Programme

Similar to the earlier editions, this meeting will be divided into two parts. The first part — Young Investigators’ Meeting (YIM) will commence from the afternoon of 14 February 2020. This will feature:

1. Mentor talks by internationally renowned scientists both from India and abroad

2. Panel discussions and breakout sessions on various topics pertinent to young researchers

3. Young Investigator (YI) and Postdoctoral Fellow (PDF) poster presentations and group activities with time to interact and network

4. Special Talks

The Postdoctoral Fellows (PDF) Satellite Meeting will begin from 17 February 2020 for all postdoctoral attendees and directors/​vice chancellors/​institutional representatives of various institutions and universities. For a day and a half, there will be networking sessions, short talks by the directors/​vice chancellors and talks by PDFs. The PDFs also get a chance to present their posters.

PDF participants are expected to stay for the complete duration of the meeting (YIM and PDF Satellite Meeting) from 14 – 18 February 2020, while YI participants to attend the entire duration of the main YI meeting (14−16 February 2020).

14 February

DAY 1: Young Investigators’ Meeting 2020

  • 12.00 - 14.30

    Lunch


  • 14.30 - 14.45

    Welcome Note by Athi Narayanan N (YIM 2020 Organiszer)


  • 14.45 - 15.10

    Keynote address by Renu Swarup, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi + Launch of Disha - A Career Resource Book for Life Science and Biotechnology Students


  • 15.10 - 15.45

    Mentor Talk-1/ EMBO Global Lecture: Microtubule organisation and dynamics: from cells to single molecules by Anna Akhmanova, Utrecht University, Netherlands


  • 15.45 - 16.15

    Mentor Talk-2/ EMBO Global Lecture: A little fly and big questions can keep you busy throughout your career by Elisabeth Knust, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany


  • 16.15 - 16.40

    Tea/Coffee


  • 16.40 - 17.00

    Special Talk: Engaging Communities, Enabling Change by Smita Jain, IndiaBioscience, Bangalore


  • 17.00 - 18.15

    Panel Discussion-1: Translational Research (Moderator: Taslimarif Saiyed, C-CAMP and Panelist: Jugnu Jain, Sapien Bio; Guhan Jayaraman, IIT-M; Anil Prabhakar, IIT-M)


  • 18:15 - 19.45

    YI Poster Session (20 YIs with even numbers)


  • 19.45 onwards

    Dinner on the lawn

15 February

DAY 2: Young Investigators’ Meeting 2020

  • 09.00 - 09.30

    Mentor Talk-3: Codes for the making of a rice flowering stem by Usha Vijayraghavan, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore


  • 09.30 - 10.00

    Mentor Talk-4: What I talk about when I talk about biology by Gautam Menon, Ashoka University, Sonipat & The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai


  • 10.00 - 10.30

    Mentor Talk-5: Adaptive Evolution of a Researcher in Indian Academia by Guhan Jayaraman, Indian Institutes of Technology Madras, Chennai


  • 10.30 - 11.00

    Tea/Coffee


  • 11.00 - 11.30

    Mentor Talk-6: The Chaos between the intention of becoming a scientist and being one by Maitrayee DasGupta, University of Calcutta, Kolkata


  • 11.30 - 13.00

    Panel Discussion-2: Funding for Science in India (Moderator: Aravindhan Vivekanandhan, University of Madras and Panelist: Meenakshi Munshi, DBT; Shahid Jameel, Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance; Balachandar Venkatesan, SERB; Maitrayee DasGupta, University of Calcutta)


  • 13.00 - 13.50

    Lunch


  • 13.50 - 15.20

    Breakout Session-1: Getting started Part 1 (Setting up labs and lab management, Picking up the right research question)


  • 15.20 - 16.45

    YI Poster Session with Tea/Coffee (YIs with odd numbers)


  • 16.45 - 17.15

    Mentor Talk-7/ EMBO Global Lecture: Centrosomes in Development, Disease and Evolution by Monica Bettencourt-Dias, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Portugal


  • 17.15 - 18.00

    Keynote: Biology across scale- should we reconfigure our approach by K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, New Delhi


  • 18.00 - 19.30

    EMBO Grants Awareness Workshop (Moderator: Shantala Hari Dass, IndiaBioscience and Panelists: Shahid Jameel, Wellcome Trust/ DBT India Alliance; Gerlind Wallon, EMBO; Vaishnavi Ananthanarayan, IISc; Santosh Chauhan, ILS; Satyajit Mayor, NCBS)


  • 19.30 onwards

    Banquet Dinner on the lawn

16 February

DAY 3: Young Investigators’ Meeting 2020

  • 09.00 - 09.30

    Special Talk: Why and how to integrate research and education by LS Shashidhara, Ashoka University, Sonipat & Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, Pune


