Away from home: Blending in to stand out

Posted on 29 Jun 2018 by Subhra Priyadarshini

The ‘Away from home‘ blog series features promising young Indian postdocs working in foreign labs. They recount their experience of working in foreign lands, the triumphs and challenges, the cultural differences and what they miss about India. They also offer useful tips for other Indian postdocs headed abroad. You can join their online conversation using the #postdochat hashtag.

Our ‘Away from home’ interactive map features 48 bright Indian postdocs from around the world. Write to us at npgindia@nature.com to suggest names of postdocs from countries and disciplines we haven’t covered yet.

Raj Rajeshwar Malinda, a post-doctoral cell and developmental biologist at the National Institute for Basic Biology (NIBB), Okazaki, Japan has visited close to 40 countries and worked in some of them. A PhD from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark and a biotechnology masters from the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India, Raj draws from his rich experiences from around the world to suggest it’s best to blend in to appreciate different cultures.

Raj Rajeshwar Malinda

Decoding the cellular language

Life on Earth began with a single cell and evolved into very complex organisms such as humans. The cell is the smallest functional unit of life – the “building block” that contains all necessary information for survival. Though cell biology studies got a boost in the late 17^th century with the advent of the microscope, we still don’t have ample information on how life managed to survive on Earth. A lot more information is needed to decode the cellular language of life and this mystery led me into the world of cell biology.

I love getting even the tiniest bit of information on cells and their behavior. To understand complex cellular dynamics, I combined knowledge from my cell biology PhD with developmental biology for a joined up approach towards answering questions on how life survives during development.

My journey began from a small rural town in India called “Neem ka Thana” and got me to Okazaki, a small town in Japan via many metropolitan cities across the globe. While I was still a masters student of biotechnology at the University of Rajasthan in Jaipur, India, I got a chance to meet several Nobel Laureates at a conclave. This was one of the factors that motivated me to pursue a career in research, discovery and innovation.

During my PhD at the University of Copenhagen, I was mainly focused on cellular mechanisms regulating disassembly of primary cilia (a sensory organelle found on cell surface, important in embryonic development and homeostasis) using mammalian cultured cells as a model system. In my post-doctoral tenure at NIBB, Japan, I have been investigating the regulatory mechanisms responsible for collective cell behaviour during early development of vertebrates using Xenopus laevis as a model organism, with special focus on the mechanistic properties.

Japan: An incredible mix of tradition and advancement

Besides science, I am fascinated by the diversity of people – races, cultures, languages and religions – around the world. Moving to Japan was a big decision – from Denmark in the west to the east. However, this transition was pretty smooth for me, having assimilated experiences from my travel to more than 40 countries around the globe. Despite all that I have seen, Japan is very different, very unique, truly an incredible country blending tradition and scientific advancement beautifully. Discipline, attention to detail, dedication, politeness, hospitality, punctuality and respect for the past – these were the Japanese hallmarks that made me fall in love with the country instantly.

However, language was a big issue since people, especially in the countryside, hardly spoke other foreign languages. The language barrier could isolate you from the mainstream of Japanese culture. But foreigners usually find their way around this challenge. I especially love the Japanese festivals, with each prefecture celebrating different ones around the year.

Life becomes easier for foreigners when they embrace local culture and try blending in seamlessly. Indians do carry a lot of cultural baggage many times and often stick to Indian friends. I personally feel one could be true to one’s culture but should also try to appreciate local cultures. It’s also good to make friends outside the lab and outside one’s own community.

After all, a postdoc abroad is an intensive learning phase that teaches you many important survival skills.

