Dear reader,

We welcome you to the September edition of our monthly newsletter!

This month, we're thrilled to present an array of events and initiatives crafted to empower the life science community. Let’s start with the big announcement: Applications are now open for the 17th Young Investigators' Meeting (YIM 2025), which will be held in Agra, Uttar Pradesh from 3-7 March 2025, supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India in partnership with Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence. We will be hosting an informational webinar to answer your queries regarding YIM 2025 on 12 September 2024 at 3:00 PM IST. You can register for the webinar here. Scroll down for more on YIM 2025!

Next up, the first Regional Young Investigators’ Meeting (RYIM) for 2024-2025 is all set for 18- 20 September 2024 in Visakhapatnam. It promises to be an interesting meeting with talks from academia and industry, along with a Crafting Your Career (CYC) workshop from IndiaBioscience.

Our podcast platform, IndiaBiospeaks, is back with the ‘Jugalbandi - A science duet’ series, and IndiaBioreads has released new articles from the popular Journey Of Young Investigators’ (JOYI) series 2024. We also hosted a virtual book chat with Anita Mani, the editor of the book, ‘Women in the Wild.’ You can watch the YouTube recording here.

Looking back on the accomplishments of the past month: we recently announced the awardees of the 5th IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants and the popular choice awards for Create it! A science-art competition by IndiaBioscience.

This September, we will also be hosting PhD café, a one-of-a-kind virtual seminar series for PhD researchers in the life sciences across India, supported by the Company of Biologists. The sessions are open to all, and will showcase advanced science from ~60 PhD researchers across India! You can register to attend and listen in here.

Finally, we are happy to welcome two new interns to the IndiaBioscience team, making it a full-house again! We're eager to continue this journey with you and share the stories, experiences, and opportunities that lie ahead. To stay connected and informed, make sure to follow us on social media[X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube] or join our mailing list to stay in the loop.

If you have an inspiring story to share, an insightful article to contribute, or a collaborative event idea, we invite you to reach out to us at hello[at]indiabioscience[dot]org. Your active participation contributes immensely to our shared journey.

So, Stay Engaged and Enable Change! And in the spirit of the Paralympics Games, nothing is impossible!

We are excited to announce that applications for the 17th Young Investigators' Meeting (YIM 2025) are now open. YIM 2025 will be held in Agra, Uttar Pradesh from 3-7 March 2025, supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India in partnership with Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence.

We look forward to applications from exceptional Young Investigators and Postdoctoral Fellows. The last date to apply is 30 September 2024, so hurry up! We will also be hosting a YIM 2025 informational webinar on 12 September 2024 to address all your queries about what you can expect from YIM 2025.

Date: 12 September 2024

Time: 3:00 – 4:15 pm IST

You can register for the informational webinar here.

The first Regional Young Investigators’ Meeting (RYIM) for 2024-2025 is set for 18 September to 20 September 2024 in Visakhapatnam. RYIM Visakhapatnam will be organised at GITAM (deemed to be University) and Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone Limited (AMTZ), Visakhapatnam.

With the theme, ‘Bringing academia closer to medical technology innovation,’ this 3-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 18 September 2024.

You can find more details about the meeting here. The last day to register is 15 September 2024. So, apply soon. We look forward to seeing you at RYIM Visakhapatnam 2024!

We are excited for the upcoming 'PhD café', a one-of-a-kind seminar series for PhD researchers in life sciences across India; the series will host ~60 pre-selected PhD researchers to present their work to experts and the wider community in various fields of experimental biology.

Supported by the Company of Biologists, this five-day online series from 23-27 September 2024 will showcase experimental biology-related work being done by PhD researchers in India; with potential immediate and long-term gains for the broader life science ecosystem in India. The registrations are now closed, but you can still be part of the series. With research talks, professional development networking sessions and an e-compendium giveaway, you do not want to miss this series!

The sessions are open to all! You can register to attend and listen in here.

We are thrilled to announce the 5th IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants (IOG) awardees. Congratulations to all the awardees for their outstanding proposals! We look forward to your programs and the impact they will have.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who submitted their applications for this grant, showcasing their dedication to science outreach. The IOG aims to support young investigators, in collaboration with students, science communicators, science artists, and other life science professionals, in their efforts to take science to wider audiences.

We are excited to announce the upcoming release of the second edition of the book, “On the road to excellence—funding opportunities for life science researchers in India”. This free resource will be your ultimate guide to navigate various funding opportunities such as national and international fellowships, grants, awards and special schemes in addition to travel and meeting/ event support.

The compendium also features inspiring anecdotes from successful awardees, offering valuable insights and tips for navigating the grant application process.

So stay tuned!

We’ve tallied all the love you’ve shown through your likes and comments across our social media channels for the Popular Choice Award nominations. The results are in, and here are the TOP 5 Popular Choice winners of Create-it!, the science-art competition by IndiaBioscience.

We’re thrilled to announce the release of new episodes from our latest podcast series, ‘Jugalbandi - A Science Duet’. This series presents diverse perspectives and insights through engaging conversations between experts from various scientific fields.

