect of this biological niche. Similar to the other fields of biology, Bioinformatics has lots of scope. Particularly, the prospect of this subject is manifold after holding a PhD.

Here are some of the futuristic aspects of Bioinformatics:

"Informatics" is the trendsetter of the recent times
If you want a lucrative life style, then you need to have computational skills. This is the academic requirement nowadays. Each and every subject nowadays has included computer skills. In simple words it can be said that those subjects which were considered to be as core subjects are now being made more quantitative. And biology is no exceptional to this.
There was a need for the conversion of biology as a data science, for the ease of retrieving information from the huge collection of information. And as it is usually said, "Necessity is the mother of invention"; the need for sufficient data storage for biological information gave rise to a new field called Bioinformatics. And it is hereby mentioned that, the very first milestone in this field was set by Margaret Day Hoff, the mother of Bioinformatics. It was the Atlas of Proteins, the first protein database developed and this in other way marked the birth of Bioinformatics as a research field.

There's profound ease in implementing computational techniques
Any savvy researcher would not deny the labor and effort employed for a single experiment. In case of manual experiments, or what is generally called as wet laboratory techniques for biological research, it's quite time taking and laborious. But for computational experiments, it's much easier and time saving. And more over if you are acquainted with computer skills, then your prospect of getting jobs will increase. Apart from biological fields, you can also find jobs in banks and IT companies.
Having a PhD in this field broadens the chance of having a secured job in the research field. This doesn't mean those without PhDs aren't having a secured job! Rather, the benefit of holding a PhD strengthens the prospect of job in research. In simple words, the chance of getting research jobs broaden; you can seek jobs within the country and abroad.

It would definitely enhance the biological skills
If it's discussed from the biological point of view, then having a career in Bioinformatics definitely has a competitive advantage than its other counterparts. And holding a PhD in Bioinformatics increases this advantage manifold.

It can increase the research arena
With computational biology in the career, the research arena increases. Starting from computational neurology to ecology; anything and everything has a computer implication to it nowadays. Therefore, anyone having a career in Bioinformatics would definitely have a wider opportunity. In simple words, Bioinformatics increases the flexibility of choosing a research niche.

Cost Factor is reasonable
This is much soothing for the time taking research process. It requires much reasonable budget than the manual experiment. There are many reasons for this. But one of the most apparent reasons is the time factor. Since it is time saving, the budget gets constricted. This lessened budget allows young researchers for planning their own topics.

More papers gets published
It is needless to mention about published papers and a savvy researcher knows this well. With Bioinformatics, you can publish more papers, as it is time saving. The failure rate in case of manual experiments is in terms of months and weeks whereas for Bioinformatics, it is within hours and days. Publication is a good way for showing the research accomplished. The more the numbers of paper published, the more is the weightage of your research career.

These are the various important aspects of Bioinformatics. Pursuing a career in Bioinformatics, is surely very prospective, especially in today's world where each and every aspect associated with human life is getting computerized. And going for higher studies, like PhD can be even more beneficial!

About Author / Additional Info:
Maitree Baral holds Masters degree in Bioinformatics and shows profound interest in sharing and discussing different aspects of Bioinformatics.