‘PhD café’ is a one-of-a-kind seminar series for PhD researchers life sciences across India; the series will host ~60 pre-selected PhD researchers (in advanced stages of their PhD and close to graduation) to present their work to experts and the wider community in various fields of experimental biology. 

The sessions are structured based on fields of work, with five days of virtual sessions and online interactions. The sessions will provide PhD researchers an opportunity to present their research work to the community, as well as seek inputs, feedback, and suggestions from senior scientific colleagues on different aspects of their work. At the end of their presentation, the PhD researcher would have had a pre-defense sort of experience, with scientific as well as professional inputs to advance their careers. 

Supported by the Company of Biologists, this online series will showcase experimental biology-related work being done by PhD researchers in India; with potential immediate and long-term gains for the broader life science ecosystem in India.

Important Dates

Dates: 23 September — 27 September 2024

Mode of engagement: Online 

Meeting link: To register to listen to the talks, please find the meeting link here.

Meeting Focus Areas

• Five days of online seminars for up to 60 pre-selected senior PhD researchers to share their research
• Fields of biology: Plant Biology, Cellular Biology, Neurobiology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Animal Biology, Membrane Biology, Medicine and Physiology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Developmental Biology (in accordance with the journal areas represented by the Company of Biologists)
• Research in interdisciplinary areas and areas not limited to the above fields is encouraged. 

Meeting Format

• PhD researcher presentations (20 minute talks with 10 minutes of Q/A) (upto 6 pre-selected speakers in each session). Talks should be structured to have not more than 12 content slides + 1 title slide + 1 last slide = 14 TOTAL for each speaker. Please note: talks and Q/A will be sticking to time slots. 

• Expert mentor feedback / suggestions and open Q/A sessions (upto 3 invited mentors in each session)

• Online networking for speakers and attendees across all 5 days (focused networking from 1:00 – 2:00 pm)

Applications for speakers are invited from PhD researchers in the life sciences (‘PhD researcher’ refers to those currently enrolled in a PhD program in India), preferably those in the advanced stages of their degree. 

Researchers pursuing their PhD from any recognised institute / university / college across India are eligible to apply. We particularly encourage applications from state universities, central universities and private institutions, as well as PhD researchers from geographically diverse regions of India.

While a PhD researcher at any stage in their PhD can apply, we particularly encourage applications from senior PhD researchers and those with a sufficient body of work. There is no age cut off. 

Application form

Interested PhD researchers can apply using this application form.

In the application form, please select the field of biology closest to your area of research. We encourage interdisciplinary research and areas not limited to the fields mentioned. 

Applications open on: 1 August 2024

Date of closure of applications: 20 August 2024

For queries / clarifications, please email us at hello@​indiabioscience.​org.

Applications from PhD researchers will be screened (by a committee) and up to 6 speakers will be selected for each session. 

Shortlisted speakers will be informed by email by 1 September 2024. 

PhD speakers will be expected to confirm their participation to give a talk by 10 September 2024, after which waitlisted candidates may be offered a slot.

Following their acceptance, shortlisted PhD speakers will be required to pay a registration fee of INR 1000 to confirm their slot. Payment mode and details will be shared on email. IndiaBioscience can provide each speaker an invoice and payment proof for reimbursement purposes.

Speakers are encouraged to share a PDF version of their slides by email by 20 September 2024. For data protection and privacy reasons, a speaker may opt to share their slides at the time of the presentation, however in this case, technical operations/​challenges will be the responsibility of the speaker. All speakers will be given the allotted time of 20 min for their talks and 10 mins for Q/A.

Select screenshots of talks will be shared on social media and via the IndiaBioscience newsletter; if you do not want a screenshot of a particular piece of data to be taken or shared, you may please indicate this clearly on the slide.

Please note: Talks should be structured to have not more than 12 content slides + 1 title slide + 1 last slide = 14 TOTAL for each speaker. Talks and Q/A will be sticking to time slots.

A schedule of the talks, titles of the talks, and speaker names will be shared here by 18 September 2024.

The PhD café seminar series will be a virtual event, open to anyone wanting to attend the talks. 

This is designed so to ensure geographic diversity in participation and accessibility to PhD researchers and the life science community across India. This is particularly important given the vast size of India as a country, and travel cost and logistics related challenges for PhD researchers in the country.

The virtual nature of the seminar will also minimise the ​‘carbon footprint’ of the meeting, including fuel consumption related to air and road travel and plastic materials for food packaging, and in conference kits, badges and paper notebooks. 

The proposed PhD café meeting will follow a ​‘no garland’ model of scientific meetings, with accessibility, sustainability and diversity at its centre.

PhD speakers may request a certificate (indicating they gave a talk) at the end of the seminar series via the feedback form.

All IndiaBioscience Meetings, Workshops, and Conferences are subject to a Conference Code of Conduct.

IndiaBioscience is dedicated to providing an inclusive and harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, caste, or religion. We do not tolerate harassment of event participants in any form. All communication should be appropriate for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds. We expect participants to follow these rules at all event venues (virtual or physical) and event-related social events.

Speakers and Presenters: Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate for the event venue, including talks and posters. Sexist, racist or exclusionary jokes are not acceptable.

Participants: Harassment includes offensive verbal comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, caste, religion, sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.

Sponsors: Sponsors are also subject to the anti-harassment policy.

Virtual events: Attendees, Speakers, Trainers and Event Organisers are required to keep all e communications — emails, online presentations, webinar chat/Q&A sessions etc — professional and respectful. As with the physical events, at online seminars/​workshops/​courses and associated correspondence, sexual language/​imagery and harassment are not appropriate and will not be tolerated.

Action: Attendees asked to stop any harassing behaviour are expected to comply immediately. If an attendee engages in behaviour that violates this code of conduct, the conference organisers may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning the offender, expelling him or her from the premises with no refund or expelling them from the virtual event (i.e. webinar, workshop, course etc).

Conference staff members are there to help participants contact appropriate authorities, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the conference. We value your attendance.

Contact: If you are harassed, have noticed that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact: ryim@​indiabioscience.​org

License: This Conference Code of Conduct was modified from the Code of Conduct for JSFOO 2014 and Code of Conduct for YIM 2015, available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License, and the Geek Feminism Wiki, created by the Ada Initiative and volunteers, available under a Creative Commons Zero license.

The Conference Code of Conduct for IndiaBioscience events is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.