Tip for PhD and postdoc aspirants

PhD should be complemented by productive research papers — they help get good postdoc positions abroad.
Don’t be shy to ask for help from your PhD mentor. They are experienced in the field and have good network in the community.
Your research interest should always be key while choosing for a postdoc position because that’s what matters in the end. The lab matters too, since you have to spend a fair amount of time there doing research. Choosing a postdoc position abroad might be a turning point in your research career, so choose the lab and country wisely.
External sources of funding or fellowships always add an extra advantage. So try to secure one, for example, the JSPS postdoc fellowship in Japan, EMBO or Marie Curie fellowship for Europe, INSPIRE Faculty scheme in India (it gives you a chance to learn in foreign lab for a couple of years) and other country-specific postdoc fellowships.
Keep a good work-life balance, otherwise research could end up being stressful and depressing.
Don’t lose the enthusiasm and focus while doing your research abroad — it’s easy get derailed in a different working and living culture. If the data isn’t favouring your hypothesis, troubleshoot and ask your mentor or lab members.
Funding is a big issue among postdocs, so try to remain up to date with available resources and grants.
Don’t try to think of a long running postdoc (i.e. another postdoc after your postdoc), your post-postdoc priorities should be clear — academia or industry. At any point during your postdoc, if your choices are starting to shift from academics to industry, go ahead with the idea without delay and ask for a recommendation from your present mentor.
Try to network. In the end, these are the people you will see most often – through their research papers or in conferences and meetings.
Try writing grant applications because the skill will be really helpful after your postdoc. It becomes hard to survive in the research field without knowing how to write grant applications. It will also improve your scientific writing, which I personally find very difficult.
Push yourself a bit to acquire experiences beyond research. For example, participate in leadership seminars, try organising small institutional seminars or workshops, invite people from time to time to the lab and talk about your interests.

India: Unconditional love

India is a great country – diverse, culturally-rich, enthusiastic and warm – and that’s the reason every Indian misses the country in a foreign land. I miss my family and friends and the late summer-night conversations under an open sky over cups of tea. The sight and sound of kids screaming as they play in the muddy streets is something I deeply miss.

Being a foodie, I miss Indian street food from different parts of the country —the samosa and dahi-papdi from Rajasthan, pav-bhaji from Maharashtra, home-made lassi from Punjab, chaat from Delhi and masala-dosa from south India. Mangoes and rasgullas are always on my priority list, so wherever I get them I buy, even if at a premium.

[Raj Rajeshwar Malinda is also associated with the biomedical journal eLIFE and advises ASAPbio (Accelerating Science and Publication in Biology). He volunteers free career counselling and can be reached at therajsmile@gmail.com.]

Away from home: Why your visa type matters

Posted on 31 May 2018 by Subhra Priyadarshini

Our ‘Away from home’ interactive map features 47 bright Indian postdocs from around the world. Write to us at npgindia@nature.com to suggest names of postdocs from countries and disciplines we haven’t covered yet.

Today we feature Fareha Razvi, a postdoc researcher at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), Omaha, Nebraska, USA and a PhD from Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. Fareha tells us why choosing the right visa type is so essential for a research career in a foreign land.

Fareha Razvi

Love at first sight

What saw me leave my home country India was my passion for “gene silencing” research. When I was a teenager, my mom wanted me to become a doctor. Sadly I failed in all medical entrance exams. So the only way I could become a doctor was to get a PhD. I did a bachelors in botany and masters in genetics from Delhi University. During masters, I stumbled upon the research area of gene silencing. I was completely fascinated with this mysterious phenomena. At that time, nobody knew how and why it occurs. I decided to do a PhD in this field.

Fortunately, I got a PhD offer from Fraunhofer Institute in Germany in my area of interest. It was a hard decision to leave India and my family, but the passion for this research area and encouragement by the family made the transition possible. After PhD, I felt the need to continue exploring this field and took up a postdoc opportunity in the same field but in a different biological system.

Bittersweet research

I arrived in the US for a postdoc in gene silencing and the biological system was green alga. I realised that research in gene silencing was making tremendous progress. Scientists around the world had started unraveling this phenomena. In 2006, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to a group which discovered the trigger of this process. Based on the understanding of the mechanism of this process, the trigger of silencing “siRNA” has been implicated in therapeutic use by many pharmaceutical companies and it also holds potential use as vaccine for certain diseases.

For a couple of years, I worked on basic gene silencing research but then I moved to a lab that was working on its application. I enjoyed every project during my postdoc. I realised that two things can make a research career bitter or sweet – the research and the mentor. Passion for your research motivates you to excel and a good mentor becomes the backbone of your career goals, scientific temperament and professional skills. Based on my PhD and postdoctoral experience, the advice I have for future postdocs is: no matter which country, lab or field you opt for, it is important that your career goals are clear and each year you work towards them along with your project goals.

