3:00 - 5:00 pm
Registration and social
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.
DAY 1: Young Investigators’ Meeting 2018
Registration and social
Welcome note by organizing committee member – Sharmistha Banerjee
Introduction to the meeting – Opening remarks by Satyajit Mayor
Keynote: The role of young biologists in India: past, present and future by Ron Vale, HHMI and UCSF
Keynote by K VijayRaghavan
Dinner
Day 2: Young Investigators’ Meeting
Breakfast
Science Outreach: Why and How? by LS Shashidhara, IISER Pune
Engaging communities, enabling change by Smita Jain, IndiaBioscience
Talk by organizing committee member by Piyali Mukherjee, Presidency University
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
Tea/Coffee Break
Setting up the breakout sessions
Breakout session for Theme 1: Best practices for recruitment and mentoring of YIs in India
Lunch
Bridging the gap between evidence and policy by Shinjini Bhatnagar, THSTI and Satyajit Rath, Agharkar Research Institute
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
Tea/Coffee Break
Breakout session for Theme 2 : Sharing of resources and collaborations for better science
Poster Session 1
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:
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:
DAY 3: Young Investigators’ Meeting 2018
Breakfast
Talk by organizing committee member – Debasree Dutta
Reports on Breakout session 1 and 2 followed by discussion
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
Tea/Coffee break
Breakout session for Theme 3 : PhD and Post-Doctoral training in India
Lunch
International collaboration opportunity for researchers by Arabinda Mitra, DST
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)
HFSP: Funding International Research Collaborations in the Life Sciences by Barbara Pauly, Director of Fellowships, HFSP
IRMI: India Research Management Initiative by Savita Ayyar, Research Management Consultant, Jaquaranda Tree
Funding Session: Q & A
Tea/coffee break
Biological Research in India: A Historical Perspective and Future Possibilities by S C Lakhotia, BHU, Varanasi
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
Poster Session 2
Cultural Event
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:
DAY 4: Young Investigators’ Meeting 2018
Breakfast
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)
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
Tea/Coffee Break
Breakout session for Theme 4: Future of Indian Biological Science
Lunch
Poster Session 3
Tea/Coffee break
Breakout session 3 and 4 reports followed by discussion
Open discussion: The Future of YIM and role of IndiaBioscience after year 10
Concluding remarks and open comments on collaborations that emerged from the meeting
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.
DAY 5: Young Investigators’ Meeting 2018
Breakfast and Departure