About

Through the ​“Crafting your Career (CYC)” workshops and webinar series, IndiaBioscience has tried to increase awareness of career options available to science students in India, as well as to provide requisite tools, knowledge, and information for navigating a career path in science. The CYC sessions touch upon aspects like building skills, networking, preparing CVs/​Resumes, researching career options, role models, professionalism, work ethics, etc., and also include talks by science professionals. They are targeted at students (Masters, PhDs, and post-doctorates) and postdocs who are at the cusp of moulding their careers in science. We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback on this initiative. Till now, 7 offline workshops and 6 online webinars have been conducted.

Crafting Your Career (CYC) workshop for Master’s students (3rd/4th Semester) of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India

This ​“Crafting your Career” workshop is a training opportunity for Master’s (3rd/4th semester) students supported by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, designed to provide the requisite knowledge, tools, and techniques to equip and empower science graduates to navigate and craft their career paths.

Workshop Date & Time:
Friday, January 28, 2022, 01.00 PM — 06.00 PM Indian Standard Time (IST)

Objective:

To train and equip Master’s (3rd/4thsemester) students of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, with the skills to navigate a career in science.

Assignments/​Tasks:

A few interactive elements will be part of the workshop such as group assignments, audience polls, quizzes, etc.

Peer Network:

This workshop is organised by IndiaBioscience in partnership with the DBT HRD Project & Management Unit (DBT HRD PMU), Regional Centre for Biotechnology (RCB), Government of India.

Organisers:
IndiaBioscience: Shantala Hari Dass, Suchibrata Borah, Zill-e-Anam
DBT HRD PMU, RCB: Feroz Khan Suri, Elsy Samuel, Dilip Joy T


Programme

  • 28 Jan 2022: 01:00 - 01:25 PM IST

    Welcome & Housekeeping instructions

  • 28 Jan 2022: 01:25 - 02:35 PM IST

    Part 1- Foundation Building

    Topics: Introduction of science careers, Choosing a career path, Building skills for a career path, Examples of science career + top skills required, In- session exercise

  • 28 Jan 2022: 02:35 - 02:40 PM IST

    Break

  • 28 Jan 2022: 02:40 - 03:55 PM IST

    Part 2- Skill Development Session

    Topics: Quick Q&A, Navigating the job application process, Understanding job postings, CV, Resumes, Cover letters, Information interview, Breakout room- small group practice exercises

  • 28 Jan 2022: 03:55 - 04:05 PM IST

    Break

  • 28 Jan 2022: 04:05 - 05:55 PM IST

    Part 3 - Networking, Guest Talk & Q&A

    Topics: The science and art of networking, Professionalism and work ethics, Role models and mentors, Guest talk by Nirpendra Singh, Head of Facility, InStem, Q&A session (all mentors),

  • 28 Jan 2022: 05:55 - 06:00 PM IST

    Concluding remarks & Feedback form

Register

The workshop will be hosted over Zoom. This workshop is only open to Master’s (3rd/4th semester) students of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India. Students will be intimated by the DBT Post Graduate Programme Coordinator of their university/​institution. Only students who register for this workshop shall be able to attend via zoom.

Important: Participants must register for this workshop by 27 Jan 2022.

Guest Speaker

Nirpendra Singh

Head of Facility, InStem

Nirpendra Singh did his Ph.D. in Protein Biochemistry and later moved to the field of proteomics and mass spectrometry. After his Ph.D., he joined the University of Delhi, South Campus as Facility in-Charge, Proteomic Facility, and established the core facilities at the central instrumentation facility. After almost five years, he moved to the Regional Centre for Biotechnology to establish the Advanced technology Platform Centre. This is a unique set up by the Department of Biotechnology, GOI, to strengthen the collaboration between biotech startup /​industry and academics in terms of technology accessibility, training, and resource building for basic and applied research. In 2021, he joined, Instem as the Head of Facility.

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    Nirpendra Singh

Trainers

Trainers -
1. Shantala Hari Dass (Associate Director, IndiaBioscience)

Shantala completed her PhD in neuroscience from Dr Ajai Vyas’s lab at NTU, Singapore studying the fascinating induction of a fatal attraction in rats upon Toxoplasma infection. She moved to Dr Michael Meaney’s lab at McGill, Canada for her postdoctoral studies. Across the continents and research questions, her interest in communicating science and building and supporting a scientific community has stayed strong. In this phase of growth at IndiaBioscience, she is keen to expand their activities bringing greater national and international visibility to the Indian life science community.

2. Suchibrata Borah (Program Manager Digital Initiatives, IndiaBioscience)

Suchibrata has a PhD from Tezpur University, Assam in the field of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and their applications. She started her career in science communication as a Technical Officer (Sci. Comm.) at IISER Pune after a short post-doc at IIT Bombay. She has experience in hosting interviews, creating content for research videos, and organizing workshops. She joined IndiaBioscience to further enhance her skills and knowledge in the field. She wishes to connect the rural places of India to increase awareness and rational thinking with the help of science communication.

3. Zill-e-Anam (Program Coordinator Outreach, IndiaBioscience)

Zill-e-Anam did her PhD in Directed Evolution and Codon Shuffling from Special Centre for Molecular Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She worked on developing peptide-based therapies for the treatment of Malaria. Her strong interest in making science accessible and inclusive led her to venture into science communication and outreach, which she continues to work on. She also has experience in science policy. At IndiaBioscience, she contributes to the outreach activities, IndiaBioscience Outreach Grant, and International Grants Awareness Program. Through her work, she aims to raise awareness about outreach activities in India, international grants, and the success rate of applications from India. She is also an avid traveler and an advocate of mental health.

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    Shantala Hari Dass

    Manager Communications and Outreach, The Hospital for Sick Children & CGEn, Canada

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    Suchibrata Borah

    Program Coordinator at Mongabay

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    Zill-e-Anam

    Program Coordinator, Outreach, IndiaBioscience