Visa choice can tell on career goals

Many of us leave our country excited about the offer from a foreign institute but we fail to weigh the pros and cons of the visa type we are offered. I left India thinking that after my PhD from Germany I will return and take up a teaching position at one of the colleges of Delhi University. But after PhD, I wanted to explore more in my research field. So I went to the US. After a while I realised that my H1B visa was due to expire and I had to leave the country. My career dreams terminated in 2012 not due to lack of funding but because of my visa. This is another advice that I would like to give to new postdocs, apart from making choices for research project and mentor, a right choice of visa type is equally relevant.

After spending a year being jobless in India I returned to the US on a spouse visa. It took me almost 3 years to get back to research because not many places were able to sponsor a working visa (H1B). The situation that I encountered is not very common but it can happen if you don’t take care to choose your visa type in the first few years of stay in the US. Also, as foreigners we look for a job that can give us a working visa.

Fortunately, I was able to restart my career as a postdoc in the pathology and microbiology department of University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), Omaha. It was exciting and challenging at the same time to work with microbes and not plants. The best thing I like about being a microbiologist is that I don’t have to wait for months to prove my hypothesis. Bacteria grow so fast that you can propose multiple hypothesis and work on them in a very short period of time. Currently, I am working to unravel a metabolic pathway which is as fascinating as it was working in gene silencing. I did get an opportunity to teach at the Metropolitan community college at Omaha which was very satisfying.

Tips from a postdoc

Choose a research area that fascinates you (self-motivation is the key to success)
Choose a mentor who appreciates a work-life balance and cares for your goals
Choose the right visa type
Know your goals so that you work towards them from day one

Indian at heart

The two things I miss most about my home country are the typical Indian wedding — the lavish food and dresses — and live performances – theatre, classical dance, ghazal recitals.

Away from home: Science entrepreneurship

Posted on 06 Nov 2017 by Subhra Priyadarshini

Our ‘Away from home’ interactive map now features 46 bright Indian postdocs from around the world. Write to us at npgindia@nature.com to suggest names of postdocs from countries and disciplines we haven’t covered yet.

Today we feature Vijay Soni, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, USA. Vijay’s PhD work at the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi in association with BITS-Pilani Hyderabad shaped his interest in one of the most challenging diseases of the world – tuberculosis. He talks of his love for the metabolism of living organisms and his other passion – science entrepreneurship – through which he wants to bridge the lab to market gap.

Vijay Soni

Of life sciences & microbes

Nature astonishes me, touches me deeply and always leaves many imprints on my mind. These imprints have shaped my scientific thoughts and get expressed in my research. In school, the curiosity around “life” and “existence” shaped my inclination for the ‘life sciences’. My little research started in high school where I dabbled in developing a formula for liquid manure. During an undergrad at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, I started studying the effect of sodium fluoride on neural tube defects (NTDs) and developed a project with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on mining and manufacturing on moon and its future applications. Later, for a masters summer project at the National Brain Research Centre, Manesar, I chose to work on high end molecular and cell biology, biochemistry and experimental designing.

I started getting interested in one of the most challenging diseases of the world – tuberculosis – at the PhD level after a research stint at the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, where I worked in a microbiology and molecular biology laboratory. This work translated into a PhD in association with BITS-Pilani Hyderabad. Under my supervisor’s mentorship, I worked on an important gene and metabolic pathway of the cell wall synthesis of the TB bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We elucidated the detailed crystal structure and biochemistry of the protein GlmU and also determined the need of the gene for bacterial survival at different stages of growth and during TB infection.

These findings led us to the develop a new therapeutic molecule – Oxazolidine 33 (Oxa33) which specifically targets the protein (GlmU) and is capable of killing the TB bug. The work was recognised by National Academy of Science India for the NASI-Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award in 2017; the Inspiring Science Award 2017 by TNQ-Cell Press; BioAsia Innovation award 2016 by Global BioBusiness Forum; and Global Health Award by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Exploring the TB bug some more

By the end of PhD, I was quite enthralled by the metabolism of living organisms. I approached my current Principal Investigator (PI) at the Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, for a postdoc position. The reason I chose this lab, was its work on metabolomics and tuberculosis. This allowed me to learn new technology with familiar model organism.

