Karla P. Mercado-Shekhar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar. She is one of the Young Investigators selected to attend YIM 2020 in Mahabalipuram. In this invited article, she writes about her experience of moving to a new country to set up her lab and adapting to the Indian academic ecosystem.

Meghna Krishnadas is a Project Scientist at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad. She is one of the Young Investigators selected to attend YIM 2020 in Mahabalipuram. In this invited article, she writes about her unconventional path into science and the challenges this threw up due up by the unusual rigidity of the present academic system.

Pankaj Barah is currently working as Assistant Professor & DBT-Ramalingaswami Fellow at Tezpur University, Assam. He is one of the Young Investigators selected to attend YIM 2020 in Mahabalipuram. In this invited article, he writes about his journey from a small village in Assam to cutting-edge genomics research teams and then returning to Assam to begin an independent research career.

Ujjaini Dasgupta is an Assistant Professor at Amity Institute of Integrative Sciences and Health, Amity University, Haryana. She is one of the Young Investigators (YIs) selected to attend YIM 2020. In this invited article, she writes about her experience of returning to active research after spending six years in a different field.

Megha Kumar is a DST Inspire Faculty fellow at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad. She is one of the Young Investigators selected to attend YIM2020 in Mahabalipuram. In this invited article, she writes about how her postdoctoral training in India helped prepare her for an academic career.