Praveen Vemula, entrepreneur and scientist at The Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), lists the key elements of a successful academic startup.

Researchers and researcher-entrepreneurs will benefit from getting acquainted with the Biodiversity Act.

India has now developed a few internationally recognized research institutes in the life sciences. These centers have developed a critical mass of outstanding scientists, are well equipped for modern research, attract international scientists, and have become competitive for junior faculty recruitment with institutions in the US/Europe. However, the success of these relatively few centers also poses challenges. First, when Indians doing their postdocs abroad consider applying for a junior faculty … More

My husband Amitabha Bandyopadhyay and I decided towards the beginning of 2005 that we would be looking for jobs in India. Two factors mainly contributed to this decision:1)The opening up of job opportunities in India and2)The possibility to being close to our families.I was a postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Connie Cepko's laboratory and Amitabha was a postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Cliff Tabin's laboratory. Both the labs were in the Genetics … More

Universities/India must act now to reverse a long trend towards obsolescence, as the rest of the world races forward with its educational systems. The IISERs are a bright addition and already successful, but are insufficient in scope and represent a typical trend of building anew instead of solving problems lingering from the past.