I joined his lab in June 2016 as a postdoctoral researcher. Here, I work on host-pathogen interaction for tuberculosis and immunological aspects using a new approach called metabolomics (a mass spectrometry based molecule identification approach). I see metabolomics as a microscope with ultra-resolution which allows us to directly look into anything happening inside the cell.

The more I read about Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the more excited I am to solve some other unanswered question around it. Currently, I study the role of metabolism in TB pathogenesis, sturdy molecular mechanisms of Mtb (both in active and latent infection) during various immunological insults and challenges from host, exploitation of host metabolic pathways for bacterial survival inside the host and the role of cell wall metabolic pathways to maintain the infection.

A multi-cultural work space

My current lab has around ten people from different parts of the world including India, China, Europe, and South Africa. All the lab members are extremely helpful and always there when I want to learn something new. My PI is also an incredible scientist and gives good inputs to the project. Another, good thing is Tri-I – a tri-institutional collaboration of Weill Cornell Medical College, Rockefeller University, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Tri-I helps in collaborations, gives freedom to use facilities and conducts many useful and free courses, talks and trainings for science and entrepreneurship.

New York City is one of the most dynamic and lively places in USA. The city never sleeps. USA respects the talent and caliber. I like the professionalism, discipline in work and the real sense of freedom. After coming here, I realized why the USA is called the land of opportunities and freedom.

It was really challenging for me to settle down initially when I shifted to New York, mainly due to cultural differences and housing. Support and guidance from some of my friends (who already lived here) was very helpful. Cooking was a big challenge for me. It took me a while to learn cooking and managing stuff by myself.

Turning self doubt into entrepreneurship

Natural and cultural beauty makes this country amazing to live in. But New York is also one of the most expensive cities and people are self-centered. Crime and a certain level of racism are other dreadful things here. Though I personally never faced it in my lab or living area, I constantly fear for them. As it’s a huge and international metropolis, living here is difficult at times. With the postdoctoral salary, one cannot afford a house near one’s workplace. This really costs a good amount of time every day.

I miss my family and friends. Also, the vast variety of food and services (like the washer man, the local stores) which make our lives easier in India. I do miss my meditation centre and the acquaintances. I also miss my PhD guide and lab mates who are like another family to me.

Initially, it was hard for me to decide to continue here or go back home. Almost every day, I contemplated going back to India and start my dream venture. But science was my other dream. I discussed this multiple times with my family and friends. Their support helped me sail through that time and the regular inputs and cooperation led me to start Scipreneur, a venture for scientific entrepreneurs, alongside my postdoctoral studies.

Scipreneur is an initiative to bridge scientific research and the market/industry. I am making new efforts to globalise the platform to make scientific development easier and faster. This venture is a step towards translation of scientific facts and discoveries. Besides this, I am also helping two more American companies to bring their research into the market.

Quoting Swami Vivekananda, “The history of the world is the history of a few men who had faith in themselves.” I wish to be one of those few. I am quite determined to come back to India and serve my country. I want to contribute to the making of a scientifically and technologically independent India with the help of its talented youth. I want to take research to people.

Tips for postdocs

Your creativity and scientific attitude matters a lot. Develop it during the course of your PhD by taking up new challenges regularly.
Keep your knowledge up to date; read articles and reviews on daily basis and keep their notes. These notes will help you in writing your thesis, papers and also in searching your postdoc lab.
Ask good questions. [“Good Scientists Solve Problems, but Great Scientists Know What’s Worth Solving” — Abhay Ashtekar.] Whatever question you solve, it is going to take almost the same time. So better focus on the important ones.
Stay focused on what you want to do. If you are interested in the industry, it’s better to go for an industrial postdoc instead of an academic postdoc.
In the final year of your PhD, try to attend conferences and symposia. Keep track of the scientists attending. If you like anybody’s work, email them in advance and ask for their time to attend your poster or talk.
You can also write some international fellowships for postdocs such as Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research Fellowships, Wellcome DBT-Early Career Fellowships, Human Frontier Science Program, INSPIRE Faculty Scheme, Marie Curie postdoc fellowships, and many more offered by different countries.
Don’t be disheartened if your PhD doesn’t go well. If you have good scientific knowledge and can propose really good quality project to the PI, you can get a good position.
In your cover letter, don’t write much about the techniques you have learnt. Instead, focus on science and what you have done till date (especially in your PhD). Also, you should have decent knowledge of the past and present research of the lab and PI you want to join. Do not forget to mention the scientific reasons and your future scientific plans and projects that you want to pursue.

