PHD Researcher

PHD Researcher Interview Questions and Answers

Updated 13 Jul 2025

Q. What are the differences between Type I and Type II errors?

Ans.

Type I error is rejecting a true null hypothesis, while Type II error is failing to reject a false null hypothesis.

  • Type I error is also known as a false positive.

  • Type II error is also known as a false negative.

  • Type I error occurs when the researcher concludes that there is a significant effect when there is not.

  • Type II error occurs when the researcher concludes that there is no significant effect when there actually is.

  • The probability of Type I error is denoted by alpha, whil...read more

Q. What is RT-PCR and what does RT stand for?

Ans.

RT-PCR is a technique used to detect and measure RNA levels in a sample. RT stands for Reverse Transcription.

  • RT-PCR stands for Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction.

  • It is a molecular biology technique used to amplify and detect RNA molecules.

  • RT-PCR involves two steps: reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction.

  • Reverse transcription converts RNA into complementary DNA (cDNA).

  • Polymerase chain reaction amplifies the cDNA for detection and quantification.

  • RT-PCR...read more

Q. How do you perform gene expression studies?

Ans.

Gene expression study involves analyzing the activity of genes to understand their function and regulation.

  • Collect tissue or cell samples

  • Extract RNA from the samples

  • Convert RNA to complementary DNA (cDNA)

  • Perform quantitative PCR or RNA sequencing

  • Analyze the data to determine gene expression levels

  • Validate the results using techniques like Western blotting or immunohistochemistry

Q. What are your research interests?

Ans.

My research interest is in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

  • Developing algorithms for natural language processing

  • Exploring deep learning techniques for image and speech recognition

  • Applying machine learning to healthcare data for predictive modeling

  • Investigating ethical considerations in AI development and deployment

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Q. What are the steps of RT-PCR?

Ans.

RT-PCR is a molecular biology technique used to amplify and detect RNA sequences.

  • Extract RNA from sample

  • Reverse transcribe RNA into cDNA

  • Amplify cDNA using PCR

  • Detect amplified product using fluorescent probes

  • Analyze data to determine presence and quantity of target RNA

Q. What is CT value?

Ans.

CT value is the number of cycles required for the fluorescent signal to cross the threshold.

  • CT value is used in PCR to determine the presence or absence of a specific DNA sequence.

  • It is also used to quantify the amount of DNA in a sample.

  • A lower CT value indicates a higher amount of target DNA in the sample.

  • CT value can be affected by factors such as the quality of the sample and the efficiency of the PCR reaction.

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Industrial PhD Researcher 1-5 years
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Q. Explain Regularization.

Ans.

Regularization is a technique used to prevent overfitting in machine learning models.

  • Regularization adds a penalty term to the loss function to discourage complex models.

  • It helps to reduce the variance of the model and improve its generalization performance.

  • L1 and L2 regularization are commonly used techniques.

  • L1 regularization adds the absolute value of the coefficients to the loss function.

  • L2 regularization adds the square of the coefficients to the loss function.

  • The streng...read more

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