As the global economy took a hit with the coronavirus pandemic, and science job opportunities seemed up in the air, more than 400 diaspora Indian scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs got together in early September 2020 to make sense of what this ‘new normal’ might look like. Read more
Mridula Nambiar, a biologist at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, begins her day early to be at the COVID-19 testing centre, on a rather deserted campus of her institute – most students went home just before India’s two-month national lockdown that began 25 March 2020. Read more
Out of breath and running late, I entered the room to discuss my latest research updates with faculty members and graduate-school colleagues. Flustered, embarrassed and more than seven months pregnant, I proceeded with the important presentation, not mentioning the false contractions I had woken up to that morning. Read more
Many scientists embrace the artistic medium to infuse new ideas into their scientific works. With science-art collaborations, both artists and scientists challenge their ways of thinking as well as the process of artistic and scientific inquiry. Can art hold a mirror to science? Can it help frame and answer uncomfortable questions about science: its practice and its impact on society? Do artistic practices inform science? In short, does art aid evidence? Read more
Following months of agitation by young scientists across India, the Indian government announced a hike in fellowships for research scholars earlier this month (February 2019). The stipends for junior research fellows (JRFs) were raised from a monthly Rs 25,000 to Rs 31,000, and that for senior research fellows (SRFs) from Rs 28,000 to Rs 35,000. Read more
As young physicists at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai circa 1981, Alak Ray and Prajval Shastri experienced an exciting era in the life of the institute, set up by visionary scientist Homi Jehangir Bhabha in 1945. Read more
Nobel Laureate Sir John Gurdon’s elegant experiments in 1958, transplanting whole nuclei into frog eggs, have laid the ground for much of our current thinking in the field of stem cell research. While the same spirit of enquiry and joy of experimentation still exists in research today, the current generation of scientists have to grapple with a far more complex research environment. Researchers have to master the art of raising and managing funds from diverse sources, navigating ethical considerations around research, doing ‘team science’ in large consortia, scrutinising research impact and translating basic research to benefit society. Read more
Last month, anti-Asian graffiti was painted in residences on the campus of my PhD alma mater, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, and Asian students’ work was vandalized with racist slogans. That same week brought allegations that a leading astrophysicist at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching, Germany, had used racist language towards trainees, among other bullying. (The astrophysicist has defended her behaviour, and says her comments were distorted and taken out of context; see news story and her explanation to Nature.) … Read more
Which of these sounds the most preposterous? (The last one questioning Darwin’s theory, by the way, was delivered yesterday by a minister in India’s Union cabinet.) … Read more
Indigenus discusses people and events making news in the Indian scientific community. Join in to brew a debate on the future of Indian science or just to catch the buzz from seminars you missed out on. If you wish to initiate a discussion or send feedback, please e-mail indigenus@nature.com
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