Ageism in academic jobs in India

Posted on 20 Jul 2017 by Subhra Priyadarshini

Let’s talk career with Naturejobs

Every now and then, Indigenus brings you some interesting and relevant posts from sister blog Naturejobs, a leading online resource for scientists in academia and industry who seek guidance in developing their careers. The blog delivers a mix of expert advice and personal stories to help readers review, set and achieve their career goals.

Today we have Farah Ishtiaq, a Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance Intermediate Fellow at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Her research explores the ecology and evolution of vector-borne diseases — the role of migration, host immunity, vector genetics, and climate change on malaria transmission in high-altitude Himalayan birds.

Farah shares her experience on how age and success are linked in acquiring faculty positions in India.

Farah Ishtiaq

India has recently been portrayed as a land of abundant opportunity in academia, investing seriously in research and development to attract skilled scientists. The government has introduced several attractive funding opportunities, with the aim of bringing back scientists working abroad to establish a long-term career here, and improving the overall research infrastructure. Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance (WT/DBT) fellowships, for example, have no age or nationality restrictions, relying on qualifications, research experience, career trajectory and the candidate’s determination to establish their own independent research.

WT/DBT India alliance was initiated to develop a large cohort of internationally competitive researchers and help in developing scientific excellence and leadership; a model recently adopted and launched by the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA) as well. Since Africa shares a similar burden of healthcare with India, as well as many workplace challenges, Indian scientists are perceived as key collaborators in this mission.

There’s a problem here though: age limits on academic positions. Prospective candidates for assistant professor in India are preferred by academic institutions to be younger than 35. Although funding bodies are not hiring agencies, the age limit imposed on faculty positions by academic institutions sabotages the driving principle behind these new funding opportunities — the current system is unable to absorb enough competent, experienced scientists.

The dilemma for early-career researchers is serious; many fellows are facing this harsh reality and an uncertain future. Every research position has a maximum age limit in India; from a junior research fellow (JRF), with a cut off at 28 years old, to postdoctoral researchers where it is 35 (or 40 years for women). These limits put the Indian academic landscape in stark contrast with many other countries that also follow a tenure-track system.

A Nature special issue in 2015 explored some of the unique opportunities – and the unique problems – of working as a scientist in India

Overall, this makes India a viable option and destination only for scientists of a selected age class. And it certainly gets more complicated for women who want to pursue a career in science and raise a family, with very little allowance made for taking time out for such.

I am now in my vigorous 40s, which prevents me from being offered an entry-level faculty position. I am also a recipient of a WT/DBT India Alliance fellowship. My funding allowed me to establish an independent laboratory to study the ecology and evolution of emerging infectious diseases in wild bird populations, but despite this incredible research opportunity, I feel my career clock is ticking faster than ever. Getting funding to do science is no longer a problem, but academic policies that prevent competent scientists becoming established are preventing me from succeeding. I feel redundant — surely the quality of my science should be the focus rather than my age?

What I would have done differently

Hopefully, this should give others like me some insight on avoiding some of the mistakes I made. First, I should have found a trust-worthy mentor who could have helped me to navigate my career path.

Never put all your eggs in one basket. I should have pitched my grant idea to multiple host institutions to maximise my likelihood of finding an institution that would guarantee a more permanent position by this stage.

Do your homework in understanding the system and host academic institution. Even though I deferred my fellowship for a year as my daughter was too little to be left in a crèche, I realise I should have used that time to negotiate or better understand the policy or the institute’s vision for a research fellow like me. Many academic institutions have no guidelines on the role, involvement and career development of academic fellows.

Many academics fail to understand the role and potential of fellows like me and often consider them just as an extended postdoc — not as a long-term prospect or potential collaborator. Hence, I did not get enough of an opportunity to teach and to mentor PhD students. Having my own PhD students would have bolstered my career at this stage, and allowed me to evolve as a mentor.

