Welcome to our first newsletter of 2024. We're thrilled to be back with updates, opportunities, and news for our life science community.
Last year, we successfully concluded four Regional Young Investigators' Meetings (RYIM) in Lucknow, Srinagar, Bhubaneswar, and Kolkata. As we continue into this year, we're excited to wrap up our RYIMs with three more meetings scheduled in Pilani, Hyderabad and Pune.
Our highly anticipated 16th Young Investigators' Meeting (YIM 2024) is just around the corner, scheduled from 11 to 15 March 2024, in the city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, nestled in the heart of India.
On that note, we are always looking for ways to engage with you! If you'd like to contribute an article, produce a podcast or organise a joint event with us, drop an email at hello[at]indiabioscience[dot]org. You can also connect with us on social media (X/formerly Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube) and join our mailing list to stay in the loop.
At IndiaBioscience, we understand the challenge of balancing career growth and childcare. We're excited to announce that we are awarding eight childcare grants (INR 15,000) for YIM 2024 participants and co-organisers. Please stay updated by visiting the YIM 2024 website.
The Regional Young Investigators’ Meeting (RYIM) Hyderabad will be held on 02-03 February 2024. The event will be hosted at Mahindra University, Hyderabad as a multi-institutional effort with organisers from IKP Knowledge Park, University of Hyderabad, DBT-CDFD, DBT-NIAB, TIFR Hyderabad, Osmania University, and Malla Reddy Dental College. With the theme ‘Industry academia collaborations to translate research to product’, this 2-day meeting will bring a series of scientific talks, poster presentations and professional development discussions. The IndiaBioscience team will lead a Crafting Your Career (CYC) workshop on 03 February 2024.
You can find more details about the meeting here. The last day to register is 14 January 2024. So, apply soon. We look forward to seeing you at RYIM Hyderabad!
The Regional Young Investigators’ Meeting (RYIM) Pune will be conducted across two days from 16 to 17 February 2024, along with a Crafting Your Career (CYC) workshop on 15 February 2024. With the theme, ‘Opportunities and Challenges for the Young Investigators in Interdisciplinary Medical Research,’ the event is being organised at the Bharati Vidyapeeth deemed to be University Medical College, Pune as a multi-institutional effort with the organisers from National Centre for Cell Sciences, Savitribai Phule Pune University, and ICMR-National AIDS Research Institute, Pune. You can find more details about the meeting here.
The last day to register is 30 January 2024, so apply soon. We look forward to seeing you at RYIM Pune 2024!
We extend our gratitude to all who participated in our giveaway contest to receive a free print copy of the Research Ethics and Integrity infographic by IndiaBioscience. The photographs featuring the poster you shared brought us immense joy. We'd love to hear about how the infographic has proven useful to you. Your comments and encouragement motivate us to bring more resources to your laboratories and classrooms.
The IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants (IOG) are designed to nurture a network of independent researchers passionate about engaging in outreach endeavours and collaborating with diverse communities, including students, science communicators, artists, NGOs, and educators. Over the past four years, we've curated an extensive repository of the community engagement and outreach resources built by IOG awardees. These resources serve as a testament to the impactful contributions made by the grant recipients, fostering meaningful connections between the scientific community and society at large. Enjoy exploring!
Our ninth YI Huddle is around the corner. We will host SS Meera from NIMHANS, Bangalore, and Nikita Mehra, Cancer Institute, Adyar, Chennai, along with interlocutor Madhura Kulkarni from Prashanti Cancer Care Mission, Pune for a discussion on ‘Beyond samples and data sets: Building academia-clinic collaborations’. The huddle will focus on what clinical collaborations should look like, how they can be leveraged to impact patient outcomes, funding for clinical collaborations, and scientific and medical ethics in academia-clinic collaborations. So, mark your calendars for 19 January 2024, 4:00 to 5:00 P.M. IST.
While this webinar series is primarily intended for Young Investigators in India, it is open to everyone. To register, click here. We are eager to engage with you!
As part of scientific talk #5 of ‘Big Questions, Innovative Approaches’, we will host Elly Tanaka, Senior Group Leader, Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter, Vienna, Austria. In her talk titled, “Revving up research on regeneration,” she will take us through her scientific journey and highlight the importance of systemic studies in regenerative biology.
See you 23 January 2024, 4:00 to 5:00 P.M. IST! To register, click here.
We recently released the next podcast from the new series, ‘Carbon Chronicles’, which delves into the fascinating world of the CARBON exhibit at Science Gallery Bengaluru (SGB), exploring how it bridges the gap between natural, human, social sciences, and the arts. For the fourth podcast, we interviewed science-essayist, Ursula Biemann (Exhibit: Deep Weather). The podcast is titled ‘Meet Ursula Biemann.’
We are excited to announce that five new episodes of RADIO PDF were released in the last year. Check out RADIO PDF podcasts and listen to the experiences and career trajectories of postdoctoral researchers in India.
We bring to you a new series ‘Podcast Inception’, where we will chat with science podcasters in India (a podcast with podcasters!) about the nuances of recording a science podcast and their journeys into podcasting. The first podcast in this series features ‘India Asks Why’, one of the awardees of the IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants.
We express our gratitude for the tremendous response to 'Write On—2023', the science writing competition by IndiaBioscience. The application for the competition has now closed. We will announce the winners on 28 February 2024, so stay tuned!
COLUMNS
In our science communication vertical, we published several columns and news articles last month.
Scroll down to get a glimpse of these articles below!
This article by Eisha Mhatre, The Experimentalist, explores the idea of scientists using improvisation tools to enhance their communication skills and approaching creative ways to bridge the gap between science and society. Eisha also shares her experiences with improv and how it helped her overcome the communication challenges during her scientific journey.
