I have wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember. As soon as I achieved that, my aim shifted toward neurology! After 15 years of medical education, when I had finally become a neurologist, I felt complete and content!

That feeling of contentment was short-lived.

It happened while I joined as an Assistant Professor in Neurology at a Government Medical College. I developed a keen scientific interest in the field of epilepsy. Electrophysiology and EEG ignited the researcher in me.

“From stability to a state of constant disequilibrium,” has been my journey and my story!

Once a clinician turns into a researcher, she loses the stability of a clinician. The scientific questions create a state of perpetual disequilibrium. A research aptitude can be evoked in more clinicians if medical research is included as a subject in basic medical training. It will help develop research aptitude in young minds before they graduate. I am aware this suggestion is easier said because of the cumbersome curriculum and rigorous clinical work along with the overflowing patient load. However, as long as research is not considered a separate entity, this can be achieved.

These 18 years of clinical experience have taught me that clinical research is interesting and challenging (sometimes even more!), much like clinical work in a hospital. During the course of our education, we were taught only to learn the signs/ symptoms/ clinical pearls from our seniors, lectures, and textbooks. We were never inspired to think about research questions.

Once a clinician develops the right research aptitude, it can integrate in her daily routine. The research questions come flowing without having to brainstorm for them.

This disequilibrium is magical - a clinician converts extensive medical knowledge, data, and experience into clinical research. What makes it magical is the collaboration between departments - clinical and nonclinical and between clinicians and scientists. For my projects, I collaborated with geneticists, psychiatrists, psychologists, neuroscientists, and electrophysiologists. Proper documentation of clinical data is an important contributor to the magic - most hospitals maintain perfect medical records nowadays. Documents are 'gold mines' when it comes to research. The answers which we seek can never be sought without the help of proper documents.

The disequilibrium keeps the researcher in us active and prompts us to dig further into the area of our interest. As my mentor rightly puts it, we have to “talk, listen and breathe” in the particular field in which we are interested.

Contrary to the widespread belief, top-class medical research can be based on the extensive clinical data available in our hospitals without involving any enormous funds. Ample funding opportunities are provided by the central/ state governments for pursuing clinical research in India. We have to be aware of utilising these opportunities.

It is high time for Indian clinical and hospital research to pick pace with the rest of the world. It is the right time for young Indian medical professionals to step out of their safe cocoons and be in the state of constant DISEQUILIBRIUM!

Being away from home for more than a decade, I longed to return to India. I had been planning this for several years but was skeptical about the institutional setup and rigid research atmosphere. I was also worried about being disconnected from global science. However, upon my return, I observed that the scientific ecosystem in India had undergone a positive shift. Like me, several researchers are moving back every year to contribute to Indian science.

I joined the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) as an Assistant Professor in June 2022; after 12 long years of research training abroad. I am the first plant biologist recruited to this institution. Introducing a new field to an institute is full of challenges, responsibilities, and exciting opportunities. I intend to establish a state-of-the-art plant molecular and developmental cell biology lab at IITGN where I can train a diverse group of students to perform world-class research.

I am happy to have created an ecosystem of young researchers starting their journey in Indian science. With the institute's generous startup funding and fellowship, I recruited an excellent post-doctorate fellow, who has returned from his Ph.D. training abroad. Ramalingaswami Re-entry fellowship, a research grant from the Department of Biotechnology, and a collaborative research grant from the Gujarat State Biotechnology Mission (GSBTM) allowed me to collaborate with a colleague from Ahmedabad University, who too is settling in after an international stint. This supportive environment has helped me build a professional base upon moving back from Purdue.

Landing an academic position is not easy; post-joining, there are more battles to fight and win. One has to secure sufficient grants to run a lab, mentor students, teach courses, and do a lot of paperwork. Upon starting my new role as a PI, I prioritised setting up my laboratory and recruiting excellent students in my group. The administrative structure at IITGN has been mostly supportive of my needs.

During my research training, I longed for a metaphoric and literal space of my own. Being a mentor is a fulfilling experience, and so is setting up a laboratory. Both require winning a few battles! My research activities need a dedicated space for plant growth chambers and a greenhouse facility. The institute has supported me with a temporary space; I hope to acquire a dedicated one by next year.

