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Recent Columns

Friendzymes wins gold at the iGEM 2021 Jamboree
Sana Jalili, Scott Pownall, Ahmed Hussain, Gargi Saraf & Harini Sudha
Friendzymes, an international team made up of students from different countries, won gold in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) synthetic biology competition 2021. This article shares their winding journey to democratise enzyme production through frugal means.
Posted on Jan 27, 2023
Isolation enriched: Setting up a lab during the pandemic
Pavan Agarwal
Pavan Agarwal is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Molecular Neurosciences of Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE). In this invited article, he recounts his rollercoaster journey of setting up an independent research group during a pandemic as a newly returned young investigator in India.
Posted on Jan 25, 2023 in Personal Experience, Young Investigators & Networking and Collaboration

Conversations Older →
- 10 Leaders, 10 Questions: Anuradha Lohia
  Sumedha Sengupta & Shreya Ghosh
  Anuradha Lohia is currently the Vice-Chancellor of the Presidency University, Kolkata. She served as the founding Chief Executive Officer of the DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance from 2009-2012. She is the recipient of several prestigious national and international grants and awards. In this interview, she chats with IndiaBioscience about her thoughts on leadership.
  Posted on Jul 25, 2022 in Women in Science, Advice & Leadership
- A balanced team asking interdisciplinary, fundamental, and venturous questions wins HFSP
  Mohit Rajabhoj
  Tamal Das is the Head of the Collective Cellular Dynamics (CCD) Lab at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Hyderabad. He has been awarded the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) grant for the year 2022. In this interview, Tamal discusses his work and how his team won the HFSP funding.
  Posted on Jun 20, 2022
Education Older →
- Biology with Tibetan Buddhist monks: What I’m taking back to my college classroom from teaching at a monastery
  Daniel Pierce
  In this article, Daniel Pierce, an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Richmond shares his cross-cultural experience of teaching biology to Tibetan Buddhist Monks exiled in India and how it influenced his teaching practice back home.
  Posted on Jan 16, 2023
- Writing a modern biology textbook for the Indian classroom: the experience with iThink Biology
  Kaustubh Rau
  In December 2021, Azim Premji University inaugurated a free online textbook, called iThink Biology. In this article, a faculty at the University and an author of the textbook shares the thoughts that went behind its creation and why it is a unique educational resource for Indian undergraduate students and educators of biology.
  Posted on Dec 20, 2022 in Education, Teaching, Undergraduate & Interdisciplinarity
Exploring Science Older →
- What’s new in peer review? Initiatives by the academic community
  Sunaina Singh
  Traditional peer review processes are known for being opaque and long-drawn, causing significant delays in publication and much anxiety to the authors. Thanks to the academic community's efforts, the process is evolving to reduce the time burden and increase transparency and inclusivity. This article describes some of the novel peer review models and their pros and cons.
  Posted on Sep 26, 2022 in Career Development, Policy & Research
- How do cells edit mistakes? A neglected enzyme sheds light
  Somdatta Karak
  Cells perform a complex feat of picking and proofreading amino acids for protein synthesis. Several aspects of this translation process were shrouded in mystery for a long time. This article traverses Rajan Sankaranarayanan’s two decades of seminal research that decoded some of the checkpoints and helped biologists better understand the error-free protein translation mechanisms.
  Posted on Aug 03, 2022 in Molecular Biology & Research
Indian Scenario Older →
- Research assessment and preprints in India: Workshop summary
  Yamini Ravichandran
  On 7 June, ASAPbio hosted a workshop in collaboration with IndiaBioscience and Open Access India, to discuss preprints and the value they can add to research assessment frameworks in India. Here are the highlights of the workshop.
  This article was also published by ASAPbio.
  Posted on Aug 08, 2022 in Policy & Research
- Spreading the word about the Narcondam Island and its beautiful hornbills
  Joel P. Joseph
  Narcondam Island of Andaman is the only home for the Narcondam hornbills. Rohit Naniwadekar and his team ran a science outreach project to spread awareness about the vulnerable island ecosystems and sensitise communities who live and work around these areas. The team is also an awardee of 1^st IndiaBioscience Outreach Grant. In this article, Joel uncovers the journey, experiences, logistics, highs and lows of running an outreach program intended for on ground stakeholders.
  Posted on Jul 04, 2022 in Outreach & Science communication
Journey of a YI Older →
- Isolation enriched: Setting up a lab during the pandemic
  Pavan Agarwal
  Pavan Agarwal is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Molecular Neurosciences of Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE). In this invited article, he recounts his rollercoaster journey of setting up an independent research group during a pandemic as a newly returned young investigator in India.
  Posted on Jan 25, 2023 in Personal Experience, Young Investigators & Networking and Collaboration
- It has been a great Wellcome back!
  Sudarshan Gadadhar
  Sudarshan Gadadhar is a Scientist at Centre for Inflammation and Tissue Homeostasis of inStem, Bengaluru. In this invited article, he shares the significance of mentorship, collaboration and networking in establishing an independent research group as a young investigator in India.
