We are past the halfway mark of the year, and as always, IndiaBioscience has many exciting updates and opportunities to share with you. The applications for the 5th IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants (IOG) are closing soon. Hurry up, submit your applications before 15 July 2024.
While the submission window for our brand-new science art competition ‘Create-it!’ has closed, an exciting webinar is in the works to reveal the winners. Stay tuned as we review the entries and finalise the details for the big announcement!
Among other happenings, the iGAP program marches on with insightful 'Voices from the community' articles, alongside compelling content from the Education vertical. If you're interested in contributing an article, producing a podcast, or organising a workshop with us, please reach out at hello[at]indiabioscience[dot]org. Connect with us on social media [X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube] or join our mailing list to stay in the loop.
Stay engaged and enable change. We are delighted to have you as part of our community and hope you enjoy this edition of our newsletter.
Since 2009, IndiaBioscience has hosted the Young Investigators’ Meeting (YIM) series at different locations across India. IndiaBioscience is excited to announce a brochure: ‘16 years of YIM’, that provides a visual overview of this flagship meeting. We hope you enjoy this new release, and stay tuned for more exciting updates about the next YIM!
We're excited to announce that the call for the 5th IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants (IOG) program is now open. The IOG aims to support young investigators, either independently or in collaboration with students, science communicators, science artists, and other life science professionals, in their efforts to bring science to the community. We look forward to receiving your outreach proposals. Hurry up, the application closes on 15 July 2024.
We also hosted an informational webinar to answer your queries and clarifications on IOG. In case you missed the webinar, find the YouTube recording here.
Visit our IOG page to learn more about the grants, meet the awardees, explore articles, join webinars, and more. Check out our newly-updated IOG resources page here.
We need your help to make this compendium even better! If you've received a national or international grant in the last five years, we'd love to hear your insights and success stories. Your experiences can inspire and guide future applicants.
Please take a moment to fill out our short questionnaire. Your contributions will be featured in the updated compendium, which will be available in our resource section.
Thank you for your participation and for helping us create a comprehensive resource for the life science research community!
In a new initiative, IndiaBioscience has launched Create-it! A science-art competition supported by HiMedia Laboratories. With a range of themes from petri art to showcasing science via doodles, we received more than 190 entries from all across India. In addition to an exciting set of prizes, select entries will be featured on our website, social media and in an e-compendium.
The applications for the program are now closed. Keep an eye out for updates on the awardees!
Premas Life Sciences, in collaboration with IndiaBioscience, invites you to join an upcoming webinar on the 'Certification program on Next-Generation OMICS technologies and applications'. This webinar will address the cutting-edge OMICS techniques, offering real-time guidance from Mitali Mukherji, IIT Jodhpur, Praveen Gupta, Premas Life Sciences, Rahul Rameka, Premas Life Sciences and Mohit Mazumder, OmicsLogic India & US. The goal of the PG Diploma course is to bridge the gap between academia and industry by equipping researchers with the latest techniques in sequencing and data analysis.
Taylor & Francis, in partnership with IndiaBioscience, hosted an interactive workshop on Ethics in the age of open science, with a focus on best practices in medical publishing. This workshop addressed expectations in adhering to ethics in medical publishing, scientific reproducibility and patient confidentiality. You can access the full recording of the webinar here.
We've released two new episodes last month in our much-loved series, RADIO PDF, where we hear from postdoctoral researchers across India and abroad.
In the fourth episode, Kartik Totlani, a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway, joins us. You can listen to the episode here.
In the fifth episode, Sangeetha Shyam, a Maria Zambrano Fellow at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, URV, Spain, joins us. You can listen to the episode here.
SCIENCE COMMUNICATION
Starting recently, we bring to you the return of our specially-curated article series: Journey of Young Investigator (JOYI) 2024. JOYI 2024 will feature ten Young Investigators (YIs) who attended YIM 2024, and their journey of doing science in India. We released two articles last month. Scroll down to read them!
Charukesi Rajulu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biotechnology & Bioinformatics at the JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research (JSS AHER), Mysuru. In this fourth article of the Journey Of Young Investigator (JOYI) 2024 series, she shares her journey from an orthodox background, defying societal norms to make space for herself in plant science in Indian academia.
Dhanawantari L. Singha is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Botany at the Rabindranath Tagore University, Hojai, Assam. In this third article of the Journey Of Young Investigator (JOYI) 2024 series, she shares her journey from a small village in Assam, her career aspirations, and the challenges and realities of being a mother in science academia.
In our science communication vertical, we published several columns and news articles last month.
Scroll down to get a glimpse of these articles below!
One Health Bengaluru Initiative, led by the Bengaluru Science and Technology Cluster (BeST), aims to minimise the spread of infectious diseases and benefit the environment by collaborating across several organisations. This multi-sectoral approach will help policymakers make informed decisions to control the spread of diseases and tackle environmental challenges. This article explores how the One Health approach paves the way for a healthier future.
In the heart of Bannerghatta National Park, Karnataka, A Rocha India has introduced the Elephant Anti-Depredation Dog Squad (EaDDS) to tackle rising human-elephant conflicts. Utilising trained Belgian Malinois dogs, this initiative aims to preemptively detect and deter elephants from entering farmlands, fostering harmonious coexistence between communities and wildlife.
A recent study from Project Dhvani — a collaborative research group which uses sounds to study biodiversity — has found how the removal of invasive Lantana from forest patches can affect red-vented bulbul songs. The study provides insights into how the removal of these trees and plants could change the way sounds propagate in forests.
A collaborative study published in Nature Medicine challenges previous notions about dengue severity, revealing a significant association between primary infections and disease severity. Conducted across three hospitals in India, the study underscores the need for a broader approach in dengue vaccine development and suggests potential implications for global vaccine efforts.