IITGN has an interdisciplinary approach that works on solving real-world problems with a high impact on society. My discipline of biological engineering has researchers working in diverse areas like cell and molecular biology, epigenetics, neuroscience, nano-biotechnology, biomedical engineering, and computational biology. I frequently interact with colleagues and students across diverse disciplines like chemistry, material science, physics, electrical engineering, computer science, and mechanical engineering and get to learn from them. I have established interdisciplinary collaborations and am working on some exciting new projects: synthesising nanoparticles from plant materials for wound healing and using computational biology to understand the cellular signaling events during plant reproduction.

It is fulfilling to work with motivated students. During my first six months, I taught a molecular genetics course to undergraduate and doctoral students. Teaching undergraduates with little experience in biology was challenging. I experimented with animated videos for communicating molecular processes. I introduced the history of molecular genetics for inspiration. I hope these activities brought out the teacher in me. I also had an opportunity to plan and coordinate the Foundation Program, a 5 week-long immersive experience for first-year undergraduate students with a focus on the following five pillars: Values and Ethics, Creativity, Teamwork, Social Awareness, sports, and physical activity.

Young researchers should set time aside for planning and logistics. The timelines for the same vary considerably and are much different from what we are used to abroad. Instruments, reagents, and cell lines can take several weeks to be delivered. Their transport requires additional paperwork and follow-up. It can be frustrating, if not planned for in advance. I am inspired by my colleagues who have taken all this in their stride and are publishing well.

Despite the many challenges, I am hopeful of the joys of scientific discovery. Soon enough, my team and I will be contributing to some excellent research.

During my childhood I liked being outdoors, enjoying nature, and indulging in inquiries about natural beings. It was during the undergraduate training that I was exposed to the awesome world of ecological science. That was it, I had found my passion in doing and teaching ecological science. Being a woman in field ecology, the journey has been tough but it has not deterred me from following my dreams.

While doing a Ph.D. at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science with a field ecologist, I had dreamt of starting a lab of my own. Working on the Indian ecosystem was my calling; India is the heavenly abode for ecological field science. I knew I wanted to be back in the country even while I was working along the Mississippi river in the USA for 6 long years. In January 2018, I joined the Biological and Life Sciences division of Ahmedabad University and have been on an exciting journey toward my goals.

Ecology was a field new to my university. This invited a few critical questions on my plan for teaching and funding, for example:

• “Why do you need a bench lab since you are a field ecologist?”

• “Students have to attend classes on the campus and why or how do you think they will join your field trips?”

• “How will you go and do fieldwork as you have to be on campus for teaching and administrative needs?”

I am thankful for these questions as they stirred critical thinking on my part.

However, the naivety was reflected in some undeserving questions, such as:

• "Since doing ecology doesn't need a lot of intellect, did IISc have a low cutoff for admissions in Ecological Sciences?”

• I often faced the question, “any animal will adapt to the environment-Why do you need to study them?”

• A hilarious one, “I want to do your kind of work to enjoy the travel and vacations (ecologist’s definition of field work=non-ecologist’s definition of vacation)”.

My response to the questions above was an eye roll. An advise I would pass on to young PIs: pick your battles (as time and energy are expensive resources) and hold your ground.

Setting up the lab was made possible due to my start-up internal grant, a national, and an international external grant. These grants helped me acquire space for my fish lab and a laboratory room for my hormone and DNA work. A word of caution - space acquisition is not the end all, there is a continuous battle to retain it!

Often, my peers have wondered about the strategy to attract talented and enthusiastic students to a new lab. Active outreach is a strategy that worked for me. In the first two years of my joining, I traveled to Indian institutes and universities, advertising my lab. These visits were often uninvited, but I could work through the expenses through the faculty development allowance from Ahmedabad University. The outreach initiative led to the first two Ph.D. students passionate about ecology joining my lab. They were committed to hard work in the field while most of their friends leaned towards cancer biology and stem cell research. To gauge the aptitude of doctoral candidates, I also included an assessment on ecology in the department's entrance examination. In the initial two and a half years, I invested a lot of time in the lab in training and nurturing my students and assisting them in completing the Ph.D. coursework. As a young PI, I realised one has to tread difficult paths with their students by paying attention to their academic problems and training them on practical and intellectual concepts.

I was eager to introduce Undergraduate and Master's students to ecology. When I joined Ahmedabad University, the Biological and Life Sciences division had a successful integrated Master in Life Sciences program, a five-year (BS-MS) program for the students. I developed courses on animal behaviour and conservation biology for the program. I also included on-campus and off-campus trips to nearby bird sanctuaries and wetland ecosystems. Facilitating the University’s authorisation for field trips was a roadblock. I am thankful to the dean of the undergraduate college, who understood the need for ecological research and revised the attendance policy.

