At IndiaBioscience, we have been showcasing stories from scientists as they proceed on their career trajectories, facing challenges, circumventing obstacles and progressing towards their goals. We hope their stories will inspire you to keep moving ahead towards achieving your dreams.
In our JOYI series, we invite YIM attendees to share their experiences and the challenges they faced on their scientific journeys. For instance, Jagadis Gupta Kapuganti wrote about various strategies and ideas that have helped him establish fruitful national and international collaborations, while Himanshu Shekhar wrote about the importance of learning and applying strategic management skills when a researcher is first setting up his/her independent lab. Our 2020 compendium of articles can be accessed here.
If you have attended our Young Investigators’ Meetings (YIMs) in the past, and have an interesting story to tell, please send in a pitch of 100-200 words to hello@indiabioscience.org with ‘Pitch for JOYI 2022’ as the subject. Selected stories will be published as a compendium as part of our 14th Young Investigators’ Meeting 2022.
The deadline for application to YIM 2022 has been extended till 4 March. Do apply (if eligible) and encourage eligible young investigators and postdoctoral fellows in your network to apply for this meeting. It is a unique opportunity to build a community of peers and mentors.
We are also co-hosting, along with IGNITE Life Science Foundation and CACTUS Communications, a live online series where we explore the lives and work of scientists, in an informal chat session called IN CONVERSATION with IGNITE. We kick-start this series on National Science Day 2022 with a conversation with Ajit Varki, Distinguished Professor of Medicine, and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, at UCSD and Executive Co-Director of the UCSD/Salk Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny. Please note the date is 28 February and register here.
We wish you to remain safe while enjoying all our articles, podcasts, and webinars, and tell us what you think of them through your comments. You can write to us at hello@indiabioscience.org and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
If you wish to write for us in our news and columns sections, email us a brief description of your story in ~100-200 words. To get instant updates of our upcoming podcasts, please subscribe to our IndiaBiospeaks podcast channel on Spotify and other popular podcast apps. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to enjoy all webinars in one place and to our newsletter to get the latest updates. We have something exciting coming up for those interested in outreach and public engagement practice. Stay updated about our outreach and public engagement initiatives/activities by signing up for our dedicated outreach newsletter here.
Scroll down for highlights of our recent activities.
UPCOMING DEADLINES
Human Frontier Science Program
The International Grants Awareness Program (iGAP) aims to improve the success rate of Indians applying for international funding opportunities, some of which have India’s contributions.
Of the funding schemes we have covered in detail, the applications for Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) schemes are open presently. A compilation of resources to assist you in building a strong HFSP application can be found here. The deadline for application is 25 March.
ASAPbio Fellows program
The ASAPbio Fellows program is an eight-month program that provides participants with tools and skills to drive discussions about the productive use of preprints in the life sciences.
The participants will engage in a schedule of activities that include monthly sessions on different preprint topics and the development of a preprint-related project. One of the initiatives that the 2022 Fellows will help drive forward is a campaign to raise awareness and recognition of preprints in India. Indian researchers are invited to join the program and contribute to this campaign. Applications are now open, until 25 March. Read more at asapbio.org/join-the-2022-asapbio-fellows-program.
Do bacteria derive benefits by living in diverse communities? How is this important for ecological balance? Jithin Sunny, a PhD scholar in the Department of Biotechnology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, has often wondered about the philosophical takeaways from his research on bacterial population study. Together with Bins Sebastian, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy, Madras Christian College, Chennai, he discusses a vital question ‘Can an invisible yet significant group of living organisms give us lessons on our society and the interactions within?’
Talk To A Scientist (TTAS) is a weekly webinar platform for children aged 6-16 years. TTAS is also an awardee of the 1st IndiaBioscience Outreach Grant. In this article, Joel uncovers the journey, experiences, logistics, highs and lows of running an outreach program intended for children in India.
In the third article as part of community voices for international grants and fellowships, Preeti shares her journey to becoming a Newton Bhabha Fellow, going from Jawaharlal Nehru University to Cambridge University - a labour of love for a protein.
Problem-based learning is a pedagogical approach that enables students to learn scientific concepts in real-life contexts. In this article, Lakshmy Ramakrishnan, a researcher and educator, elaborates on this approach with examples and explains why it is so useful.
In this webinar, digital literary expert Charu Dogra Rawat discusses initiatives and strategies pertaining to digital education recommended in the National Education Policy 2020, and the roles of various stakeholders in realising these recommendations. The recording of the webinar can be found here.
We continue to update this interactive map/table showing the geo-distribution of life science researchers in India. The data that populates this resource is collected from a survey among the life scientists in India and published here with their informed consent. If you are a life scientist in India and if you would like to be featured on this database, please fill this form.
FROM THE COMMUNITY
DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance survey report
Along with Deepa Subramanyam, Scientist E, National Centre for Cell Science, Monk Prayogshala studied the impacts of COVID-19 on the Indian STEM ecosystem. This project was funded by the DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance. The executive summary of the findings are available here and the full report is available here.
