The dream

I always wanted to teach and do research. I grew up hearing stories about my great-grandfather who was a highly respected school teacher and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. While my classmates dreamt of landing lucrative medical or engineering admissions, I insisted on pursuing a career in the sciences. 

During my BSc, I got the opportunity for summer internships at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) and the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru, which fueled my passion for research. With an MSc (Biotechnology) from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, and a PhD in Biophysics from the Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, I felt I was on track towards realising my dream. 

Post-PhD, it took me a while to find the right postdoc, as my spouse and I had to navigate the dreaded two-body problem. I eventually joined the Mankin-Vazquez lab at the University of Illinois, Chicago for a postdoc in 2019, where I worked on ribosome-binding peptide antibiotics.

My years as a postdoctoral research associate were absolutely wonderful. I was involved in multiple projects and was excited to see how my PhD learnings applied successfully to entirely new areas. The lab environment was very conducive to good ethical science. The group meetings, journal clubs, and department seminars fostered an open culture of inquisitiveness and asking questions. I also had the opportunity to mentor multiple summer interns and graduate students and found it highly rewarding. I learned to modify my teaching style to match each student’s aptitude.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 struck around this time. Everything came to a standstill. While the University reopened after three months, we continued to feel the effects of COVID-19 much longer – especially in the form of systemic delays that had affected all governmental processes.

Moving back to India and a recruitment drive at IISc 

Due to chronic delays in immigration services and family obligations, we had to return to Bangalore earlier than expected in early 2022. My postdoctoral projects had not yet reached completion, and I had no exit plan. With a toddler and an infant in tow, job applications felt like an impossible task. Additionally, I had taken a break between my PhD and postdoc when my older child was born, putting me in the dreaded ​“above 35 years of age” bracket, making it tougher to apply for academic jobs in India.

In mid 2022, IISc held a special recruitment drive for women faculty. What gave me hope was that the call did not specify an age limit. With strong encouragement from my husband, I took the plunge and applied. I had about a month to get an application ready from scratch. With no prior preparation or even a clue about the application process, I reached out to several friends.

Everyone took time out to help. They put me in touch with friends who had previously applied, interviewed, and secured faculty positions in India. COVID-19 had taught us that collaboration was possible even across miles. People I had never met took time out to advise me on budgeting and preparing a teaching statement.

It was heartwarming that people were happy to help me, as they had previously been in the same boat, and just asked me to pay it forward.

When my application got short-listed for an interview, I was overjoyed. My PhD advisor, Raghavan Varadarajan, gave me critical inputs. My postdoctoral advisors, Alexander Mankin and Nora Vazquez-Laslop, cheered me on at each stage, convincing me that I was ready for this. They even patiently sat through a two-hour-long mock interview, going over each slide in detail and helping me perfect it.

Although I did not land the job, this application and interview process was an important step toward realizing the dream I had since childhood. It helped me overcome hurdles — some real, some in my mind. Additionally, it also gave me clarity on my career path and how deeply I wanted to return to academia. Most importantly, I gained several new friends in the process, one of whom pointed me towards the DBT-Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellowship.

The DBT-Ramalingaswami Fellowship (DBT-RLS)

The DBT-Ramalingaswami Fellowship (DBT-RLS) is designed to encourage Indian scientists working abroad to move back to India. It provides a generous monthly salary and a research contingency without rigid budget heads, which is very helpful for a young, inexperienced PI unable to visualise the diverse costs of running a project. It has an upper age limit of 45 years, and applicants could apply up to a year after returning to India, provided they hadn’t already secured a job.

I decided to apply for the fellowship and wanted to choose a host institute that provided the necessary facilities and support for my research, while also offering teaching opportunities. Once again, I reached out to several friends and one put me in touch with the then Head of the Department of Biotechnology, Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences (RUAS), Bengaluru. I visited the Department, met the faculty and with their support, went ahead with applying for the DBT-RLS with RUAS as my host institute. A few months later, I was awarded the fellowship, marking the start of my career as an independent researcher and faculty member. 

Such a long journey…

It has been a long journey to achieving my childhood dream. Now, my research group works on tackling Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), a problem of immense importance in India. Specifically, we explore diverse Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs) as potential antibiotics, understanding their modes of action and evolving them for improved antimicrobial efficacy.

The Department of Biotechnology at RUAS is young and growing, with a vision of intertwining quality teaching with cutting edge research, thus, enabling me to finally realise my dream of being both a scientist and a teacher. My colleagues come from all over the country, with diverse research backgrounds, which encourages and promotes interdisciplinary research. Our university also encompasses the renowned Ramaiah Medical college and hospital, enabling interactions with clinical microbiologists, which is critical for advancing my research.

My research group consists largely of young students – both undergraduate and postgraduate, and I greatly enjoy mentoring them and teaching them the importance of doing good ethical science.

I also teach Biotechnology students at my university — both bachelor’s and master’s level- and it gives me immense satisfaction to be able to instill a passion for science in young minds. Of course, I face challenges that every young PI does, of learning to balance teaching and research roles. Added to that, are the challenges of maintaining work-life balance as a mother of two young children. But having a supportive family, nurturing work atmosphere and an extended network of helpful friends makes it possible to overcome these challenges, one at a time.

Although my transition from postdoc to PI wasn’t smooth, the journey was highly enriching. I learned that no person is an island, and we all get by with a little help from our friends. I also realised the importance of initiatives such as special recruitment drives and re-entry fellowships, that helped me to revive lost dreams.