The trips and short projects during the course helped me connect with students and nudge them towards questions on nature and natural beings. I integrated several aspects of my lab’s research into the course outline, making ecology attractive and popular. Students from a tapestry of fields (engineering, management, and humanities) are now working on mugger crocodiles and freshwater fishes for their thesis in my lab. It was probably an outcome of my discipline-agnostic course on environmental science that ignited several ecological and behavioural questions.

I had to adjust my teaching responsibilities to my time away from the campus. I negotiated with the division (and the University) to be on-field from Friday to Monday and organised my teaching responsibilities from Tuesday to Thursday. I also utilised my summer and winter breaks for fieldwork. This one was not an easy battle, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”- Billy Ocean. Another piece of advice - enjoy the small wins and celebrate them - I rewarded myself with ice creams and fashion earrings!

In 2021, the University initiated a research cluster on Ecology, Environment, and Climate Change (EECC) and hired two new ecologists as faculty. For the first time after completing 4.5 years at the University, I felt naturalised. I told myself I was no more an alien but a native. In this journey of belonging, I might have been grumpy, annoying, and branded as "a difficult woman". But the triumph of ecology made it all worth it. From here on starts the native phase of my journey. I shall be back with that narrative, stay tuned!

Biology was always my favourite subject, and I would always go beyond text books to learn more about biological processes. However, in my school years, I did not know I would end up being a scientist! It was probably the curiosity that I had kept within myself that flourished later in life. I did my undergraduate B.Sc. (Microbiology Hons) from University of Delhi, New Delhi, and Master’s degree (Biotechnology) from Awadhesh Pratap Singh University, Madhya Pradesh in India.

My first hands-on experience in the lab was during my Master’s dissertation in Dr K. Thangaraj’s lab at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad. During that period, I discovered my passion for science and the joy of experimentation. From there I knew that this is what I wanted to pursue further as my career.

When I received a scholarship to pursue Ph.D. at the University of Tartu, Estonia—one of the best labs in population genetics—my joy knew no bounds! My Ph.D. years in Tartu taught me the art of doing good science and the formal training that is still a part of my existence as a scientist. My supervisors, Professor Toomas Kivisild and Professor Richard Villems, gave me an independent research environment early on, where I could initiate my collaborations and network through them. Here, I learnt to work as a team member and contribute in mega projects.

Following my Ph.D., I wished to do a postdoc on a topic of my own interest and so, I started applying for fellowships. I was fortunate to have been invited by Professor Ian Jackson, Institute of Genetics and Cancer at The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (UK) to give a talk; he introduced me to Dr Denis Headon. I was awarded the Marie Skolodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship, which brought me to The Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh. Here, my postdoctoral training in Dr Headon’s lab helped me gain scientific expertise in working with mouse models (something I had not done before), thereby extending my skill-set and also giving me an opportunity to interact with world-class scientists and improve upon my soft skills training and personal development. I still remember my excitement on meeting Sir Edwin Southern, who discovered Southern blotting.

While volunteering as a STEM ambassador in the UK and during Open Days, I could interact with school children. It was satisfying to watch the twinkle in their eyes as they understood the joy of discovery.

Finally, in 2019, after spending more than a decade abroad, I landed at the Centre for Genetic Disorders, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, as a Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellow to start my journey as an independent researcher in India.

When I started the life of a principal investigator (PI), the greatest joy was in unfolding and exploring the multiple paths I had and could work on. I am totally enthralled by the human phenotypic diversity around me, and my lab (GenoPhen Lab) focusses on investigating existing inter-individual variations to understand adaptation in the past and to use this knowledge for the betterment of public healthcare. It is interesting to know why people look different, what adaptations they have undergone in the past and why they were important. My Ph.D. work focused on two adaptive traits – skin pigmentation and lactase persistence in South Asian populations. My current project, funded by DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance, has a more holistic approach and involves a combination of population genetics and functional studies, to understand hair-shape genetics.

Here, I share some experiences and lessons learnt on my journey thus far.

Returning to India

Travelling across nations and moving with family is not easy. I would often be questioned by people around me, asking if I felt better or missed staying abroad. When they did not find me complaining enough and smiling back at them, they would be disappointed. This led me to feel that enough stories have not been put forward by young investigators (YIs) who come back to their roots and excel here. It resulted in the inception of a panel-led discussion with returned-to-India scientists, along with Dr Karishma Kaushik, and eventually resulted in a follow-up blog.

