Biology & Life Sciences Research

Biology Experimental Design

Required. Design a real biological investigation: testable hypothesis, identified variables, defined controls, sample size justification, and ethics consideration. Reviewed and approved by a working biologist BEFORE data collection begins. For students without lab access, the design may target a named publicly available dataset (GBIF, NCBI SRA, iNaturalist) — the document requirements are identical. The design precedes data collection; this is a genuine scientific prerequisite.

Biology Data Collection and Statistical Analysis

Required. Execute the approved experimental design from seq 10: collect real data from a controlled experiment or a named open platform (iNaturalist, GBIF, NCBI GenBank/SRA) with documented sampling methodology. Statistical analysis with appropriate tests and written interpretation of results. Raw data submission required — fabricated data has distributional anomalies a reviewer detects. Builds directly on the experimental design.

Species Identification and Taxonomic Classification

Elective. Identify and classify ≥20 species from a defined habitat using a documented dichotomous key or taxonomic reference. Species identification log with scientific name, classification, and photographic or specimen evidence for each entry. iNaturalist photo observations with GPS documentation accepted — taxonomic reasoning using a named field guide still required. A biologist reviews the log and confirms ≥10 identifications, challenging borderline cases.

Biology Systematic Literature Review

Elective. Systematic review of primary biological literature on a specific named question using PRISMA methodology: documented search strategy, inclusion/exclusion criteria with rationale, data extraction table, and synthesis section that draws conclusions — not just summary. PubMed, Google Scholar, and open-access journals (PLoS Biology, eLife, bioRxiv) are fully accessible. A biologist challenges your inclusion/exclusion decisions on specific named studies.

Biology Research Report (IMRaD Format)

Elective. Write a complete IMRaD-format research report (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, References) documenting a real biological investigation — original wet lab data or a rigorous analysis of a named open dataset. Methods must be detailed enough for replication. Minimum 5 peer-reviewed sources in Introduction and Discussion. Reviewed by a working biologist who challenges the methodology and provides written feedback you must respond to.

Write and Publish a Research Paper

Elective capstone. A full research paper on a biological question accepted by a peer-reviewed journal or conference. The peer review system provides external adversarial verification. The research paper extends the IMRaD report (seq 50) to publication standard — not a separate investigation.

Free citizen science platform for biodiversity observations with community-assisted species identification and GPS-tagged records. Use for the species identification step (≥20 species with documented key usage) and as the accessible data source for the experimental design and data collection steps. Millions of georeferenced species records are downloadable from GBIF, which aggregates iNaturalist data.

Free access to GenBank, SRA (Sequence Read Archive), PubMed, and BLAST. Use for designing a secondary data analysis on a named genomic or metagenomic dataset (experimental design step), downloading real sequence data for analysis (data collection step), and searching primary literature (literature review step). The authoritative free source for biological sequence data and biomedical literature.

Free, open access to hundreds of millions of biodiversity occurrence records — species observations with location, date, and methodology metadata. Use as the accessible alternative to field data collection: design a study on a GBIF dataset, document the sampling methodology, and apply appropriate statistical analysis. Every record is citable with a DOI.

Free access to millions of full-text biomedical and life sciences research articles. Use for the systematic literature review step (PRISMA methodology) and for sourcing primary literature in the Introduction and Discussion of the research report. PubMed Central provides open-access full text; PubMed covers the broader indexed literature with abstracts always free.