IndiaBioscience
Activity in 2023
2023
Regional Young Investiagtors’ Meeting (2023−24), Bhubaneswar
The third Regional Young Investigators’ Meeting (RYIM) was held at DBT-Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar from 4 to 6 December 2023. The focus of the meeting was Fostering academia-industry crosstalk.
The meeting was attended by research students, post-doctoral fellows and young investigators, mainly from the Eastern part of India. The first two days witnessed insightful talks and lively discussions on various topics including ethical practices in research, academia-industry collaboration, the publishing industry, and patenting. Additionally, Karishma Kaushik introduced the participants to the various projects of IndiaBioscience.
Participants engaged in using the workshop resources A Crafting your Career (CYC) workshop was conducted by Karishma Kaushik and Rohini Karandikar, for masters and doctoral students. In the workshop, participants were engaged in interactive activities involving identifying skills and interests and practicing the elevator pitch, to name a few. The workshop introduced the participants to essential skills and provided tips for a greater success at job-seeking.
Overall, the meeting and the workshop, both, received an enthusiastic response from the all attendees.
4th IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants
The 4th IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants was announced in June 2023. We received about 50+ applications. The applications were screened by external members and internal team members.
There were 5 proposals shortlisted under the ‘First-time Grants’ category and 2 under the ‘Extension Grants’. The award was announced on 16 August 2023. The ‘Meet and Greet’ session was organised on 4 September 2023 bringing all the awardees and their collaborators to meet and share about their projects and the IBS team was present to answer their Qs. The First-Time recipients receive INR 1 lakh and initiate their projects from 15 September 2023 for a duration of 1 year. The ‘Extension Grants’ recipients receive INR 1.5 lakhs and initiate their projects from 15 October 2023 for 1 year. The grant details can be here.
Crafting Your Career at NCBS
A Crafting Your Career (CYC) workshop was conducted in collaboration with NCBS on 24 August 2023. It was attended by Masters and PhD students from BLiSc as well as from Ramaiah University and JNCASR.
The workshop included how to navigate the career path, and the skills required for successful job search and transition while discussing diverse career opportunities that exist for the life science students. Activities and interactions were the major components of our workshops.
Trainers: Aditya Parekh, Ankita Rathore, and Karishma S Kaushik from IndiaBioscience
Venue: LH1, NCBS
Registrations: >50 |Participants: 22
The workshop was also attended by other team members of IndiaBioscience — Arushi Batra, Manjula Harikrishna, and Shwetha C.
The workshop received a positive response from the participants.
Looking beyond the conventional: Merging Passion with Profession
Aditya Parekh from IndiaBioscience interacted with ~ 90 masters, PhDs and research students at the Institute of Science, Nirma University (Ahmedabad, Gujarat) and gave a talk titled “Looking beyond the conventional: Merging Passion with Profession”.
He discussed about requirements for unconventional career transitions, happiness and careers, and opportunities beyond academia.
15th Young Investigators’ Meeting
The 15th annual Young Investigators’ Meeting (YIM 2023) was held from 13 – 17 February 2023 in an in-person format after the pandemic. This was the first ever YIM co-hosted by research institutes — Ahmedabad University and IIT Gandhinagar, Gujarat. It was attended by ~150 participants, both from India and abroad.
The first part of the meeting, Young Investigator Meeting — commenced on 13 — 15 February 2023. The meeting brought together exceptional young and senior scientists, special invitees, and representatives from funding agencies for interactions focusing on their scientific journey, science careers, mentoring and networking.
The event featured thought-provoking and inspirational talks, followed by interactive panel discussions, breakout sessions, and poster presentations. The panel discussions covered important topics such as mentorship, funding opportunities, personnel management, and finding sustainable solutions for the Indian ecosystem. They also highlighted the importance of building a diverse funding portfolio.
The second part of the event, known as the Postdoctoral Fellows (PDF) Satellite Meeting, took place on 16 — 17 February 2023. The meeting was attended by postdoctoral fellows, directors, vice-chancellors, and institutional representatives from various institutions and universities. The meeting spanned a day and a half and included networking sessions, short talks by directors and vice-chancellors, 5‑minute lightning talks by PDF attendees, and poster sessions. The attendees responded positively to the meeting, and it was well-received.
IndiaBioscience hopes to continue engaging with all the attendees at various levels in the future.
The detailed report from the meeting can be read here —> Galvanising Ideas: YIM 2023 in Gujarat (Part 1 and Part 2).
