Sarah Iqbal leads the Communications and Public Engagement division at DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance, which is an independent public charity that funds research in health and biomedical sciences in India. In this interview, which was first published on Editage Insights, Iqbal touches upon several interesting facets, including the fascinating idea of how science and art are intricately linked.
Sadhana Joshi is a Distinguished Professor and Head, Mother and Child Health Division in Interactive Research School for Health Affairs (IRSHA) of Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Pune. She has been working tirelessly in the field of maternal nutrition for close to 30 years. Her lab currently works on preeclampsia, a kind of hypertension in pregnant women that has dire effects on maternal and fetal health if not taken care of in due time.
This is the first article of the brand new series, the "Common Misconceptions in Biology". In this article, author Sushama Yermal delves into one of the topics in biology that often confounds undergraduate students - the difference in allele numbers between individuals and population. She provides insightful ways to identify misconceptions in students around this topic and offers solutions to resolve them. Yermal is an independent advisor in teacher education. She was formerly a faculty of the undergraduate programme at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
The pandemic and the consequent lockdown have disrupted classes and access to labs at educational institutions across the country. However, for the undergraduate students of the CUBE program, the lockdown has been a boon. Instead of losing hope, these students have set a precedent by finding creative ways to continue working and learning along with their peers by developing the CUBE home labs and the CUBE chatShaala.
From RT-PCR to rapid antibody kits to sewage surveillance - It is easy to become confused by the variety of different tests currently available for COVID-19. In this article, Somdatta explains the different ways in which each of these tests work, the pros and cons of each method, and the nuances involved in interpreting the results obtained from each of these tests.
The COVID-19 pandemic, while affecting the lives and work of scientists all over the globe, has also enabled an outpouring of generosity and innovation when it comes to rapid and open sharing of research outputs. During the International Open Access Week 2020, we examine some of the initiatives taken by various national and international organisations to improve global access to COVID-19 research.
Posted on in COVID-19, Intellectual Property & Database/Resource
Posted on in Health & Medicine, COVID-19, Personal Experience, Research
It is a well-known fact that many of innovations made within academic labs fail to make the leap into the market and general circulation. We approached Praveen Vemula, a researcher-entrepreneur whose team has recently developed a face mask with germicidal properties, to learn about some of the key factors that influence successful translation of a technology developed in the lab.
Some of those most active in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic are also the ones most vulnerable to its devastating consequences on mental well-being. In this article, Raddur, an undergraduate student who volunteered at the frontline during the pandemic, writes about the effect of this unprecedented crisis on our mental health and a few small steps we can take to protect ourselves and our loved ones.
Sudhir Ranganath is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Siddaganga Institute of Technology (SIT). He is one of the Young Investigators selected to attend YIM 2020 in Mahabalipuram. In this invited article, he talks about the role his mentors, collaborators, and scientific network have played in facilitating the process of setting up his lab.
Posted on in Career Development, Young Investigators & Mentorship
Jagadis Gupta Kapuganti is Scientist V at National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi. He is one of the Young Investigators selected to attend YIM 2020 in Mahabalipuram. In this invited article, he writes about various strategies and ideas that have helped him establish fruitful national and international collaborations.
Posted on in Young Investigators & Networking and Collaboration
Research experience during their undergraduate years can be a great way to motivate students and aid their future career development. However, most students seeking such experience run up against a major hindrance in the form of unresponsiveness of the researchers whom they approach with such requests. Divya writes about the harmful consequences of such attitudes and some possible ways in which this could be mitigated.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore the importance of a thriving scientific ecosystem for dealing with global crises. In this two-part article series, Kaushik Biswas, Associate Professor at the Division of Molecular Medicine, Bose Institute, Kolkata, discusses how innovative scientific endeavours are paving the way for better prevention and treatment strategies for this rapidly-spreading disease.
The IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants were initiated to motivate young researchers to step out of their labs and build stronger connections with the broader public through innovative science outreach efforts. The first five winners of this grant represent a variety of fields and bring up a diverse array of ideas designed to make the most of digital communication technologies for societal benefit.
The 12th Young Investigators’ Meeting (YIM 2020) was held in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, from 14 to 18 February, 2020 and was attended by nearly eighty young researchers, in addition to several senior scientists, institutional representatives, guest speakers, and panellists. This article is the first in a two-part series reporting on its proceedings.
Posted on in YIM, Young Investigators, Networking and Collaboration
Posted on in YIM, Young Investigators, Networking and Collaboration
Vanshika Singh is a PhD student at the National Centre for Brain Research (NBRC), Manesar. In this next article in our PhD Cafe series, she writes about why networking can be challenging for an introverted graduate student and the strategies that one can employ to derive the benefits of networking while remaining true to their personality.
Parul Anup recently completed her PhD from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. In this next article in our PhD Cafe series, she talks about the expectations that graduate students and Principal Investigators (PIs) have from each other, and how keeping these in mind can help in building a healthy mentor-mentee relationship.
Posted on in Advice & Mentorship
Posted on in Career Development, Personal Experience, Advice
In this series, we ask scientists from different backgrounds, disciplines and career stages to reflect upon their life in lockdown and how it has influenced how they approach doing science. In this article, Mayuri Rege from Ramnarain Ruia College, Mumbai, writes about how the lockdown has transformed scientific networking, especially for those for whom international travel was always a barrier. This article was first published on COVID Gyan.
Posted on in COVID-19, Career Development & Networking and Collaboration
In this series, we ask scientists from different backgrounds, disciplines and career stages to reflect upon their life in lockdown and how it has influenced how they approach doing science. In this article, Shobhana Narasimhan, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru writes about the process of adjusting to the new reality established by the pandemic. This article was first published on COVID Gyan.