We recently hosted an informational webinar on the RYIM grants 2024-2025, as well as a webinar on EMBO Workshops and Courses, in partnership with EMBO. We also explored the intersection of biology and society through an education webinar featuring the biographies of pioneering women biologists Barbara McClintock and EK Janaki Ammal.
As much as it's been a busy start to the summer, we're excited to unveil select upcoming programs and initiatives at IndiaBioscience: calls for the 5th IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants (IOG) and the Journey Of Young Investigators’ (JOYI) 2024 article series will launch in the next few months. And that's not all, we have introduced a new community-building pilot program 'She Inspires!' and a new set of podcast episodes from our much-loved 'RADIO PDF' series. More on this and other happenings below!
If you'd like to enquire about our many programs, contribute an article, produce a podcast or organise a webinar series with us, email us at hello[at]indiabioscience[dot]org. Our social media handles are another way to connect with us (X/formerly Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube) and our mailing lists can also help you stay in the loop.
So, stay engaged to enable change (and enjoy India’s mango season, while you are at it)!
Interested in re-creating a YIM-like meeting in your region? With the completion of seven RYIMs across 2023-2024, IndiaBioscience has reopened the grant call for RYIMs for the year 2024-2025. This year, RYIM Grants come with three new features: the ‘CYC Train the Trainer’ initiative for a Crafting Your Career (CYC) workshop by IndiaBioscience, an option for top-up funds from the IndiaBioscience Childcare Grants program, and an invitation to contribute a report or interview for the IndiaBioscience website.
We also recently hosted an informational webinar for Young Investigators in India interested in applying for the grants. The webinar covered the application process, selection criteria, and the organisation of regional YIMs. If you missed it, you can watch the webinar here. The deadline to apply for RYIM 2024-2025 is 10 May 2024 (11:59 pm IST).
IndiaBioscience and Rukhmabai Initiatives announce a joint pilot community program, She Inspires! The program seeks to identify and support women science professionals who are passionate about engaging with school children in their community (within a 50 km radius) through in-person talks.
Apply for the She Inspires! program here. The program will reimburse selected applicants for expenses incurred for conducting the mentorship talks, up to a maximum of INR 5000. The last date to apply is 30 May 2024.
5th IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants (IOG)
Has it been five years for the IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants (IOG) program? Well, almost! We are thrilled to share that calls for the 5th IOG will be opening in mid-June 2024. IOG aims to support Young Investigators, in collaboration with students, science communicators, science-artists, and other life science professionals, towards their endeavors in taking science to the community.
If you have an ongoing outreach project, or are thinking of a compelling outreach idea, this is your heads up to apply!
The YI Huddles began in May 2023 as a monthly webinar series tailored for Young Investigators across India, featuring an informal, conversational format without slides. Over the past year, we've successfully hosted eleven YI Huddles via IndiaBiostreams, the webinar platform at IndiaBioscience. From starting a research group to engaging with science policy in India, you can access recordings of all the previous YI Huddles here.
We've released four episodes so far in our special podcast series, which began earlier this year in collaboration with the India Science Festival (ISF) 2024.
We've covered a wide range of topics and experiences, from 'What is ISF?' to 'How do we communicate science to all?' and even setting up booths and stalls at ISF!
You can listen to all four episodes from this series here.
A brand new episode is out from our most beloved series, RADIO PDF, where we hear from postdoctoral researchers.
It was a captivating conversation with Aara Patel, a postdoctoral research associate at University College London, UK. Whether you’re a student, researcher, or simply curious, her words are sure to inspire and motivate you. You can listen to the episode here.
The call for Journey of Young Investigator (JOYI) 2024 pitches is now closed! We've shortlisted ten Young Investigators (YIs), and we'll soon feature their journeys of doing science in India in our new series, JOYI 2024. Keep an eye out on our website for more updates!
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!
At the 16thYoung Investigators’ Meeting (YIM 2024) in Bhopal, IndiaBioscience asked representatives from a diverse range of institutions and universities across India some quick questions about faculty hiring. Let’s take a look at their responses!
Open science, particularly through preprints, is gaining global traction and is integral to India’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy. While preprints offer accessibility benefits, their adoption in India lags, highlighting the need for recognition and incentives at various career and funding assessment levels. In this article, Sudeepa Nandi, an ASAPbio fellow and a PhD student at TIFR Mumbai, discusses the barriers to the preprint model in India and offers some key recommendations.
A global collaborative study published in Nature emphasises investigating non-coding regions of DNA to understand what defines primates, and distinguishes humans among them. The study holds significance not only for human health but also for the conservation of endangered primate species, providing insights into genetic health and population dynamics.
The exhibition Carbon, by Science Gallery Bengaluru (SGB) blurs the lines between science and art, while challenges perspectives about Carbon. The exhibition is on display at SGB from January to June 2024. Sindhu M, a PhD researcher at Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, shares her experience of visiting this newly opened exhibition.
A collaborative study led by Sudipta Maiti, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, sheds light on the deadly partnership between ApoE (Apolipoprotein E) and Aβ (amyloid-beta) — two major protein players in Alzheimer’s disease. Their innovative FLIM (fluorescence lifetime microscopy) imaging approach offers potential value for drug development, promising better disease prediction and treatment strategies, and holding implications for neurological health and therapeutics.