Getting my foothold in Indian academia

Having been abroad for so many years, I did not have touch with Indian academia. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it further shut down any chances of travel to meetings and conferences. At this time, I came across many twitter friends (Science tweeps). Even though I had not met them in person, the feeling of support and encouragement was strong. It felt great to be connected to other early-career fellows and students.

Maintaining balance during the pandemic

The pandemic brought me to a standstill. I could not order equipment and chemicals. It was a constant juggle between work and home because as a woman in STEM, I was working ‘from home’ and ‘for home’; there were child care and career responsibilities.

My biggest challenge was not getting that 9 to 5 work-time at a stretch. This is when I learnt a new skill – ‘to work in breaks’. I made my short and long breaks distinct and then divided my work according to them. The pandemic also helped me to pause and reflect on myself and what I want through my career, my ideologies and principles of the lab that I was building.

Pulling the strings together – what worked for me as a YI

• Resilience: I realized that flexibility can be one of the biggest assets in Indian academia. I remember Elsa’s song ‘Let it go’. Your resilience can be one of your tools for success. The hierarchy, the bureaucracy, the paperwork does not bother me anymore. My positivity was infectious enough to sail through.
• Acknowledging the support system: My mantra of ‘growing together with the tribe’ worked. Acknowledging others for their success and making them inclusive in my own success made them accountable for their work. I saw them working with more interest and enthusiasm.
• Having a positive work environment: If this works everything else works! The Coordinator of my Centre – Professor Parimal Das – had also returned to India after working more than a decade in the United States. So, it was easier to relate to him when I became stuck with the system, and he would always help me to find a way out. Having supportive mentors around me, like Professor Rajiva Raman, whom I can go and speak to whenever I need any advice is true bliss.
• Having a solution-driven approach: I became more solution-driven in my attitude rather than being a problem-stater. I start looking for solutions much earlier and also tell my students the same. Having a Plan B on hand works!
• Time and walk-in: One of the biggest challenges I faced was the walk-in system. I restricted all vendor meetings and student meetings for mentorship to 3–5 pm. In this way, both their time and my time were respected, and I had an agenda on hand when speaking with them.
• Experience gained never goes in vain: In my research career, there was a point when I was a part of the first molecular biology lab of the Institute. As a Senior Research Fellow in Dr R. Ramani’s lab at the Indian Institute of Natural Resins & Gums, Ranchi, I learnt about tenders, quotations, ordering and maintenance of instruments, which was very useful when I started my own lab.

Small initiatives and small projects

Many students complained about lack of motivation, their science being affected, and experiments on hold. This is when I thought of starting a webinar series on ‘Women in Science’. It was very encouraging to have the Director, Dean, Coordinator of my Centre, and senior faculties of BHU support me in this venture. It is a monthly event, and I still continue to run this with alternatively one national and one international speaker.

YIM – a great networking event

The Young Investigators’ Meeting (YIM) was that invisible connecting thread that helped me to further strengthen my roots in Indian academia, to get to know more early-career researchers, and to connect with students and senior faculties across the country. Networking through YIM 2021 was a huge asset for me while starting a new lab especially during the pandemic. Listening to the stories of other PIs and their journeys was very inspiring. From there, new collaborations started for me; checking on fellow mates during the pandemic and discussing what to do in certain situations helped me a lot.

Building my nest

Getting the first instruments in place, and then the consumables, was sheer joy! After toiling over paperwork and overcoming the pandemic hues, I finally got my first Ph.D. student. This meant an extra pair of hands, somebody I could rely on, somebody who can take my ideas forward. The transition from ‘me’ to ‘we’ had the feeling of a team.

Future goals beyond my role as PI

I would like to contribute towards science policies. Having understood the leaky pipeline for women in science and the dropouts, I would be very happy if I could motivate one girl to pursue higher education or help her not to lose motivation. This would definitely make me happy from inside out and the purpose of my return to India would be fulfilled.

I am thankful to all my mentors who have shaped me, and I carry the learning and experiences as ‘goody bags’ with me. I am blessed to be surrounded by family members who support my journey in science.

“Congratulations! You have been selected for our most prestigious Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellowship of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).” Wow! We (my spouse Prasanna Kumar and I) were on cloud nine as we read this email. It took us a while to believe that it did happen and finally our dream had come true. Yes! Both of us got the fellowship in the same year and our heartfelt thanks to DBT for understanding the two-body problem (an uncouth term for a bona fide problem) of an academic couple. Undoubtedly, this was not smooth sailing; it took years of hard work, patience, persistence, sacrifices, compromises, and perhaps a bit of luck.

