Regional YIMs were initiated by IndiaBioscience to foster local networks of scientists and science professionals with the aim to promote regional collaboration and change. A product of community-driven conversations at the 10^th Young Investigators’ Meeting (YIM), Thiruvananthapuram, the Regional YIMs began in 2018. The first four Regional YIMs in Hyderabad (South), Kolkata (East), Jodhpur (West) and Delhi-NCR (North) were highly successful programs catering to local needs and challenges, with plenary lectures, special talks and interactive panel discussions on a range of scientific topics such as resource sharing, mentorship, science education, industry partnerships, DEI challenges in science, as well as specially-curated skill-building workshops and networking sessions. 

The next set of RYIMs were held in 2023 – 2024 in response to the RYIM Grants call at Lucknow, Srinagar, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Pilani, Hyderabad and Pune, which were thematic meetings on topics of relevant to the larger life science community. IndiaBioscience conducted Crafting Your Career (CYC) workshops for undergraduates, Masters’ students, PhD researchers and postdoctoral fellows at all RYIMs across 2023 – 2024.

RYIMs are intended to be broad and encompassing meetings focused on networking, mentorship, training and collaborations and not discipline or field-specific meetings.

With an aim to continue the impact of the RYIMs across India, IndiaBioscience invites applications from Regional Young Investigator Teams for the Regional Young Investigators’ Meeting Grants (RYIM Grants) 2024 – 2025. The RYIMs are intended to be Young Investigator (YI) driven endeavors that will promote the ethos of YIMs in local scientific communities, and foster collaborative leadership among YIs in the region. 

A RYIM team will comprise a YIM alumni (as lead organiser) along with 2 – 4 co-organisers from across research institutes, organisations or universities in the region. The lead organiser (YIM alumni) should have attended a previous national YIM as a Young Investigator. The co-organisers may or may not have attended a previous national YIM. We strongly encourage RYIM teams to be diverse groups of YIs (gender, institutes, research fields), across scientific expertise and demographics, and represent a range of host institute types (national, central, private, university). 

The RYIMs will be in-person meetings (typically 1 – 3 day events) at a local institute or university (represented by one of the RYIM team organisers), with a substantial presence of scientists and science professionals from across the region. The regions are broadly defined as North, East, West, South, Central and North-East India, but could be extended to other descriptions of local and regional scientific communities. IndiaBioscience will provide seed funding of up to INR 1.5 lakhs for each selected RYIM. In addition, this year RYIM organisers can request top-up funds of INR 15000 towards supporting childcare grants for organisers and participants as part of the IndiaBioscience childcare grants program for meetings.

The RYIM Grants aim to facilitate the organisation of local meetings for YIs and science professionals, by the RYIM organising team, in the spirit of collaboration, team-work and fun! 

RYIMs are expected to be ​‘no’garland’ meetings and are not meant to be ​‘institutionalised’.

Important: Before you apply for the RYIM Grants, please read our recent editorial on ​‘no garland’ meetings in science in India. 

Drop the ​‘garland’ to let science in India blossom. The Hindu (27 February 2024)

Applications for RYIM Grants 2024 – 2025 will open on 8April 2024 and the last date to apply is 10 May 2024 (11:59 p.m. IST). Applications will only be accepted via the online application form and accompanying documents. Email applications will not be considered. 

Informational webinar

An informational webinar for queries and clarifications related to the RYIM Grants 2024 – 2025 was conducted on 12 April 2024, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. IST.

Please find the meeting recording here.

Shortlisted projects will be notified by email by mid-June 2024. The RYIMs will be expected to be conducted before end-March 2025.

Lead organiser: A YIM alumni who has attended a previous national Young Investigator Meeting (YIM) as a Young Investigator (in-person or virtual YIM) AND who is currently in an independent position in India as a scientist/​researcher in the life sciences for less than 8 years. 

Co-organisers: The YIM alumni (as lead organiser) will apply for the RYIM grant along with 2 – 4 co-organisers (also with independent positions as scientists/​researchers in the life sciences in India for less than 8 years) at different institutes or universities in the region. The co-organisers may or may not have attended a previous national YIM. Together the lead organiser and co-organisers will constitute the RYIM team. 

