A Little Bit of Courage Led Me to My GSA Bioinformatics Internship Journey

Hi! My name is Md Shakil Ahamed, and I was an intern in the first cohort of the GSA Bioinformatics Internship 2025. I graduated from Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University with a Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering.

Finding the program

After graduation, I was looking for ways to improve my skills and gain more practical experience in bioinformatics — that's when I found out about the GSA Bioinformatics Internship program. I was a bit nervous at the beginning, as I am naturally introverted and shy. But everyone in the program was so welcoming and supportive, it did not take long for me to become a part of the team.

What I worked on

During my internship, I worked with bulk RNA sequencing data of colorectal cancer to identify prognostic biomarkers. As an intern, I participated in the 39th BSM Annual International Conference and presented our initial findings. At the end of the internship, we also had the opportunity to present our project to the GSA internship organizing committee. Apart from the research project, I also had the chance to contribute as an instructor and teaching assistant for the junior cohort at the School of Bioinformatics 2025. Besides this, I received training on the R programming language and Linux operating system.

Learning from the team

I greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with such enthusiastic and dedicated team members. More importantly, it taught me how to work with a team and allowed me to learn from some truly brilliant and inspiring people. I would especially like to thank our team lead and mentor, Md. Jubayer Hossain. He was incredibly patient and supportive throughout the entire journey. Watching how he organized and managed the project taught me a lot.

Honestly, when I first saw the announcement, I had many doubts about my decision to apply to this program. But looking back, joining this program was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It helped me a lot to improve my communication skill and expertise in bioinformatics, particularly in cancer transcriptomics data analysis, and connected me with a team with members from different research backgrounds.

My advice to future interns

If you are thinking about applying to the GSA Bioinformatics Internship to gain real research experience in the field of bioinformatics, I will highly encourage you to join this program. Having some basic knowledge in bioinformatics can definitely help, but you do not need to know everything before you start. The program provides outstanding mentorship along with a supportive environment that an intern needs. With dedication and curiosity to learn, I believe you can make the most of this amazing opportunity, just like I did.