Programme

The four-day event will see an exciting scientific program of research talks, posters by researcher and an assortment of inter-disciplinary scientific talks by eminent scientists. However the highlight of the event will be discussions on four major themes (see below) to challenge stereotypes and prejudices through dialogue, to compile the community perspective and to eventually come up with a clear outline for creating meaningful white papers that can be recommended for adoption by appropriate bodies. The meeting will also witness two panel discussions. There will be plenty of opportunity for networking and building connections.

5th March

DAY 1: Young Investigators’ Meeting 2018

  • 3:00 - 5:00 pm

    Registration and social


  • 05:00 - 05:20 pm

    Welcome note by organizing committee member – Sharmistha Banerjee


  • 05:20 - 05:30 pm

    Introduction to the meeting – Opening remarks by Satyajit Mayor


  • 05:30 - 06:15 pm

    Keynote: The role of young biologists in India: past, present and future by Ron Vale, HHMI and UCSF


  • 06:15 - 07:00 pm

    Keynote by K VijayRaghavan


  • 07:00 pm onwards

    Dinner

6th March

Day 2: Young Investigators’ Meeting

  • 07:30 am onwards

    Breakfast


  • 09:00 - 09:15 am

    Science Outreach: Why and How? by LS Shashidhara, IISER Pune


  • 09:15 - 09:35 am

    Engaging communities, enabling change by Smita Jain, IndiaBioscience


  • 09:35 - 9:45 am

    Talk by organizing committee member by Piyali Mukherjee, Presidency University


  • 09:45 - 10:30 am

    YI talks: (1) Formation of Transport Carriers at the Endocytic Recycling Compartment by Thomas Pucadyil, IISER Pune (2) My Journey with Salmonella and SUMO in India: an ongoing quest to leave a trail by Srikant Chittur, RCB, Faridabad (3) Dynamics of Molecular Motors and other out of Equilibrium Systems by Debjani Bagchi, MSU, Baroda


  • 10:30 - 11:00 am

    Tea/Coffee Break


  • 11:00 - 11:30 am

    Setting up the breakout sessions


  • 11:30 - 1:00 pm

    Breakout session for Theme 1: Best practices for recruitment and mentoring of YIs in India


  • 01:00 - 02:00 pm

    Lunch


  • 02:00 - 02.45 pm

    Bridging the gap between evidence and policy by Shinjini Bhatnagar, THSTI and Satyajit Rath, Agharkar Research Institute


  • 02.45 - 03:30 pm

    YI talks: (1) Social organization and behaviour: elephants and academia by TNC Vidya, JNCASR, Bangalore (2) Young and Responsible: The Beginning of a Journey by Anindita Bhadra, IISER Kolkatta (3) Talk on i-wonder science magazine by Chitra Ravi, APU


  • 03.30 - 04:00 pm

    Tea/Coffee Break


  • 04:00 - 05:30 pm

    Breakout session for Theme 2 : Sharing of resources and collaborations for better science


  • 05:30 - 07:00 pm

    Poster Session 1


  • 07:30 pm onwards

    Dinner

Themes for breakout sessions: Day 2

Theme 1: Best practices for recruitment and mentoring of YIs in India

Under this theme, the YIs will share first hand experiences about recruitment and mentoring leading to shortlisting of the practices that young investigators think should be in place for more transparent and effective processes. For ease of discussions, the session will be divided into following sub-themes:

  • Best practices of recruitment
  • Creating visibility of job opportunities in India (through national forums)
  • Peer review
  • Leadership – YIs as mentors and their evolution as leaders of the future
  • Outreach and its importance


Theme 2: Sharing of resources and collaborations for better science

Under this theme we will deliberate on changing the culture and mindset of research community towards sharing resources and infrastructure, on policies that would facilitate access to high-end facilities across nation, and on overcoming challenges to maintain high-end facilities etc . The session will be divided into following sub-themes:

  • Cultivation of open environment for scientific exchange
  • Building a Collaborative Culture (domestic and international collaborations/​interdisciplinary collaborations)
  • Easy accessibility of resources across nation
  • Towards developing new technologies – interdisciplinary approaches
  • Challenges with maintaining high end facilities


7th March

DAY 3: Young Investigators’ Meeting 2018

  • 07:30 am onwards

    Breakfast


  • 09:00 - 09:10 am

    Talk by organizing committee member – Debasree Dutta


  • 09:10 - 10:10 am

    Reports on Breakout session 1 and 2 followed by discussion


  • 10.10 - 10:55 am

    YI talks: (1) Biomaterials for clinical translational research: Prophylactic technologies to prevent pesticide induced toxicity by Praveen Vemula, inStem, Bangalore (2) Tumor Viruses: A Tool to Understand Cancer Biology by Abhik Saha, Presidency University, Kolkatta (3) Genetic and epigenetic regulation of cell death by Richa Arya, ACBR, University of Delhi


