Taiwan Day 32: First Lab Meeting/First Stipend - Oct. 2, 2013 | luomujie blogspot

Taiwan Day 32: First Lab Meeting/First Stipend - Oct. 2, 2013

I just received my first stipend as a TIGP fellow. I was supposed to received NTD 34,000 for the month of September, but since I have to pay two months advance and 1 month deposit for my stay in the TIGP dorm I was deducted NTD 16,500. I was deducted another NTD 5,000 for my installment payment of my tuition fee in Tsing Hua University. During the enrollment, I borrowed money from the TIGP Bioinformatics Program (TIGP Bioinformatics program is very helpful!) and I owe them NTD 16,098. The total stipend left in my pocket was NTD 12,500. It's still a lot of money but I still have to pay my credit fee in Tsing Hua by Oct. 25 so I have to budget my money again. I have also attended my first lab meeting with the NGS sequencing core of the Academia Sinica's Biodiversity Research Center (BRC) and I have also met Dr. Mei-yeh Lu. She is the Lab Manager of the Sequencing Core and I have a 30-minute interview with her before the lab meeting. She is a very busy person because while we are talking to each other she has to answer so many phone calls. Based from my interview with her, the BRC's sequencing core is also the official NGS sequencing core of Academia Sinica. They serve all the sequencing needs of all the Principal Investigators and researchers of Sinica but they don't have clients outside Sinica. She said that they don't want to compete with biotech companies in Taiwan as they will deprive them of income. I asked her if there was any market in Taiwan for genome sequencing and she replied that she does not have any idea since their primary aim is to service Sinica's research projects. I saw on her computer an excel file that is currently open and it was the price list for the sequencing service and I asked her how much do you charge people (I just remembered PGC's pricing problem). She replied that the cost would depend on how the sequencing core is supported, since Dr. Wen-Hsing Li has so many resources they are able to lower their price (My professor in the lab rotation, Dr. Wen-Hsiung Li is also affiliated with the BRC). I asked her if they have a LIMS and she replied that they don't have that tool but she would love to have that system in the NGS sequencing core. However, if they will have LIMS, their prices would increase and would not be any more cost-effective. It was already 3pm and we transferred to a conference room. The conference table was U-shaped and I was sitting at the back beside Dr. Lu. Members of the team presented the latest updates on their genome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. I learned a lot but most of the time they speak in Chinese. I wish there were subtitles (I imagine these subtitles would just float in the air! haha!) so I can understand them but I can hear five Chinese words that I know the meaning and that means I'm learning their language. I'll just need to put some extra effort in learning their language. I have already met Dr. Wen-Hsiung Li and Dr. Mei-yeh Lu, the Bioinformatics Director and the NGS Sequencing Core Lab Manager, respectively. I have already accomplished my first task in my game plan in Taiwan and my drive for excellence is just starting!

Sakura Series - Taiwan

Sakura Series - Taiwan


Sakura Series - Japan


Maple Series


Yehliu to Jiufen? Yehliu to Shifen? Cheaper than yellow taxis

The "Taipei kong mahal" (My beloved Taipei)


Other attractions in Taipei


New Taipei


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