SKILL BUILDING
Crafting Your Career (CYC) workshops
In 2019, IndiaBioscience launched its flagship 'Crafting Your Career' workshops to empower Masters' students, PhD researchers and postdoctoral fellows in identifying their strengths and charting a path aligned with their skills and values. These workshops include interactive and engaging modules on strength mapping, networking, professionalism, mock interviews, elevator pitches and crafting CVs and resumes.
Starting 2024, IndiaBioscience is open to requests for CYC workshops in online and in-person modes, with a suite of modules and formats.
If your institute or university wants to organise a CYC workshop for researchers and students, you can explore our new Crafting Your Career (CYC) webpage. Choose from among a range of modules and book a slot, we look forward to hosting a workshop for you!
For more details or queries, write to us at cyc[at]indiabioscience[dot]org.
Through iGAP Dispatches, IndiaBioscience publishes open calls and deadlines on upcoming international funding opportunities open to life science researchers in India. You can find the latest set of dispatches, curated and published in April 2024 (Part V) here.
IndiaBioscience’s iGAP in partnership with EMBO recently conducted a webinar on EMBO Courses and Workshops. The speakers introduced the EMBO courses and workshops, shared ideas on preparing applications for being workshop organisers and also discussed selection and eligibility criteria.
If you missed the EMBO Courses and Workshops webinar, you can watch the entire recording here.
This webinar spotlighted the life and times of E K Janaki Ammal to explore the role of biographies in placing biological sciences of the early 20th century in its social-historical context. It also invited reflections on the value of situating biology in its social context in its teaching and learning. If you missed it, don’t worry! Watch the recording here.
Teachers often rely on tests and exams to understand how well their students are learning the subject. However, the traditional approaches of assessment end with giving marks or grades to the students. What if teachers could do more than just give marks to students? In this article, an educator tries a different approach to assessing answer sheets and shares her experiences from it.
A laboratory can be a great place for experiential learning. But using set protocols and kits can deprive students of this opportunity and make them disengaged learners. In this article, an educator from Dr Vishwanath Karad’s MIT World Peace University, Pune shares a frugal science approach to provide experiential learning to her students and stimulate their creativity.
#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.
This question for April 2024 is: Do you believe that traditional ways of assessing students, like exams and ranking, are flawed? If yes, how would you like to change it?
Karishma Kaushik recently wrote an editorial in Nature India on ‘What do early-career scientists in India really want?.’ The article discussed the findings from a survey by IndiaBioscience, which revealed the challenges faced by early-career life science researchers in the country. The survey captured responses from 374 independent life science researchers from research institutions, universities, organisations, and colleges across India.
In partnership with Juggernaut Books, IndiaBioreads is hosting a virtual book chat with Anirban Mahapatra, microbiologist and author of ‘When The Drugs Don’t Work: The Hidden Pandemic that Could End Modern Medicine’. With interlocutor Karishma Kaushik, the virtual chat aims to explore the crisis of antibiotic resistance, while keeping an eye on the way forward. So, what led us here, and how can we ensure antibiotics are effective for the generations to come? Join us, let's chat on 7 June, 2024 from 10-11 am IST.
IndiaBioscience is excited to announce the inclusion of a new member on our Board. Please welcome Krishnaveni Mishra, Professor at the University of Hyderabad. Mishra is a scientist and educator, with a focus on epigenetic gene regulation and nuclear architecture in gene expression. In addition to her research, her professional repertoire includes teaching a range of courses and laboratory programs at university level, and she has designed and implemented curricula in molecular biology, cell biology and genetics. The IndiaBioscience Board and team look forward to the new dimensions that Mishra will add to our programs and initiatives!
We are thrilled to announce that Karishma Kaushik, Executive Director of IndiaBioscience, has been selected to participate in WomenLift Health’s 2024 India Leadership Journey. This yearlong experience is designed to provide talented mid-career women leaders in health and science with tools and strategies for enhancing their voice, presence, and influence – all the while being supported by a powerful group of peers, mentors, and coaches.
Kaushik was selected to be part of a cohort of 60 women leaders working in India, who come from a wide range of disciplines and organisations. You can read more about WomenLift Health leadership journey here.
Interns at IndiaBioscience
IndiaBioscience is happy to welcome a new set of interns! With this, we are hosting five interns across our different verticals for the summer. We look forward to working with them all.
Visitors at IndiaBioscience
Sneak peek! Guess who recently dropped by the IndiaBioscience office? IndiaBioscience thrives on interactions with its vibrant community, and we cherish it when you take the time to visit us and say hi! You can also meet us at the various meetings, workshops and events we host across India.
Let us help you with your job search! We have a dedicated thread (#ScienceJobsTuesdays) for jobs, events and grants on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and a monthly Jobs and Internships monthly newsletter, that you can subscribe to here.
Are you an institute, university, company, private enterprise, incubation park or a science collective, and are thinking of ways to engage with IndiaBioscience? Given our diverse programs and initiatives, we are always looking for new ways of supporting the life science community. Get in touch, anytime!
