Pavan Agarwal is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Molecular Neurosciences of Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE). In this invited article, he recounts his rollercoaster journey of setting up an independent research group during a pandemic as a newly returned young investigator in India.

Jagadis Gupta Kapuganti is Scientist V at National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi. He is one of the Young Investigators selected to attend YIM 2020 in Mahabalipuram. In this invited article, he writes about various strategies and ideas that have helped him establish fruitful national and international collaborations.