I moved to the United States with my husband as he had an offer for the position of postdoctoral fellow from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Richmond. This started the beginning of the two-body problem of choosing between location and opportunity. Having started working as a research assistant until the next academic year, I had developed interest in a few research groups at VCU, and fortunately, all worked out as planned. I got started with my Ph.D. with Dr Arun Sanyal and was co-mentored by Dr Murthy Karnam at VCU. My story is no different than everyone else, with the roller coaster ride of the Ph.D. journey both on the professional and personal front, while my husband traveled to Baylor Institute for Immunology Research, Dallas for his postdoctoral fellowship. At the end of my Ph.D., we both landed at VCU, he as a Research Assistant Professor and me as a T32 postdoctoral fellow – all set to embark on an exciting journey in our new academic positions and as parents.

It may either be sheer accident or the result of both our stars coming into perfect alignment – we both ended up as academic scientists with similar interests in hepatology and cancer biology, and worked on broadly similar, yet distinctly different, areas of fatty liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. A perfect matching of our thoughts also resulted in a deep yearning to return to India and a passion to serve and contribute to the Indian scientific ecosystem. Along this path, we availed the opportunity to come back to India with the Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellowship to establish our academic careers at JSS Medical College, Mysuru. This would allow our scientific collaboration and paired excellence to maintain professional trajectories, and avoid the strain and compromises involved in responsibly bringing up a family.

As I settled into the new job, I was aware that this was the beginning of a bumpy road that lay ahead in establishing myself as an independent investigator in India. This experience is unique. All the young investigators in India have successfully overcome every obstacle in their way. I have shared my experiences on other platforms (‘My Science Failures – Get up fast after each fall.’, published by Nature India. Another article is on its way.). In this piece of writing, I share my two cents on navigating through science as an early-career woman scientist while being part of an academic couple. The dual-body problem is prevalent in academia, but often remains undiscussed and hence considered insurmountable.

Quality of life: The common goal of a dual-career academic couple is to find a position in the same geographical location and, needless to say, that is exactly what I/we had in mind. Like everyone else, we had our own strategic plans in applying for fellowships to return to India, and we both were determined to make the move only after confirmation of the jobs or fellowships. This is critically important to survive in any system for that matter, not just in India. The perceptions of the institution and society are subject to change across situations. Being aware of this, we had applied for fellowships or faculty positions in different cycles.

Since both of us wanted to be close to family, the only option was to find positions in Mysuru. I always believe that nothing in life comes in a full package; so, a bit of compromise is a must and it is worth it when you stay with family. I should admit that life was smooth, fearless, and hopeful especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when staying in a joint family and having my mother to take care of my daughter when there were no/or limited options for day care and with schools operating online. Having said that, I would urge you to make your personal choices with no regrets and live your lives without comparison to others.

We were also blessed to become a part of JSS Medical College, JSS AHER, and could not have asked for a better team to work with at the Department of Biochemistry. The quote of Theodore Roosevelt “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are” is my life philosophy or mantra. This also aids me in carrying out research happily as a scientist, and I am glad to be paying it forward in training and grooming younger generations in science.

Effective communication: This is important at every step of your personal and professional lives. Honest communication between partners is a must wherein you discuss priorities, shared responsibilities, and choices that work for both in building a strong foundation both in terms of career and family. Furthermore, the challenge is how effectively you communicate with your organization and negotiate with them before taking up the job. Don’t be shy or hesitate to mention your needs. Be vocal and assure your promises or responsibilities towards the job, making it clear that it is a win–win situation for both. Regarding all these aspects, seeking guidance from your mentors and colleagues will be of great help in making better choices.

In my case, after spending a decade in the United States, it did take time to understand the system (though I had done my Bachelor’s and Master’s in India). If that is the case, be kind and polite with the staff (administrative or non-teaching staff) to operate successfully. When it comes to departmental duties, it is important to be proactive and work as a team. Though research is a major part of my job, I believe it is tremendously important to teach and interact with students. As a general rule, communicating effectively and building a cordial working ambiance are pivotal to carrying out research at any institution.

Be independent: I think this is more important and relevant to women scientists like me who have their partners working in the same field. I have occasionally collaborated with my spouse during my postdoctoral fellowship, and we do have co-authored publications. Now, to establish myself as a principal investigator, it is of prime importance that I am independent and have my own reputation built in the field. We are together in the same institution, working happily, and do not get on each other’s nerves. We support each other at work rather than having projects together. I often face the gender-stereotypical attitude but kindly remind people that we are two equal partners. We complement each other, yet we are independent, and I must say that my significant other is supportive and understands my stand. We collaborate, but most often have independent collaborations and projects. In the process, I have learnt to stand strong, seek help when needed, and be brave enough to go forward, and this matters a lot to build your career as a woman scientist.