It is strongly preferred that the lead organiser and co-organisers represent a diverse group of YIs, across scientific expertise, demographics and host institutes (national, central, private, university) in the region. Previous RYIM organisers and participating host institutes are eligible to apply, subject to meeting the above eligibility criteria.

Crafting Your Career (CYC) Workshop: RYIM Grants 2024 – 2025 applicants are encouraged to opt for an IndiaBioscience Crafting Your Career (CYC) workshop (option in the online form) for PhD students and Postdoctoral researchers at the RYIM venue institute. This will be a three hour workshop conducted by IndiaBioscience (1 team member) for ~30 – 50 participants on Day 2 or Day 3 of, or a day before, the RYIM. To and fro air or train travel costs for the IndiaBioscience team member will be covered by IndiaBioscience (IndiaBioscience will incur this expense in addition to the financial support provided via the RYIM grant), but local transportation, accommodation and meals will be expected from the organisers. Further, RYIM organisers will need to work with IndiaBioscience to select or shortlist or finalise workshop participants as well as provide space and tech support for the workshop. IndiaBioscience may provide an online certificate for participants who complete the entire workshop.

Based on the number of requests, timelines and logistics, IndiaBioscience will confirm their ability to host a CYC workshop with selected RYIM Grant awardees. Select participants will receive a book published by Taylor and Francis, as part of the Taylor and Francis-RYIM Life Scientist award.

Please note: The CYC workshops at RYIMs are part of ​‘CYC Train the Trainer’ initiative by IndiaBioscience. The co-trainer (a RYIM co-organiser) will be expected to participate in a 3 hour online session with an IndiaBioscience trainer (team member) to familiarise themselves with the workshop content and deliver the in-person workshop at the RYIM with the IndiaBioscience team member. Workshop materials are the copyright of IndiaBioscience, and will not be made free for circulation.

Childcare grants: Upon request from the RYIM team, IndiaBioscience can provide an additional amount of INR 15000 to support childcare grants for a minimum of 3 attendees at the meeting. The selection, criteria, eligibility, terms and conditions, and disbursement of the RYIM childcare grants is to be led by the RYIM organisers, but the grants should include — an open call, be open for organisers, participants, speakers and mentors, an announcement of shortlisted awardees, and gender representation in the grantee selection (women and male grantees). The RYIM materials should acknowledge the name and logo of the ​‘IndiaBioscience Childcare Grants’ on all announcement materials, if this provision is requested. The RYIM childcare grants are supported by EMBO.

EMBO awardees at Regional Young Investigators Meetings (RYIMs): In addition to the grant amount, IndiaBioscience will offer to reimburse domestic travel costs (economy airfare) and accommodation (for the days of the meeting) for one EMBO awardee (YIP or GIN) based in India to give a talk at each of the awarded RYIMs. Air travel and accommodation for the EMBO awardee will be booked by the RYIM team, and IndiaBioscience will reimburse this following the meeting (upon submissions of receipts/​tickets). The invited EMBO awardee will briefly introduce EMBO and will be expected to give a mentor talk / research talk. The RYIM teams will be expected to contact and invite the EMBO awardee (IndiaBioscience will share a list of EMBO awardees from India) and confirm their presence and participation in the meeting.

For an example of a RYIM meeting report, please see previous awardees.

Post-meeting report/​interview series: The RYIM organisers can submit ONE final meeting report or interview series within 4 weeks of completion of the meeting for consideration for publication on the IndiaBioscience website. IndiaBioscience will not be writing reports for RYIM 2024 – 2025; the organisers, if interested, can request an interview series (IndiaBioscience will share the questions and template, the organisers will need to write the answers). The report/​interview will be published only if suitable and after editing

IndiaBioscience would set up a selection committee to evaluate the RYIM Grant 2024 – 2025 proposals. 

After ensuring the application is eligible and complete, applications will be evaluated based on:

• Feasibility of the proposed meeting plan (based on the RYIM team, host institutes, plan to raise additional funding)

• Quality and relevance of the proposed program schedule of the RYIM

• Expected value of the RYIM for local scientific communities in the region

A total of up to 6 RYIM grants may be offered. IndiaBioscience reserves the right to award grants that it deems meritorious. Selected projects will be notified by mid-June 2024. The RYIMs are expected to be conducted before end-March 2025. We reserve the right to change or modify the terms and conditions at any time during the grant period.