<p>A major theme of most seminar-type programs is the development of out-of-the-box/critical-thinking skills. Even in the hard sciences, like biochem, these skills can help transform you from just a student to a true scholar. </p>
<p>Take for example the critical-thinking skills that Barry Marshall and Robin Warren exhibited with their discovery that the Helicobacter pylori bacterium contributes to gastritis and peptic ulcer disease. There was [a</a> lot of skepticism from the scientific community](<a href=“http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1283743/]a”>23 years of the discovery of Helicobacter pylori: Is the debate over? - PMC) that any linkage existed between the bacterium and cancer. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, Marshall and Warren used their out-of-the-box thinking and went on to [win</a> the Nobel Prize](<a href=“http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2005/index.html]win”>http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2005/index.html).</p>