IndiaBioscience’s International Grants Awareness Program (iGAP) in partnership with EMBO hosted a webinar on EMBO Fellowships & Funding Opportunities. In this webinar, the speaker, Karin Dumstrei introduced the EMBO postdoctoral fellowships and short-term grants, and gave insights on eligibility and selection criteria. You can watch the entire recording here.
IndiaBioscience’s International Grants Awareness Program (iGAP) in partnership with EMBO organised a webinar on Moving to Open Access and Open Science. The speaker, Bernd Pulverer introduced the concept of Open Access (OA) as a component of Open Science, and discussed the purpose and challenges in transitioning to OA. He also shared insights on OA as a business model. You can watch the recording of this webinar here.
Have you been awarded an international grant? Have you mentored a colleague for their international grant application? We invite stories/anecdotes from Indian life science researchers who have recently or previously been awarded international grants. Your stories could inspire other researchers seeking international funding opportunities. If you are interested in sharing your story or mentorship inputs, please let us know through this form.
Shortlisted stories (with only light editing) will be published on the iGAP webpage. Additionally, you may become a part of our mentor database and get a chance to mentor prospective applicants for international grants.
Scroll down to read the recent 'Voices from the community' article.
We hosted a webinar last month for biology educators on the benefits and limitations of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in teaching and learning. Listen to thoughts on how educators can use these tools creatively in their classrooms, while ensuring that their students do not become over-dependent on them.
What is the living world made up of? In a series of two articles, Vasudev Menon, an Assistant Professor of Biology and Performing Arts (Theatre) at the Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts, Pune, contrasts the way two philosophical views answer this question. He opines that understanding these views would help students place what they study in the ‘life sciences’ in context. This article is the first part of the two-part series.
Are we living ‘beings’? Or are we living ‘becomings’ — constantly changing due to life processes occurring across levels of time and space? In the second (and final) part of this article series, Vasudev Menon, an Assistant Professor of Biology and Performing Arts (Theatre) at the Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts, explains the worldview held by a school of philosophers that is central to understand the diversity and dynamicity of our biosphere.
#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.
Our question for June was: Which topic do you enjoy teaching the most to undergraduate biology students and why?
We launched a special e-compendium for YIs across India, the YI 101: A peer guide for early-career faculty in the life sciences in India. YI 101 is a peer guide for early-career faculty in the life sciences in India. Built to resemble a mountaineer embarking on a climb, the e-compendium discusses common challenges for life scientists in the country, and does so via inputs from peers who have traversed the YI journey recently.
You can download your copy of the free compendium here.
We also launched a booklet last month, Write On — 2023: A science writing competition by IndiaBioscience for students and researchers. The aim of ‘Write On—2023’, a science writing competition by IndiaBioscience, was to encourage diverse popular science writing styles among the younger Life Science researchers in India. This booklet is a compilation of all the articles written by the winners of 'Write On—2023'.
IndiaBioscience is hosting the next virtual book chat from IndiaBioreads with Andrew Moore, author of the book, ‘The Decarbonization Delusion.’ Join us for an engaging conversation on carbon, climate change, and closed-loop bioeconomies on 12 July 2024 from 3-4 pm IST. You can register for the event here.
More at IndiaBioscience
Science Communication talk at Dayananda Sagar University, Bengaluru
Ankita Rathore, Program Manager-Science Communication at IndiaBioscience, delivered a talk on 'ABC of science writing and science communication' to Master's students from the School of Basic and Applied Science at Dayananda Sagar University, Bengaluru. This talk was part of the one-day workshop, 'Communicate Science: Write, Visualise, Publish' organised by the university.
AMR Frontline workshop talk at Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College, Pune
Karishma Kaushik, Executive Director at IndiaBioscience, interacted with medical students at Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College, Pune, as part of a workshop on antimicrobial resistance organised by Superheroes Against Superbugs. How are multiple stakeholders coming together to address AMR? It was an interesting session!
TIFR Centre Heads and Directors’ Meeting
We had the privilege of showcasing the work done by the IndiaBioscience team to TIFR Centre Heads and Directors. Manjula Harikrishna, Program Manager-Community Building, and Rohini Karandikar, Associate Director, presented the IndiaBioscience poster and displayed multiple resources produced by the program.
IndiaBioscience at the WomenLift Health immersion programme
Recently, Karishma Kaushik from IndiaBioscience was selected to be a part of the WomenLift Health programme for mid-career women leaders in India. The cohort from India recently had an immersion week in Goa, where Karishma was a part of the leadership building exercise with 60 other vibrant and dynamic women leaders. Amazing things happen when mid-career women find support in each other!
IndiaBioscience receives a Company of Biologists grant
We are happy to share that IndiaBioscience was recently awarded a scientific meeting grant from the Company of Biologists for a one-of-a-kind virtual seminar series for PhD researchers across India. Stay tuned to know more and be a part of this!
Farewell to Vijeta Raghuram, former Program Manager-Education
This month we say goodbye to Vijeta Raghuram, former Program Manager-Education at IndiaBioscience. After four years at IndiaBioscience, during which Raghuram led the Education vertical among many other contributions, she will be moving into her role as Associate Editor of i wonder… We wish Vijeta all the best in her future professional journey.
Are you following our dedicated thread (#ScienceJobsTuesdays) for jobs, grants and events on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn? And are you subscribed to our monthly Jobs and Internships monthly newsletter? You can subscribe to it here. Let us help you in your search!
We are looking to engage with potential partners for YIM 2025! If you are an institute, university, company, private enterprise, incubation park or a science collective, get in touch with us!
We are always looking for new ways of facilitating the life science ecosystem at large.
