How can I get involved and contribute to the research done by the project?

By confirming your position in the tree through testing. Every single confirmed sample helps us define the boundaries of existing SNP's, and without your test results there would be no project. 

By providing information on your most distant ancestor, and the likely location of their ancestry. Ideally, this is the ancestral location before the age of migrations (+500 years ago). For ethnic Europeans this should be the likely region of origin in Europe.

By having next generation Gen Y sequencing (like BigY). This covers a large part of the Y genome and is instrumental in helping us identify new subgroups. If you are interested in this, consider contacting the project administrator first as he can explain the likely benefits to yourself and the project in the context of the testing you have done so far.

By contributing to the project fund. We are all volunteers with no other source of funding for the project, and access to some funds means we can test targeted samples for the benefit of the wider haplogroup. 

What test should I order to confirm my position on the tree?

This will vary depending on your marker results and prior testing. We recommend contacting the project administrator who will gladly provide personalized advice on the most cost-effective test. In principle, avoid the FTDNA recommendation as provided in the "Y-DNA Haplotree" screen, as not all the items there are relevant and will often result in wasteful testing.

How many STR markers should I order?

It is almost impossible to predict a subgroup based on 12 or 25  STR markers. Our recommendation is 67 markers since that is the standard used by ISOGG to determine genetic distance for the purpose of validating new subgroups.  Unless you have a lot of very close matches upgrading to 111 STR markers is usually a waste of money. It is important to understand that upgrading to more makers will NOT provide you with additional matches.

Should I order the I1-S2078 SNP Pack?

It depends on your prior testing. In principle, if you are in the "S2097 predicted" category this will almost always be the most cost-effective test, but if you are currently assigned to another subgroup, it will often be cheaper to target one or two individual SNP's. It is recommended to contact the project administrator to make sure.

What do the groupings in the project roster signify?

As an example, if the grouping reads "S2097, FGC29230, A8229, BY3397, BY13531, BY13534, BY174810" your haplogroup designation is I1-BY174810, meaning BY174810 is your terminal SNP. The preceding SNP's are a notation convention we use to reflect the branching of the tree. The Links page will soon contain a link to the latest status diagram (I1-S2097 Status Diagram) which places your terminal SNP within the I1-S2097 tree.