IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants (IOG)

The IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants was one of the outcome from the 10^th Young Investigators’ Meeting, which was held in Thiruvananthapuram in 2018. It was initiated to motivate young researchers to step out of their labs and build stronger connections with the broader public through innovative science outreach efforts.

About

Outreach and science communication is a responsibility that scientists across career stages and disciplines have towards society. In the current times and moving forward it will be very important to cultivate a deeper level of interaction between the scientific community and the broader public via strategies such as sharing scientifically reliable information, fostering a scientific temperament, and increasing the accessibility of the scientific community/research. Despite the pertinence of this issue such initiatives are few, in their infancy, or face a shortage of resources. IndiaBioscience strives to promote this practice, especially amongst talented scientists in the early stages of their careers via the IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants (IOG).

The first IndiaBioscience Grants was launched in July 2020 and we are in the 5^th cycle this year.

First-Time Grants

This IOG scheme is for first-time applicants. IndiaBioscience (IBS) awards a maximum of INR 1 lakh for a duration of 1 year. A total of up to five grants are offered to a team lead by a Young Investigator (YI, within 8 years of starting as an independent investigator) in India.

Extension Grants

This IOG scheme is for IOG awardees from the previous cycle. IBS awards a up to two awards of maximum of INR 1.5 lakhs for 1 year. This funding is intended to enable successfully-executed projects to become sustainable in the long term i.e. set up permanent structures, seek additional funding, and build partnerships with other agencies.

Overview of all the IOG cycles

Awardees

Here is the list of awardees from all 4 cycle of IOG.

Award cycle and Awardees	Affiliation of Lead Applicant
1^st IOG
Aprotim Mazumder	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research — Hyderabad
Karishma S Kaushik	Savitribai Phule Pune University (formerly University of Pune)
Meghna Krishnadas	CSIR Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology
Rohit Naniwadekar	Nature Conservation Foundation
V.V. Robin	Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER) Tirupati
2^nd IOG
Karishma S Kaushik (Extension Grant awardee)	Department of Biotechnology, Savitribai Phule Pune University
Megha Kumar	CSIR Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology
Neha Jain	Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur
Poonam Thakur	IISER-Thiruvananthapuram
Reuben Thomas Varghese	All India Institute of Speech and Hearing
Sonia Sen	Tata Institute for Genetics and Society — Centre at inStem
3^rd IOG Awardees
Bittu K Rajaraman	Ashoka University
Chandana Basu	Centre for Genetic Disorders, Banaras Hindu University
Ishwariya Venkatesh	CSIR Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology
Mayuri Rege	Ramnarain Ruia Autonomous College
Megha Kumar (Extension Grant awardee)	CSIR Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology
Neha Jain (Extension Grant awardee)	Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur
Tuli Dey	Savitribai Phule Pune University
4^th IOG
Chandana Basu (Extension Grant awardee)	Centre for Genetic Disorders, Banaras Hindu University
Mayuri Rege Extension Grant awardee)	HBCSE-TIFR, Mumbai
Pallabi Mitra	University of Hyderabad
Pankaj Koparde	MIT World Peace University
Peer Abdul Haseeb Shah	University of Kashmir
Reeteka Sud	Center for Brain and Mind, NIMHANS
Seshadri K S	Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment

Impact of IOG/ Outcome

Resources developed by IndiaBioscience Outreach awardees’

Please click here to visit the resources by IOG.

We have compiled here the outputs of community engagement and outreach efforts by IndiaBioscience Outreach Grant awardees.

Resources developed by IndiaBioscience

Dhvani — A compilation of resources for science outreach in India
The e‑book is a comprehensive resource packed with contributions from scientists, communicators, journalists, and outreach professionals of India.
It explores the landscape of science outreach in the country, offering insights into best practices, sustainable models, interviews with scientists doing outreach in regional languages, skill-building guides, and curated resources for outreach funding.
It also features the impact of the IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants (IOG) program, providing a closer look at the intricacies of initiating and sustaining outreach efforts.

Skill Building Sessions conducted

Building a Sustainable Model for Science Outreach

Informational Webinar on 4^th IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants

Informational Webinar on 5^th IndiaBioscience Outreach Grants

The award announcements

Project Announcements

We released two videos wherein the awardees are sharing the details of their projects.

1^st IndiaBioscience Outreach Grant

IndiaBioscience launched the IndiaBioscience Outreach Grant (IOG) in 2020 to promote the practice of science outreach, especially amongst scientists. Learn more about the IOG and hear from our first cohort of awardees in this video.

3^rd IndiaBioscience Outreach Grant

Applications for the 3^rd IOG opened in September 2022, and selected projects were initiated by December 2022. Learn more about the IOG and hear from our 3^rd cohort of awardees in this video.

IndiaBioscience

Projects