TABLE 1.

Similarities and differences between the computational and wet-lab research areas

Similarities: all students

meet weekly in sections of 16–25 students (all from the same research area) for 2-hour class/discussion led by a graduate TA; postdoctoral research mentor visits class periodically and meets with groups outside class as needed to guide projects develop their own research questions as a group, with advice from research mentor and TAs, and submit a project plan work on project 4–6 hours per person per week; coordinate shared work with group members; record work in shared electronic lab notebook create and present a group poster describing their project write an individual research paper

Differences between research areas
Bioinformatics	Pseudomonas	Zebrafish
Computational: ecology of the human gut microbiome	Bench lab: microbial physiology, experimental evolution	Bench lab: environmental toxicology, developmental biology
Work anywhere, anytime on personal computer	Work in dedicated lab space (open 56–60 hours/7 days per week) with undergraduate TAs and other staff
Data from publicly available data sets collected by other researchers	Collect data in lab using published procedures or self-developed protocols
Troubleshoot code, data subsetting, and analytical strategies	Troubleshoot experimental procedures and adapt or compensate for mistakes
Substantial data visualization and use of statistical tests	Limited data, little statistical analysis
Questions limited by available data and metadata, difficulty of analytical strategy	Questions limited by practical constraints (time, amount of work, feasibility, cost)