We are a weekend away from the 16th Young Investigators' Meeting (YIM 2024), scheduled from 11 to 15 March 2024, in the city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. This YIM is unique in many ways: in addition to mentor talks and special talks, we have specially-curated workshops for YIs and PDFs, a live science exhibit, the newly-added childcare grants, a dedicated talk on novel pedagogical approaches, and the inclusion of two international mentors from the Global South (Bangladesh and Chile).
Further, at YIM 2024, YIs will present their research work as posters and PDFs will have an opportunity to give short yet impactful lightning talks. Together, we hope that YIM 2024 will offer YIs and PDFs a valuable platform to understand the opportunities, challenges and unique rewards of doing science in India.
We also concluded our last Regional Young Investigators' Meetings (RYIM) 2023-2024 in Pune in February 2024. With this, IndiaBioscience has supported seven regional meetings across India in 2023-2024. The RYIM grants will reopen for applications in April-May 2024 for meetings across 2024-2025. So if you are an independent researcher, start thinking about how you can team up to organise a regional meeting in your city!
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 webinar 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.
With YIM 2024 round the corner, team IndiaBioscience takes this opportunity to extend a warm welcome to our attendees. We are excited about hosting 40 Young Investigators from India and 40 postdoctoral fellows from across India and the world, along with a stellar list of mentors, speakers, life science professionals, and communicators. YIM 2024 will host an exciting lineup of mentor talks, special talks, and workshops, which will serve as an overview of academic research, cutting-edge industry developments, research ethics, science communication and journalism, and funding opportunities in the life sciences in India. Check out the diverse locations of the YIs and PDFs at YIM 2024!
We also had a virtual pre-event for shortlisted YIs and PDFs to help them make the most of their YIM opportunity. It was just the right start for the big week to follow!
This year, we have also published a comprehensive database of postdoctoral fellows attending YIM 2024. If you are an institutional representative or looking to invite prospective faculty to your university, this database can offer some leads! Further, select talks and sessions from YIM 2024 will be uploaded to our YouTube channel after the meeting, so keep an eye out for them!
Finally, as you can see from these 'behind-the-scenes' photos from our office, we are brimming with excitement!
The seventh (and last) of the RYIMs for 2023-2024, Regional Young Investigators’ Meeting (RYIM) Pune was held at Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed to be University on 16 to 17 February 2024, with a pre-meeting Crafting Your Career (CYC) workshop conducted by Karishma Kaushik from IndiaBioscience on 15 February. With the theme, ‘Opportunities and Challenges for the Young Investigators in Interdisciplinary Medical Research,’ the event was organised at the Bharati Vidyapeeth deemed to be University Medical College, Pune as a multi-institutional effort with organisers from National Centre for Cell Sciences, Savitribai Phule Pune University, and ICMR-National AIDS Research Institute, Pune. At the meeting, Kaushik also gave an overview of the various programmes at IndiaBioscience and in particular, focused on how medical professionals and public health researchers could leverage these initiatives. Stay tuned for an in-depth article on this meeting, and in the meantime check out some of the meeting photos!
COMMUNITY BUILDING
New IndiaBioscience Brochure
We updated our brochure highlighting the latest initiatives and activities at IndiaBioscience! Flip through the pages for more information on what's new at IndiaBioscience.
IndiaBioscience stall at Campus@25 at NCBS
IndiaBioscience actively participated in the celebration of campus@25 at National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru with a vibrant stall. The event featured the presence of Bharat Ratna awardee CNR Rao, along with K VijayRaghavan, LS Shashidhara, and Satyajit Mayor, who shared their anecdotes and discussed NCBS' journey over the past 25 years!
Manjula Harikrishna, Program Manager of Community Building, represented IndiaBioscience and engaged with students, teachers, and early career researchers. She shared freely downloadable resources and encouraged visitors to explore our website. Her interactions showcased IndiaBioscience's commitment to fostering community engagement within the life science community in India.
As a part of YI Huddle 11, we will host Shambhavi Naik, Takshashila Institution along with interlocutor Surat Parvatam, Humane Society International. The webinar is titled, ‘Science and Policy: How can YI’s get involved?’ So, mark your calendars for 28 March 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!
Last month, as a part of YI Huddle 10, we hosted Sarah Iqbal, FAST India and Arnab Bhattacharya, TIFR Mumbai, along with interlocutor Mayuri Rege, HBCSE, TIFR Mumbai. The webinar was titled, ‘Going full circle: How and why of public engagement, citizen science and outreach.’ You can catch the YouTube recording here.
As part of our ongoing podcast series ‘Podcast Inception’, we chat with science podcasters in India and across the world (a podcast with podcasters!) about the nuances of recording a science podcast and their journeys into podcasting.
The fifth episode of this series featured Mahima Samraik from Cactus - Impact Science. And in our final episode of the series, we looked at the journeys of all our featured science podcasters, featuring snippets from all episodes! It's a mixtape of inspiration and insights.
