We have listed frequently asked questions in order to provide prospective students a better understanding on entrance into our laboratory.
Adviser Heebal Kim

Q1) How do I get an admission to the graduate school?

You can do it in two ways: first, through the Biomodulation major in the Department of Agriculture Biotechnology, of the College of Agriculture Life Sciences, and second, through the Interdisciplinary program in bioinformatics, College of Natural Sciences. For more details about admission requirements, please visit the following websites.
- SNU Graduate School Application Guide (Requirements and timeline)
- SNU Graduate School Application Guide (Requirements and timeline)
- SNU Department of Animal Science and Biotechnology, College of Agriculture Life Sciences
- SNU Biomodulation major, College of Agriculture Life Sciences
- SNU Interdisciplinary program in bioinformatics, College of Natural Sciences
Moreover, we advise you have a brief interview with the academic adviser (Prof. Heebal Kim) before you make decision among the two options.

Q2) Does the laboratory perform any benchtop experiments?

BIOPOP focuses only on computer-based data analysis. Whereas you will be performing benchtop experiments with microbes if you are to join MICROPOP.

Q3) I have a limited knowledge of computer programming and statistics. Can I still do well in the lab?

Most students will need to learn computer programming and statistics during the graduate course. During the first few weeks, you will be trained on basic programming skills needed for your research. We also strongly recommend you take statistics classes offered for graduate students. If you are familiar with programming languages (Python, Perl, C/C++) and statistics (introduction to statistics, linear algebra, linear regression), then it will be very helpful.

Q4) What kind of research will you be doing?

We do not impose any limitation on the species or phenotypes we analyze. Our lab is participating in Vertebrate Genome Project (VGP) which aims to produce error-free ‘platinum quality’ reference genome assemblies for ~70,000 extant vertebrate species in the globe. As a collaborator of VGP, we reconstruct genome assemblies of Korean indigenous species, develop comparative genomics analysis tools, and analyze the genome and multi-omics data via bioinformatics approaches. Targeting multiple species and diverse phenotypes of interest, the research topic of BIOPOP covers an extensive range of biological science. Apart from VGP, this lab is the leader of international African Cattle Genome project to decode their genomes. African cattle population which adapted to diverse climate across the African continent, is a unique genetic resource for studying evolution of genome. Analyzing the mosaic genomes of African cattle, BIOPOP conducts pioneering research, provide novel insight into evolution, and produces high-impact studies. The on-going research projects also involves population genetics studies of native Korean breeds such as Korean long-tailed chicken and Donggyeongi, developing bioinformatics tools for bacteria genomes, and evolutionary studies on virus genomes that are capable of infecting diverse animal species.

Q5) How can one laboratory explore a variety of species?

The advent of the new cutting-edge sequencing technologies has led to accumulation of a vast amount of sequencing data. Thousands of researches on human genomes are in progress, and tens of thousands of other species are being investigated. Thus, the bottleneck of scientific research is now shifting to analyzing the biological data. In this regard, our laboratory also focuses on developing bioinformatic methods or applying novel evolutionary approaches which are applicable for a variety of species. We aim to decode genomes of various species by finding genomic footprints of evolutionary events in animals, microorganisms, and viruses. This includes finding "domestication gene" as a result of rapid artificial selection in livestock. For microorganisms, this is equivalent to the "acclimation gene" or "antibiotic resistant gene" for pathogenic microorganisms that survived antibiotic treatments.

Q6) What are the graduation requirements for M.S. and Ph.D. degrees?

For the Master's program, the requirement is to write one thesis published in domestic or international SCI(E) journals. During the 2 years of M.S course, some students write 3 or more papers, whereas some may fail to write one. Please note the M.S course does not guarantee graduation in 2 years. For Ph.D. program, the minimum requirement is to prepare at least 3 research topics including 2 theses published in SCI(E) journals and this normally takes 5 years depending on the research performance of each student.

Q7) Graduate funding for prospective students

Regarding graduate fund or scholarship, please contact the academic adviser (Prof. Heebal Kim) for detailed information.