Work–life balance:It is imperative to have harmony in both professional and personal lives. Having a partner who is also in a highly-demanding scientific career, I need to coordinate and plan my schedule well, be it attending a conference/meeting or planning a vacation. We hardly discuss science at home or keep it to a bare minimum and make sure we enjoy life outside science. We both have our interests, and spending time with our daughter and family has been the most relaxing time for both of us. Now as my daughter (five years old) has started her schooling, planning summer trips will become a mandatory schedule on our calendar. Having a work–life balance to avoid burnout is important in the research field, as the constant pressure to secure funding and publish articles is an indispensable and integral part of this profession. Yes! In the hustle and bustle of life, do not let time with family take the last seat; make sure time does not slip away unrecorded and un-cherished.

In general, the dual-career partnership is very common and challenging. My experience has been one of building a life together with a partner who also aspires for an academic career. I am sure there is no single winning strategy or one-size-fits-all approach to this situation, but of course, sharing or discussing such matters with no hesitation or barriers will create a change in the way we consider things in academia. These three years of my journey as an early-career investigator have been rewarding and I wish to celebrate many more women who are establishing their careers in science.

Science is fascinating and fulfilling. The joy of asking curious questions, the quest of finding answers to those questions, and unravelling the unknown leaves me wanting for more!

My passion in science developed during my Master’s in Biotechnology at Presidency College in Bengaluru. It was fueled by amazing teachers that I was lucky to have. I became interested in understanding and learning more about what goes on behind, in terms of science and research, when a concept makes its way into a textbook. This process was enriching and helped me in preparing for the various examinations that I needed to take to get into research.

An exciting Ph.D. journey began for me at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) in Bengaluru, working with Maneesha S. Inamdar, Professor and Chair, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, JNCASR. She moulded me and helped me develop qualities that were essential to thrive in research. I was startled, yet equally enthralled, by the variety of things I had to learn during my Ph.D. The training I acquired taught me life lessons and qualities that helped me in dealing with challenging situations. Diligence, discipline, devotion, and dedication are some valuable virtues that I learnt from my Ph.D. supervisor.

Bengaluru is a hub for science and research, with many eminent scientific institutions and their campuses being in the vicinity like the Indian Institute of Science and National Centre for Biological Sciences. It was a treat for a budding researcher like me. I just soaked in and imbibed whatever I could by just co-existing in that environment, and by witnessing and interacting with numerous illustrious scientists.

Ph.D. was indeed a rewarding journey and an experience like never before. My research at JNCASR focused on understanding the role of a novel endocytic protein, Asrij, in regulating stem cell homeostasis in the Drosophila hematopoietic system. I received the Best Ph.D. thesis award (2015) in Biology from JNCASR and the Indian National Science Academy’s Young Scientist Award in 2019. I could not contain my happiness when our research on endocytic control of stem cell maintenance was appreciated on international platforms in conferences and was also awarded the European Molecular Biology Organization’s (EMBO) fellowship for a collaborative research visit to Milan, Italy, to the laboratory of Dr Thomas Vaccari.

After my Ph.D., I moved to the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada to work with Professor Guy Tanentzapf. The training that I received in the Tanentzapf lab as a postdoctoral fellow was completely different than what I had experienced before. The liberty to conceive, design and execute an experiment independently was exhilarating and it helped me grow as a scientist. Since it was an international and culturally-diverse lab, I was able to develop collaboration skills that not only helped me work in a team but to help lead a team. I would call it a successful postdoc that helped me get significant publications, which landed me an academic job in India. My experience in Canada with Guy helped me blossom into an independent researcher.

The idea of heading a laboratory and starting my own research group was exciting and something that I always wanted. Thus, my journey on transitioning from a postdoc to an early career researcher/new principal investigator (PI) began. My search for academic/faculty positions in India has been a journey full of ups and downs. Despite the roadblocks, I was single-mindedly focused and determined on cracking it. I worked relentlessly on my applications, research proposals, teaching proposals and cover letters every single time with equal determination despite the rejections. I often rehearsed an elevator pitch describing the research proposed in my future independent lab. I also practiced my research talks during this phase with mock presentation drills, where I was my own audience!