  • 10:55 - 11:25 am

    Tea/Coffee break


  • 11:25 - 01:00 pm

    Breakout session for Theme 3 : PhD and Post-Doctoral training in India


  • 01:00 - 02:00 pm

    Lunch


  • 02:00 - 02.15 pm

    International collaboration opportunity for researchers by Arabinda Mitra, DST


  • 02:15 - 03.15 pm

    Panel discussion 1: Funding: challenges before and after (Suman Govil & Meenakshi Munshi, DBT; Shahid Jameel, IndiaAlliance; MR Pillai, RGCB; Shekhar Mande, NCCS; Vandana Gambhir, IISER Pune)


  • 03:15 - 03:35 pm

    HFSP: Funding International Research Collaborations in the Life Sciences by Barbara Pauly, Director of Fellowships, HFSP


  • 03.35 - 03.45 pm

    IRMI: India Research Management Initiative by Savita Ayyar, Research Management Consultant, Jaquaranda Tree


  • 03.45 - 03.55 pm

    Funding Session: Q & A


  • 03.55 - 04:20 pm

    Tea/coffee break


  • 04:20 - 05.00 pm

    Biological Research in India: A Historical Perspective and Future Possibilities by S C Lakhotia, BHU, Varanasi


  • 05.00 - 05:30 pm

    YI talks: (1) Plant nutrients and invading pathogens: how plant defense use SWEETs to stop fuel to the fire by Senthil-Kumar Muthappa, NIPGR, New Delhi (2)The secrets for long shelf life of Penjar Tomatoes-Do we know them yet? by Sreelakshmi Y, UoH, Hyderabad


  • 05:30 - 07:00 pm

    Poster Session 2


  • 07:00 - 08:00 pm

    Cultural Event


  • 08:00 pm onwards

    Dinner

Theme for breakout session: Day 3

Theme 3: PhD and Post-Doctoral training in India

This theme revolves around discussing the role of YIs as mentors. YIs can share their experiences towards building successful careers of their PDFs, ways of encouraging positivity in the lab, limitations of the present policies for the future of postdoctoral training in India. The session will be divided into following sub-themes:

  • Empowering PhDs and PDFs 
  • Work culture 
  • Job opportunities in science
  • Challenges in mentoring PhDs and Postdocs
  • Professional development/​Skill building

8th March

DAY 4: Young Investigators’ Meeting 2018

  • 07:30 am onwards

    Breakfast


  • 09:00 - 10:00 am

    Panel discussion 2: Science Communication (Apurva Sarin, inSTEM; Dinakar Salunke, ICGEB; Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay, Amity University; Jyotsna Dhawan, CCMB; Rakesh Mishra, CCMB; Shubha Tole, TIFR; Uday Kumar Ranga, JNCASR)


  • 10:00 - 10:45 am

    YI talks: (1) Physics on a Phagosome by Roop Mallik, TIFR, Mumbai (2) A beautiful journey with the tiny-regulator: a tale of life and death of microRNA by Suvendra N Bhattacharyya, IICB, Kolkatta (3) Building Ecosystem for Life Science Innovations: A C-CAMP Perspective by Taslimarif Saiyed, C-CAMP, Bangalore


  • 10:45 - 11:15 am

    Tea/Coffee Break


  • 11:15 - 01:00 pm

    Breakout session for Theme 4: Future of Indian Biological Science


  • 01:00 - 02:00 pm

    Lunch


  • 02:00- 03:30 pm

    Poster Session 3


  • 03:30 - 04:00 pm

    Tea/Coffee break


  • 04:00 - 05:00 pm

    Breakout session 3 and 4 reports followed by discussion


  • 05:00 - 05.45 pm

    Open discussion: The Future of YIM and role of IndiaBioscience after year 10


  • 05.45 - 06.30 pm

    Concluding remarks and open comments on collaborations that emerged from the meeting


  • 07.30 pm onwards

    Dinner

Theme for breakout session: Day 4

Theme 4: Future of Indian Biological Science

This theme will explore what factors should drive selection of research areas by YIs, if research should be driven by the need of society, the funding possibilities, translational opportunities, inter-disciplinary, sheer excitement of doing science with no consequence etc. The pros and cons of doing biomedical science as business may also be discussed.

9th March

DAY 5: Young Investigators’ Meeting 2018

  • 07:30 am onwards

    Breakfast and Departure