  Posted on Jan 20, 2023 in Personal Experience, Young Investigators & Mentorship
Opinion Older →
- Friendzymes wins gold at the iGEM 2021 Jamboree
  Sana Jalili, Scott Pownall, Ahmed Hussain, Gargi Saraf & Harini Sudha
  Friendzymes, an international team made up of students from different countries, won gold in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) synthetic biology competition 2021. This article shares their winding journey to democratise enzyme production through frugal means.
  Posted on Jan 27, 2023
- Navigating the early-career track as a faculty fellow in the Indian science ecosystem
  Karishma Kaushik
  Karishma S Kaushik returned to India in 2018 as a Ramalingaswami fellow to start her independent research group at Savitribai Phule Pune University. Now, as a fifth-year faculty fellow in the Indian science ecosystem, in this article, she shares specific considerations to enable colleagues in navigating this professional opportunity.
  Posted on Jan 09, 2023 in Women in Science, Personal Experience & Young Investigators
@IndiaBioscience Older →
- YIM 2022 – Forging bonds (Part 2)
  Suchitha Champak
  The 14th Young Investigators' Meeting (YIM 2022) was held online from 4-6 May 2022. Sixty young investigators and an equal number of post-doctoral fellows enthusiastically participated and gleaned insights from several senior scientists, guest speakers, panellists and institutional representatives. This article is the second in a two-part series reporting on the proceedings.
  Posted on Sep 19, 2022 in YIM, Mentorship & Networking and Collaboration
- YIM 2022 – Forging bonds (Part 1)
  Suchitha Champak
  For the past thirteen years, the Young Investigators' Meeting (YIM) — IndiaBioscience's (IBS) annual flagship event — has facilitated young scientists in life sciences to catapult their scientific careers by providing a platform for networking and mentoring from seniors and experts in their field. This article is the first of a two-part report on this year’s event, covering highlights of the three-day YIM proceedings.
  Posted on Sep 12, 2022 in YIM, Mentorship & Networking and Collaboration
PhD Cafe Older →
- A PhD for the love of wisdom
  Jithin Sunny
  What is a PhD – is it a certificate or a way of life? What is the significance of adorning the black robe? Is there a connection between science and philosophy? Is there a historical background to it? In this article, Jithin pays tribute to the doctorate and how it can drive away naive realism and bring substantive reasoning into our lives. He pays homage to the great minds —Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Whitehead and Einstein —true lovers of knowledge.
  Posted on Dec 06, 2021 in Personal Experience
- Choosing to be a mother while pursuing a PhD
  Enam Reyaz
  Enam Reyaz, a student at the Jamia Hamdard Institute of Molecular Medicine (JH-IMM), recounts her physical and emotional roller-coaster of experience embracing pregnancy and motherhood while pursuing a PhD degree; what helped her challenge the taboos and what more can be done by research institutions to support expectant mothers.
  Posted on Aug 02, 2021 in Women in Science, Policy & Personal Experience
Stories from Scientists Older →
- Driving and sustaining change in academic research culture as an eLife Community Ambassador
  Aalok Varma
  The eLife Community Ambassadors Program aims to empower a global community of early career researchers to network and take action to create a culture that benefits both science and scientists. In this article, Aalok Varma, an Ambassador in the 2019-2020 cohort, shares his experiences and learnings while working on various initiatives of eLife.
  Posted on Aug 29, 2022 in Career Development, Ethics & Networking and Collaboration
- Stories from the community: Trainee Professional Development Award granting exposure to young Indian scientists
  Prachi Ojha
  In the ninth article as part of community voices for international grants and fellowships, Prachi shares her journey to networking and building collaborations with the help of Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Trainee Professional Development Award (TPDA).
  Posted on Aug 17, 2022 in Neuroscience, Career Development, Funding & Personal Experience
Funding Older →
- 10 pointers for the MSCA application
  Bhawana George
  Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) funding programme is an opportunity for researchers to acquire new skills through international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral mobility. MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships' call for proposals is currently open until October 2021. Here, Jaishree Subrahmaniam, who has been awarded a Fellowship in 2020, shares 10 pointers for the application process with Bhawana George.
  Posted on Jul 19, 2021 in Career Development, Funding & Research
- 10 pointers for the last mile of the EMBO-YIP application
  Arun Shukla & Shantala Hari Dass
  The Young Investigator Programme (YIP), offered by the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO), is open to young investigators in the life sciences who have started their independent research groups within the last 4 years. YIP facilitates and supports the career advancement of these early-career scientists via opportunities to network and collaborate. Arun K. Shukla, Associate Professor at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) and an EMBO YI shares his 10 pointers for the last mile of the application process
  Posted on Mar 10, 2021 in Career Development, Funding & Young Investigators
Featured Authors
- Anil Kumar Challa
- Asim Auti
  - Talk, blend and perform: tackling the Lab courses
    Posted on Jul 17, 2017 in Environmental Sciences, Teaching
  - Talk, blend and perform: my adventures in the classroom to engage students
    Posted on Jul 10, 2017
- Urvashi Bhattacharyya
  Urvashi (Raheja) Bhattacharyya is a Senior Research Analyst with StudyMode with a Ph.D in Neuroscience from NCBS, Bangalore. She loves writing about education and health care and has been associated with IndiaBioscience since 2015.