This whole experience of academic job applications taught me to be patient and in hindsight, when I think about it, I would like to help future academic aspirants by sharing my own unique personal experiences. One main advice is to start early. It is all about being there at the right time at the right place. One often keeps waiting for that breakthrough high-impact factor publication during postdoc; but, from my personal experience, a decent first-author publication in a peer-reviewed journal that is known and respected in the field is good enough for initiating the application process. This is a long journey, especially in present times due to the pandemic, and demands a lot of patience. One may feel lost and demotivated during this journey, but the key to crack the code is to hold the head high, holding up and persisting with it.

Each of my mentors/research supervisors and scientists whom I have closely interacted with during my Ph.D., international research visits and during my postdoctoral training had unique qualities and made a strong impression on my mind. I have actively tried to inculcate a combination of these qualities in me in order to be a better scientist and, this has really helped me. The mentorship and support that I have received from my mentors is truly invaluable and serves as a guiding light in my scientific journey.

The training during my Ph.D. in India gave me a flavour of the science administration, funding policies and overall work culture in India. So I was aware of what I was getting into and signing up for. Navigating the Indian science ecosystem, especially administrative matters, for a person who has done Ph.D. and postdoctoral training abroad is a daunting task as there is a different set of challenges abroad. One needs to bear in mind and mentally prepare for the fact that the research landscape changes and is different in different places.

I joined the Advanced Centre for Treatment Research & Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai as a Principal Investigator in March, 2020. It has been a roller coaster ride ever since. It was just a week after I joined that the nationwide lockdown was announced. I call myself a pandemic PI as the founding two years of my independent research career as a starting PI has been in the thick of the pandemic amidst multiple waves of COVID infection.

There are many challenges one encounters while starting a new research group and while establishing a new laboratory. On top of that, early career researchers like me have faced unprecedented problems and roadblocks – be it financial/funding-related issues, administrative matters or manpower-related issues. There have been major delays that have hampered work and research. But looking at the brighter side, I learnt many things both personally and professionally. My lab focuses on understanding how stem cells and tissue homeostasis are regulated during developmental and disease conditions using Drosophila (fruit fly) as a model system. I was awarded the Har Gobind Khorana – Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award in 2020 and the Ramalingaswami Re-entry fellowship in 2021, which gave a boost in terms of funding for my new laboratory.

In such challenging times, having a strong support system really helps. IndiaBioscience and its flagship events like the Young Investigators’ Meeting (YIM) provide a great opportunity to network and engage with fellow scientists who are at different career stages. This not only provides the right kind of exposure to the science done in India but also helps in building a support system that helps one navigate one’s way out of challenging situations.

I end with a quote by Barbara McClintock, who has always been an inspirational scientific figure for me: “If you know you are on the right track, if you have this inner knowledge, then nobody can turn you off... no matter what they say”.

Setting up an independent research group is not easy. Setting up interdisciplinary ones that are amalgams of group members coming from diverse academic backgrounds and speaking different disciplinary languages is even more difficult. However, this diversity, if channeled well, can drive cross-pollination of ideas and lead to valuable insights that none of us could have arrived at independently. Here, I share my journey of setting up a research group with members from backgrounds in biotechnology, mathematics, engineering (mechanical, electronics), bioinformatics, and physics, all focused on different aspects of gaining a better understanding of the dynamics of cancer metastasis and drug resistance – the two major clinically-unsolved challenges in cancer.

My first stint with interdisciplinary research was at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, where I came across many faculty members from physics, mathematics, and engineering departments conducting research on biological systems. Motivated by them, I took up the challenge of working on mathematical modeling of cell polarity for my Master’s thesis under the guidance of Professor Pradip Sinha. While he headed an experimental biology laboratory, he gave me complete academic and intellectual freedom to identify a research question to be addressed by mathematical modeling, freedom that was of paramount importance. Reading seminal research papers that applied mathematical models to answer fundamental questions of developmental biology piqued my interest in systems biology and motivated me to pursue it for my Ph.D.

My colleagues in graduate school at Rice University came from previous training in physics, chemistry, and engineering disciplines. Together, we developed mechanism-based mathematical models to better understand how cancer cells adapt (switch their ‘states’) during metastasis. The model predictions yielded useful insights; however, I felt incomplete by just making those predictions, without them being tested directly on cancer cells. Thus, in discussion with my advisors (renowned theoretical biophysicists Professor Herbert Levine and (late) Professor Eshel Ben-Jacob), I established and led collaborations with multiple experimental cancer biology groups to test the predictions. That enriching collaborative experience left an indelible mark on me in terms of how I would prefer to steer my independent research career.

