Many successful academics continue to be plagued by feelings of “not belonging” or “not being good enough”. Some even hold an implicit belief that they have defrauded everyone around them into believing in their capability. In this next article in our mental health series, Divya delves into the “impostor syndrome” and some possible solutions for this pervasive mental health challenge.
Posted on in Advice & Mental Health
Many Indian researchers working abroad hope and plan to return to India to set up their independent labs in the future. However, they often find themselves stymied by a lack of information, both about the transition process and about the scientific ecosystem back home. This article, based on a panel discussion on the topic of “Return to India”, collates some useful advice for early-career scientists planning to make the move to India.
While considering the issue of mental health in academia, it is important to remember that existing societal structures have a significant impact on the lives of researchers and these effects vary from community to community. In this next article in our series on mental health, Nazia discusses how trying to balance the expectations of a patriarchal society with their scientific aspirations affects the mental health of women in science and some possible solutions to this problem.
With several new COVID variants emerging in recent months, the importance of analysing and drawing insights from vast amounts of viral genome sequencing data cannot be understated. To address this need, A team of researchers at the Advanced Centre for Treatment Research & Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Navi Mumbai, have come up with a computational tool called the Infectious Pathogen Detector (IPD).
Becoming a parent can be an exhilarating experience for many researchers. However, it can also bring challenges, both on the professional and personal front, especially if one is in the early-career stage. In this article, Swarna and Madhumala discuss the "baby-penalty" and some strategies that early-career researchers can use to better prepare for this stage in their lives.
The 13th Young Investigators’ Meeting (YIM 2021) is going to be held in a virtual format from 17-19 March, 2021. We asked the organisers of YIM2020 (Imroze Khan, Ashoka University, Sonipat; Karishma Kaushik, Institute of Bioinformatics & Biotechnology, Savitribai Phule Pune University; Vasudharani Devanathan, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Tirupati; Shantala Hari Dass and Smita Jain, IndiaBioscience) a few questions about the upcoming meeting. Here is what they had to say.
Studies suggest that prolonged financial instability can be a major contributor to mental health challenges. There is great disparity in the level of remuneration and financial incentives offered to graduate students in India, a population that is highly vulnerable to mental health issues. In this article, Joel explores some of the issues early career researchers face with regards to their financial security, and how these can leave an impact on their mental well-being.