In this PhD café article, Karishma S Kaushik, IndiaBioscience, recounts her transformative experience at an American Society for Microbiology (ASM) conference during her PhD, highlighting mentorship, networking, and professional growth. She emphasises the conference’s value beyond scientific input, offering tips for maximising benefits, including attending diverse sessions, and following up post the event.
The second Regional Young Investigators’ Meeting (RYIM) 2023 – 2024 took place at University of Kashmir, Srinagar, from 19 to 21 September 2023. RYIM Srinagar offered a vibrant platform for early-career researchers and scientists with the theme, ‘Igniting curiosity and training young scientists of J&K for a sustainable future.’ In this article, IndiaBioscience team highlights the key takeaways from the CYC workshop held at RYIM Srinagar.
A recent collaborative study led by Giriraj R Chandak, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, examined height differences among children in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared to high-income countries (HICs). They discovered that besides genetic factors, epigenetic modifications, particularly in the SOCS3 gene, significantly influence height, showing potential implications for childhood interventions to reduce future non-communicable disease risks.
Recognising pioneering minds in prominent fields of science, Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) has announced the winners of the Infosys Prize 2023 in six categories. The Infosys Prize stands as one of the prestigious awards for research and innovation in India, fostering meaningful engagement around science and society.
Researchers from CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi, India, and the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris, France, recently discovered ARL8B (ADP-ribosyltransferase (Arf)-like 8), a small GTPase acting as the initial mediator of lysosome-dependent lipid degradation in human macrophages. The findings suggest implications for conditions involving lipid accumulation, such as fatty liver disease and atherosclerosis, expanding research interests in this field.
In this new series, leading up to Young Investigators’ Meeting (YIM) 2024, researchers who have attended YIMs from the past tell us about what it was like for them back then, what they took away from the experience, how things have changed, their ideas for future YIMs, and tips for the newest generation of life scientists gearing up for their first meeting.
Kavita Babu is a neurobiologist at the Centre for Neuroscience at Indian Institute of Science (IISc),Bengaluru. In this interview, she shares her YIM experience with Nandita Jayaraj.
IndiaBioscience collaborated with Tayor and Francis to conduct a three-day virtual workshop from 12-14 December 2023 on “From Funding to Communicating Science”. Participants interacted with experts on three themes– manuscript writing, grant writing and research sharing. It was attended by PhD researchers, postdoctoral fellows and early career faculty. Each part of the workshop included tasks for the participants to work on. A Q&A session followed each part of the series.
Our International Grants Awareness Program (iGAP) is aimed at creating awareness on, and building skills for, international grants in life science research. We are pleased to announce that we will be re-starting our iGAP newsletter soon. If you would like to stay updated on international grants, fellowships, and grant writing, and interact with mentors and writing experts, you can subscribe to this newsletter.
If you are a researcher in India in the life sciences who has or has previously been awarded an international grant, we would like to hear from you about your experiences, tips and anecdotes. Your story might inspire other researchers seeking international grants. If you are interested in sharing your stories, please let us know through this form.
If your story is shortlisted, it will be published on the International Grants Awareness Program webpage. Additionally, you may get added to iGAP’s mentor database and get a chance to mentor prospective applicants for international grants. Click here to read previously published stories.
DATA AND POLICY
#PolicyWednesday on first Wednesday of every month
This is the fourth post from our latest initiative to engage policy enthusiasts on social media, #PolicyWednesday. On the first Wednesday of every month, we will post a question for you on all of our social media handles. We invite you to post your answers, see the responses by others, and enjoy the thread of conversation.
The question for this month is about 'DIY Biology’. The citizen science-driven movement of do-it-yourself synthetic biology fuels innovation and the economy, but concerns arise from a lack of regulations and safety training. Do the risks outweigh the innovations?
We released our third Data and Policy video from the ‘IndiaBiosnippets’ series last month. In this video, Nimita Pandey from The Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Ahmedabad, talks about the importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in Indian science.
You can watch the entire video here on our YouTube channel.
Educators strive to make their classes more engaging for their students. In this article, a PhD student at The Maharaja Sayaji Rao University of Baroda, who dons the hat of an educator for a postgraduate neuroscience course, adds a flavour of pop culture to her pedagogy to make the class entertaining and relatable too.
Tests and examinations can be stressful to students and do not necessarily result in deeper learning. In this article, Rama Akondy, an Associate Professor of Biology from Ashoka University describes an open assignment that stimulated creativity and motivation to learn the subject among her students.
#EDUCATORSMONDAY
On the last Monday of every month, we post a question for educators on all of our social media handles. We invite you to post your answers, see responses by others, and enjoy the threads of conversation. The question for the month of December 2023 was: Name your favourite conference or meeting for Educators in 2023?
On December 19, 2023, we hosted a webinar featuring Gita Mathur as the speaker, discussing the role of teachers in instilling scientific temper in college biology students. The webinar was targeted towards educators teaching biology at the undergraduate level, but scientists, students and other science professionals might enjoy it too. Watch the recording of the webinar here.
While reading the science is a simple way to evaluate a scientists’ work, the increasing focus on numerical metrics and citation indices to evaluate scientific productivity appears to have backfired. Karishma Kaushik writes for The Hindu in this fifth article of the series titled, ‘Counting scientists’ productivity with numbers undermines science’, with examples drawn from life sciences that point out the deep flaws in these bean-counting efforts.
In December 2023, Nature released a comprehensive collection on India, with a focus on how science and technology is powering India’s growth. The collection hosts an array of articles that includes features on frontier areas in science in India (renewable energy), long-standing scientific challenges (antimicrobial resistance), world-class research pursuits in the country, and India’s efforts to combat brain drain.