  • 09.30 - 10.00

    Mentor Talk-8: Balancing act of modern age women by Shakila H, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai


  • 10.00 - 11.15

    Panel Discussion-3: Science Outreach & Communication (Moderator: Gautam Menon, Ashoka University & IMSc and Panelist: Shakila H, MKU; Elisabeth Knust, MPI-CBG; Kollegala Sharma, CFTRI; Dinabandhu Sahoo, University of Delhi; Priyanka Pulla, Freelance Journalist)


  • 11.15 - 11.45

    Tea/Coffee


  • 11.45 - 12.15

    Mentor Talk-9: Joys and Confusions of Being a Scientist at the ‘Interface’ by Sudipta Maiti, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai


  • 12.15 - 12.45

    Mentor Talk-10: Revisiting the journey towards an independent researcher by AK Munirajan, University of Madras, Chennai


  • 12.45 - 13.45

    Lunch


  • 13.45 - 15.00

    Breakout Session-2: Getting started Part 2 (Research ethics, Research output, Peer recognition)


  • 15.00 - 17.00

    PDF Poster Session with Tea/Coffee


  • 17.00 - 17.30

    Scientific Publishing - An informal discussion by led by Anna Akhmanova, Utrecht University, Netherlands


  • 17.30 - 18.30

    Panel Discussion-4: Breaking Barriers in Science (Moderator: Rashna Bhandari, CDFD and Panelist: Sudipta Maiti, TIFR; AK Munirajan, University of Madras; Anna Akhmanova, Utrecht University; Mónica Bettencourt-Dias, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência; Usha Vijayraghavan, IISc


  • 18.30 - 18.45

    Special Talk: Special Talk: A decade of recognizing the best contemporary research and science by Bhavna Mehra, Infosys Science Foundation, Bangalore


  • 18.45 - 19.00

    Summary by Aravindhan Vivekanandhan (YIM 2020 Organiser)


  • 19.00 - 19.30

    Closing remarks by Satyajit Mayor, National Center for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru


  • 19.30 onwards

    Dinner

17 February

DAY 4: PDF Satellite Meeting

  • 09.00 - 09.10

    Introduction to The PDF Satellite Meeting by Rashna Bhandari, CDFD, Hyderabad


  • 09.10 - 10.10

    Institutional Talks Session 1 (LS Shashidhara, Ashoka University; Raghu Padinjat, NCBS; Subhash Lakhotia, BHU; Saikrishnan Kayarat; IISER Pune; V Aravindhan, University of Madras; Rashna Bhandari, CDFD)


  • 10.10 - 11.00

    PDF Talks Session 1 (10 PDFs talk - 5 mins each)


  • 10.50 - 11.20

    Tea/Coffee


  • 11.20 - 12.10

    Institutional Talks Session 2 (Govindan Rangarajan, IISc; Ranjith Padinhateeri, IIT Bombay; Pragasam V, VIT; R. Sankar, IIT Kanpur; BJ Rao, IISER Tirupati)


  • 12.10 - 13.00

    PDF Talks Session 2 (10 PDFs talk - 5 mins each)


  • 13.10 - 14.00

    Lunch


  • 14.00 - 14.50

    PDF Talks Session 3 (10 PDFs talk - 5 mins each)


  • 14.50 - 15.40

    Institutional Talks Session 3 (Apurva Sarin, InStem;Pushkar Sharma, NII; Pennathur Gautam, Anna University; Guhan Jayaraman, IIT Madras; Himanshu Sinha, IBSE IIT Madras)


  • 15.40 - 16.20

    PDF Talks Session 4 (10 PDFs talk - 5 mins each)


  • 16.20 - 18.20

    PDF Poster Session with Tea/Coffee


  • 19.30 onwards

    Dinner and informal discussion

18 February

DAY 5: PDF Satellite Meeting

  • 09.00 - 10.00

    Institutional Talks Session 4 (Yogendra Sharma, IISER Berhampur; Neeraj Jain, NBRC; Chandan Goswami, NISER; Vivek Tanavde, Ahmedabad University; Roop Mallik, TIFR)


  • 10.00 - 11.30

    PDF Poster Session with Tea/Coffee


  • 11.20 - 12.20

    PDF-Institutional Heads Open Session (Moderated by Roop Mallik, TIFR / Rashna Bhandari, CDFD)


  • 12.20 - 12.45

    Closing remarks to the PDF Satellite Meeting by Roop Mallik, TIFR


  • 12.45 onwards

    Interaction with Institutional Heads, lunch and departure