Our collaboration with India Science Festival brings you a special podcast series! We've released a pre-event podcast with the organising team of the festival, titled 'Unveiling the essence of India Science Festival.' You can tune in to the discussion between Arushi Batra and Shriya Naidu and Utsav Thapliyal from ISF 2024 here.
The second episode of the series, titled 'Speaking science to all: Insights from Lewis Hou,' explores novel ways of engaging with science through music and art, all while keeping the community in mind. Hou was a special invitee at ISF 2024. Listen to the episode here.
#ThrowbackThursday
Every Thursday, we showcase a previous IndiaBioscience article, column, webinar, or podcast through a weekly post on social media. The post from the last month that garnered interest was: 'How likely is it that someone setting out to make an energy-rich food supplement would go looking in a cockroach’s gut?'
Take a moment to revisit this column piece titled 'Curiosity, Crystals, Cockroaches' by former IndiaBioscience team member Harini Barath.
On behalf of IndiaBioscience, we are delighted to extend our warmest congratulations to winners of the 'Write On—2023' science writing competition, announced on the special occasion of #NationalScienceDay2024!
Winners of the first and second prizes in each category will receive cash prizes of INR 5k and 3k, respectively. Also, the five additional prizes will be awarded special prizes. We will be publishing all the winning stories on the IndiaBioscience website in the coming months.
Thank you for participating, and to all applicants who sent in an entry — keep writing!
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!
The 16th Young Investigators’ Meeting (YIM 2024) is scheduled to take place from 11 to 15 March 2024 in central India at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. We interviewed the YIM 2024 organisers: Karishma Kaushik, IndiaBioscience; Lipi Thukral, IGIB, New Delhi; Ragothaman M. Yennamalli, SASTRA Deemed to be University; Varun Chaudhary, IISER Bhopal; and IndiaBioscience team. We asked them a few questions about the upcoming meeting, and here is what they had to say.
Challenging stereotypes and carving paths through adversity, the book ‘Women in the Wild’ narrates the awe-inspiring tales of female biologists who defy gender biases and navigate daunting terrains. In this book review, Devanshi Gupta shares their stories not only to celebrate achievements but also to beckon a future where diversity and dedication triumph in the realm of field biology.
Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellowships program aims to support the return of early-career life scientists (with at least three years of international postdoctoral training) to India. This article highlights the several modifications this program has undergone, reflective of the need to align with the changing needs and challenges of life science research in India.
Researchers based at the National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi, and Yenepoya University, Mangalore, have uncovered the crucial role of Protein kinase 2 (PfPK2) in malarial parasite development and invasion of host red blood cells, offering insights for potential therapeutic strategies. Depleting PfPK2 resulted in reduced invasion of host erythrocytes by the parasite and impaired its maturation in the host maturation, highlighting it as a promising target for new malaria drugs.
Researchers from National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR) have uncovered how plant cells attacked by insects communicate distress to other cells of the plant. In the first 5 – 10 minutes after the attack, a spike in calcium levels and the plant immune protein Plant Elicitor Peptide Receptor (PEPR) amplifies the damage signal, as plants brace for insect attack. The findings of this study can pave the way for protecting crops from pests.
Climate change, propelled by human activities, presents a substantial threat to insect populations worldwide, impacting their behavior, fitness, and distribution. Subhash Rajpurohit and his research group at Ahmedabad University, Gujarat, emphasises the vulnerability of ectothermic insects to fluctuating temperatures and humidity levels. His lab’s work offers insights into the intricate relationship between environmental stress, dehydration, and insect reproductive success within the context of climate change.
Researchers from the Institute For Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (InStem), Bangalore, have identified a key protein- Lysine specific histone demethylase (LSD1) that enables the development of higher order cognition centres in the human brain. These findings shed light on the evolution of intelligence in humans and may also help us understand neurodevelopment disorders such as autism.
The fifth Regional Young Investigators’ Meeting (RYIM) 2023 – 2024 took place at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani, Rajasthan from 18 to 20 January 2024. In spite of the freezing cold and foggy weather, the meeting saw a large number of attendees including mentors, young investigators, and students from all parts of the country. In this article, Rohini Karandikar shares her experience at the RYIM.
The day-long SciComm Huddle at the recent India Science Festival (ISF) 2024, held on 19 January 2024 at IISER Pune, marked the first in-person SciComm Huddle. It addressed the current state of science communication (SciComm) in India, with a focus on SciComm’s scope, institutional roles, capacity building, and the interface with media, emphasising the need for strategic discussions, diversity, innovative approaches, and rigorous research in the 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.
Smita Jain is an Associate Director at Cactus Communications, and previously the Executive Director of IndiaBioscience. In this interview, she shares her YIM experience with Nandita Jayaraj.