In October 2018, I moved to the Centre for BioSystems Science and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science to start my independent research group. We started our journal club meetings in mid/late 2019 and found ourselves discussing research articles covering a wide spectrum of topics – from cancer genetics (lineage tracing in vivo) to mathematical modeling (stochastic modeling of state transitions). I noticed that during these meetings, some of the group members, who came from backgrounds different than what was being discussed, seemed “disconnected” occasionally, especially as we delved into the fine-grained technicalities of certain tools and techniques. By the time we could figure out how to engage better, COVID-19 related disruptions had hit us. Moving these discussions to an online mode abolished the spontaneity of discussions that used to happen in the lab, thus further curtailing the chances of getting to know each other and our skill sets better. Therefore, while most group members were making good progress in their individual projects (which were largely based on their previous training), the ‘emergent property’ behaviour (the whole is greater than the sum of its parts) was largely missing. This lacuna bothered me.

As a first step, I had detailed one-to-one conversations with my group members and realized that while most of them were eager to work synergistically with each other, they often found it difficult to find a common ground to connect and collaborate. That is when we tried a new approach – instead of attempting to create a common ground within ourselves right away, we started looking outwards and engaging actively with other research groups with similar interests but using a complementary approach to ours. Many initial meetings with these potential collaborators were just brainstorming sessions, where we made a wish list of questions each of us would like to see getting addressed. Next, we discussed what each of us could potentially contribute to; then, the dots started connecting. In many such meetings, my group members—instead of me—led the discussion on the latest simulations they had done and received pertinent feedback from our collaborators. Eventually, over a year, we started having preprints together (see here and here) and concomitantly, there was an increasing cohesiveness in our group too. For instance, when one of the group members shared what he/she learnt from his/her collaborative experience, many others chimed in with similar epiphanies. Thus, these ‘outside’ collaborations gave many of us a first chance to connect, and the ice began to melt away.

Another catalyzing aspect for us has been the influx of undergraduate students who are more ‘undifferentiated’ and do not have strong self-constructed disciplinary silos. We noticed self-organization in terms of groups of students from different backgrounds who worked together, bringing in their complementary perspectives. For instance, two groups of two students each (a biology major and a physics major) had research papers as co-first authors (see here and here). Some group members started to cross the disciplinary boundaries by themselves and led the entire project. Of course, having gifted graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who enjoy mentoring undergraduate students as/when required has been a key strength as well.

Once, in discussion with lab members, as I was working on a talk, an analogy serendipitously struck me: isn’t working in an interdisciplinary manner similar to behaving like cancer cells themselves? Cancer cells are notorious shapeshifters; many of them can change their behaviour or ‘identity’ reversibly to adapt and evade many challenges (drug treatment, immune system). Importantly, cells with different ‘identities’ improve the ‘fitness’ of the population as a whole by heralding co-operation and collaboration among them. Thus, if cancer cells use all the mechanisms at their disposal for their benefit, why should we, the cancer research community as a whole, restrict ourselves to a specific set of tools, ideas and perspectives limited to our previous training?

Put together, from my limited three-year experience of setting up an interdisciplinary research group—Cancer Systems Biology Laboratory—here are some of the lessons I have learnt:

• Do not hesitate to collaborate across fields

It is not uncommon to develop cold feet when entering a new collaboration. It takes time to develop and co-lead interdisciplinary collaborations, simply because people across disciplines speak very different languages (despite their best intentions). Imagine what would happen if two people who speak different languages (and have a limited vocabulary of another language common to them) were shut in a room and were asked to come up with suggestions on a problem in a short time!

• Do not be shy to walk the ‘extra mile’ of communication

It is often easy to ‘disconnect’ in an inter-disciplinary collaboration, as many individuals do not walk the ‘extra mile’ to try to speak in a language that is more ‘natural’ to their collaborators. Many successful collaborations have one or more polylingual individuals who can understand the strengths and challenges of diverse research fields, to help arrive at a common agenda.

• Do not try to force-fit an identity to yourself or your work

While collaborating with theoretical physicists, I am a cancer biologist; while working with cancer biologists, I am a physicist. Such identity crises are the norm, rather than the exceptions, of interdisciplinary research. When some of my group members are often confused with how to describe their work, I tell them: “If calling yourself X instead of Y changes your research, please go ahead and call yourself X. If not, don’t be stuck in what to call yourself. Let your work define you and your identity. Don’t let your previous training-based identity restrict your work or your next brilliant idea.”