Charanya Ramachandran is a Scientist at the Sudhakar and Sreekanth Ravi Stem Cell Biology Laboratory at LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad. In this invited article, she writes about her journey from the clinic to the laboratory and back, and some important lessons learned along the way.

Ambadas Rode is an Assistant Professor at the Regional Center for Biotechnology (RCB), Faridabad. In this invited article, he talks about the many turns he took in his career path to reach his current position.

Dhiraj Bhatia is an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar (IITGN). In this invited article, he speaks about his experience with the open lab system and how this can be a great advantage to a new Principal Investigator.

Smarajit Polley is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biophysics, Bose Institute, Kolkata. In this invited article he writes about how he hit upon his topic of research, and how many different experiences throughout his life, beginning with his childhood, have shaped his scientific journey.

Shilpak Chatterjee is a Senior Scientist at the CSIR-Indian Institute for Chemical Biology. In this invited article, he writes about how one can best utilize the post-doctoral training period to have a head start when it is time to set up one's own independent laboratory.