Crafting Your Career (CYC workshop) for medical professionals and public health researchers
Karishma Kaushik from IndiaBioscience conducted a ‘Crafting Your Career’ (CYC) workshop at RYIM Pune for a pre-selected group of students and researchers in public health, biotechnology, and medicine. Notably, this was the first time the CYC workshop had been conducted for a group of medical or allied health professionals, and it was interesting to observe that the career exploration exercises built into the CYC workshop, such as identifying one’s skills, interests and values, and strength mapping of skills, were relevant and well-received by students of medical and public health.
Want to conduct an in-person or virtual CYC workshop at your institute or university? Write to us at hello[at]indiabioscience[dot]org!
IndiaBioscience’s iGAP in partnership with the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) hosted a webinar on the EMBO Young Investigator Programme (EMBO YIP). Gerlind Wallon, programme head of the EMBO YIP introduced the participants to the EMBO YIP and other EMBO funding and networking opportunities. Gaurav Ahuja and Siddhesh Kamat– two EMBO Young Investigators from India shared their motivations, experiences during the application process, and messages to Indian early career researchers regarding the EMBO YIP. Karim Labib, Professor at University of Dundee and former selection committee member presented insights on the selection criteria for the EMBO YIP.
The countdown to YIM 2024 has begun! iGAP is happy to announce that two talks by YIM mentors– Frederic Berger and Cesar A. Ramirez-Sarmiento will be delivered as EMBO Global Lecture Series Talks. These will be uploaded on IndiaBioscience’s Youtube channel. Follow our social media handles X/formerly Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook for more updates on iGAP at YIM 2024!
Our International Grants Awareness Program (iGAP) is aimed at creating awareness about, and building skills for international grants in life science research. We are pleased to announce that we have re-started our iGAP newsletters. The first of the bimonthly newsletters of the year was published recently. 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.
International grants open to life science researchers from India
IndiaBioscience’s iGAP recently launched a social media campaign to feature two networking and skill-building opportunities by the EMBO– the EMBO Scientific Exchange Grants and the EMBO Women in Science Lectures. Both the opportunities have applications open throughout the year. Keep an eye on this space in our upcoming newsletters for more updates on EMBO for Indian life science researchers!
DATA AND POLICY
#PolicyWednesday on first Wednesday of every month
This is the sixth 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 responses by others, and enjoy the thread of conversation.
The question for this month is about 'Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)’. Given the benefits and risks associated with GMOs, how should India regulate GMOs?
We released our fifth Data and Policy video from the ‘IndiaBiosnippets’ series last month. In this video from our Data and Policy vertical, Suryesh Namdeo, Visiting Scholar, DST- CPR, IISc, Bangalore, talks about the importance of biosafety and biosecurity in India.
You can watch the entire video on our YouTube channel here.
India recently announced the interim Union Budget for 2024-2025. This is an opportune time to revisit this comprehensive infographic and analysis by IndiaBioscience, which profiles science and technology in India’s annual budget across five years (2019-2024). Do share your thoughts with us!
When someone learns to cook, they also learn some rules that are never to be broken. Are these rules backed by science? Can we test them using some simple experiments? What can undergraduate students and faculty learn from these experiments? Why are they valuable to science education? In this article, Vijeta Raghuram, the Programme Manager — Education at IndiaBioscience reflects on these questions based on her experiences at a workshop.
Conferences offer opportunities for scientists to share their work, get feedback for it, and find new avenues of exploration. The Science Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC) hosted by Azim Premji University in December 2023 offered this experience to undergraduate students from across India pursuing science research. In this article, one of the organisers of the conference shares how students at this stage of education can benefit from such events.
Write for us
If you want to share your pedagogical adventures with educators across the country, discuss current teaching practices and education policies, or shed light on novel approaches that can enhance student learning, write for our Education vertical. You can send a 100-word pitch to hello[at]indiabioscience[dot]org.
#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 the month of February 2024: Which is your favourite teaching tool? What makes it so?
If you are also an educator at your university, institute, or organisation, then you should also subscribe to our dedicated Educators' newsletter. Our newsletter has ~6000 subscribers from all over India!
In an editorial published in The Hindu in February 2024, Karishma Kaushik, the Executive Director of IndiaBioscience, urges the scientific community to rethink the customs we follow in scientific meetings, like the religious symbolisms and the seating arrangements, and pushes for making these meetings more inclusive and non-hierarchical.
This is a weekly list of opportunities - jobs, grants and events - specially curated by IndiaBioscience for the community. Don’t miss out on this!
You can also subscribe to our dedicated Jobs and Internships newsletter here. This newsletter will bring to you a curated list of jobs and internships with deadlines in the following month. Let us help you in your job search!
For more Jobs, Events, Grants and Fellowships keep visiting our website.
We are always looking for ways to expand our programs and build partnerships. If you are an institute, university, company, private enterprise, incubation park or a science collective, and are looking for ways to work with IndiaBioscience, please get in touch!
Some of our recent partnerships have included collaborative events and meetings, webinars, podcasts, and science articles. Our previous and ongoing partnerships can be found here.
