The Young Investigators’ Meeting began on the evening of 28^th with a welcome address by Ron Vale, Professor and HHMI Investigator at UCSF, and one of the founders of the YIM. He emphasised the importance of interactions in science and urged the participants to make new personal contacts and use the YIM as a forum for open and uninhibited discussion. He left them with some vital questions to ponder about during and after the meeting, outside the usual concerns of securing jobs and grants: ​“What type of environment will you create in your new lab? Are you going to make a difference to your institution?”

The keynote lecture was delivered by K VijayRaghavan, Secretary, DBT. In an engaging talk he observed that humans, as a race, are making new kinds of changes to the planet, in a rapid manner, and in very interesting ways. ​“Scientifically our ways of functioning may also need to change. This is important for us to discuss,” he added. He urged young researchers to ​“keep science central”, but also encouraged them to shake up the system when called for and have the courage to lead that change. Among other things, his talk also touched upon the need to invest in science education and in communicating science in a manner that not only makes it interesting, but also removes misconceptions.