The second episode delves into the intersection of experimental biology and computational science, featuring our guests, Vinod Scaria and Sridhar Sivasubbu. You can listen to the entire episode here.

The third episode highlights the power of collaborations, both national and international, with an insightful discussion featuring Ragothaman M. Yennamalli and Vishwesha Guttal. You can listen to the episode here.

We bring to you more articles from the specially-curated 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 new articles last month. Scroll down to read them!

Nithya Kutty is an Assistant Professor at the MIT World Peace University, Pune. In this sixth article of the Journey Of Young Investigator (JOYI) 2024 series, she shares her unique academic journey, highlighting the challenges and triumphs of setting up a research lab from scratch while balancing personal and professional responsibilities.

Neelam Kungwani is an Assistant Professor at the Gujarat Biotechnology University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. In this seventh article of the Journey Of Young Investigator (JOYI) 2024 series, she shares her unconventional path from research to innovation and academia, highlighting the challenges of establishing a research laboratory in marine biotechnology without post-doctoral experience outside India.

In our science communication vertical, we published several columns and news articles last month.

Scroll down to get a glimpse of these articles below!

India’s agritech sector shows significant promise, with initiatives like the BeST (Bengaluru Science and Technology) cluster’s agritech program leading the way. As new technologies and sustainable practices emerge, the landscape offers vast potential for improving farm productivity, resource efficiency, and farmer incomes.

Akriti Sondhi is a contemporary artist currently working on a bio-art project called ​‘soft-earth’. She is also a commercial and fine art photographer and explores alternative photography methods. In this interview, she reflects on her experience of working with living organisms as an artistic medium and the intersection of science and art.

A recent collaborative study led by researchers from Project Prakash in India and the United States suggests that early visual development in infants starts with poor colour vision, with the brain initially learning to recognise objects based on light intensity (greyscale). The findings from this study have significant implications for understanding both visual development in children and machine vision systems.

A research team led by Deepa Ghosh at the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali, have created an innovative self-powered dressing aid for chronic wounds. This dressing has antibacterial qualities and can promote wound healing, making it a promising all-in-one solution for individuals with diabetic foot ulcers.

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 that can be found in our recently revamped Crafting Your Career (CYC) webpage. Our newly-launched online format is customised for virtual engagement across a 3-hour module, making it an excellent option for senior PhD researchers and postdocs in an institute. We look forward to hosting a workshop for you!

For more details or queries, write to us at cyc[at]indiabioscience[dot]org.

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.

Scroll down to read the recent 'Voice from the community' article.

Shriya Naidu, a Program Associate at India Science Festival (Foundation for Advancing Science and Technology India), received the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO)-Dana Brain Awareness Week grant in 2019, which enabled her to organise an impactful online neuroscience event. In this article, she shares insights from the experience, emphasising the importance of public engagement in brain science awareness.

Tools based on artificial intelligence (AI), like ChatGPT, are becoming increasingly popular among students, perhaps to a fault, causing rising concerns among educators. Can educators leverage these tools to augment teaching and learning without letting students become over-dependent on them? In this article, an educator shares her experiences with trying to achieve this fine balance.

A flipped classroom is a traditional classroom turned upside down! This means that the students listen to lectures, videos and other course materials at home, and solve problems (normally done as ​‘homework’) or engage in discussions with their classmates and teachers in the classroom. This article explains why such a mode of learning is useful with the help of a case study from an Indian context.

On the last Monday of every month, we post a question for educators on all our social media handles. We invite you to post your answers, see responses by others, and enjoy the threads of conversation.

Our question for August was: Have you used the open-book assessment method for evaluating students learning in biology? Did you find it useful? You can post your response on X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

IndiaBioscience hosted a virtual book chat on 6 September 2024 with Anita Mani, editor and curator of the book, ‘Women in the wild.’ We had an engaging conversation on the remarkable stories of women in wildlife and conservation. The discussion touched on the inspiring journeys of Jamal Ara and J. Vijaya, how the book challenges stereotypes of objectivity in science. We also explored the importance of community involvement in conservation efforts, prompted by several interesting questions from the audience. Three audience members with the best questions of the session received a complimentary copy of the book!

If you missed this compelling discussion, find the recording on our YouTube channel here.

Ankita Rathore, Program Manager - Science Communication at IndiaBioscience, was recently quoted in an article titled "The Chroniclers of Science" by Dinsa Sachan. In the piece, Ankita highlights the creative freedom her role offers, saying, "There is a lot of room for enterprise and creativity." You can read the entire article here.

IndiaBioscience is happy to welcome two new interns! With this, we are hosting six interns across our different verticals for the next few months. We look forward to working with them all.

This month we say goodbye to Rohini Karandikar, former Associate Director at IndiaBioscience. We thank Rohini for her contributions to IndiaBioscience, and wish her 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 you! If you are an institute, university, company, private enterprise, incubation park or a science collective, get in touch with us!

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