Local advice & mindset

I’ve received various pieces of advice for improving my faculty application and to enhance my chances of a secure job — this was to publish my current research: i) without foreign authors; and ii) as senior or first author in more prestigious journals such as Science, Nature or PNAS. Whilst the first is possible, the second is easier said than done.

Apparently, that was the only thing my CV was missing — a clearer demonstration of my calibre and merit as an independent researcher. Interestingly, for established faculty struggling to earn tenure in India, the culture emphasises quantity of publications rather than quality.

And, whilst the second piece of advice (primarily from engineers, cell or molecular biologists) is sound, what was missing was perspective on research in the field of ecology — collecting and publishing groundbreaking ecology data in top journals can take years longer than other disciplines. The journals I have been publishing in are not familiar to some of the members of recruitment panels I’ve met with. I have even been asked if ‘Ibis’ and ‘Parasites & Vectors’ were proper journals.

Should India be a role model for developing nations?

We are struggling to keep our skilled workers, despite the spending per researcher being equivalent to a developed nation like the UK. I hope other developing countries don’t replicate the above policies, as they certainly don’t help to address some of the major longer-term developmental challenges, including a shortage of researchers. In India, with only 200,000 full time researchers (and only 14% of them women) from a population of 1.3 billion, new research institutes currently being developed end up short of skilled workers and blinkered to new research areas.

This all said, I am still very excited. I have a competitive edge and enthusiasm for research where I can play a leading role in high-quality research. Perhaps, it’s time to explore science career options elsewhere, maybe in Africa, and hope no one will question my age?

Away from home: Collaboration in a global organisation

Away from home: ‘Research not Nobel-driven’

Starting early for a dream PhD

Posted on 28 Jun 2017 by Subhra Priyadarshini

Chetna Gopinath is a fifth year PhD candidate in the Cellular and Molecular Biology Program at the University of Michigan. Born and raised in Bangalore, she moved to the US for a Master’s in Biomedical Science from State University of New York in Albany and subsequently a PhD. Chetna talks of how starting early in her quest for the best places to study shaped her scientific interests and her career path in the US.

Chetna Gopinath

Career Path

My fascination for biology began in high school. In biology classes, the inner workings of the human body intrigued and inspired me to expand my knowledge in this field. During that time, ‘Biotechnology’ was an upcoming and exciting field, gaining a lot of attention. It offered an array of opportunities and was a perfect blend of biology and technology. So, after 10th grade I opted for biotechnology as an elective subject and later decided to pursue a bachelor of engineering in Biotechnology.

At undergrad level, I quickly realised that I enjoyed life science courses such as genetics and molecular biology the most. I wanted to switch paths from engineering to life sciences and eventually work in the biotech industry. So I decided on a Master’s degree in the US since it not just offered great opportunities in the area but also was a hub of many biotech companies. I took the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exams in the third year and applied to eight Masters programmes in the US. I chose a two-year Masters programme instead of committing to an intensive PhD programme to get a flavour of biomedical research.

At the State University of New York at Albany, where I enrolled for a Master’s in Biomedical Science, a number of funding options are available to students such as teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and tuition waivers. F1 (or student) visa holders are permitted to work on-campus, so students have the option of working in various University jobs such as in the cafeteria or in the library. I reached Albany three weeks before orientation, which helped me settle in and find my bearings. During this time, I set up meetings with several professors and spoke to them about their research and was fortunate to receive a research assistantship to perform my Master’s thesis in Dr. Alain Laederach’s laboratory. I received a monthly stipend, which helped cover both my living expenses and a significant portion of my tuition fees. My Master’s thesis research involved studying changes in the secondary structure of RNA brought about by disease-associated mutations. This experience triggered my interest in studying cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying human diseases.

My experience in the Master’s programme served as a jumping off point for the rest of my career: it helped me solidify my interest in the life sciences, determine the type of research I was interested in, and gave me an academic foundation to build expertise that would be valuable for the rest of my career. In order to gain more research experience, and to further my knowledge of the molecular pathology of human disease, I worked in Dr. Anthony Antonellis’ laboratory in the department of Human Genetics at the University of Michigan as a full-time research associate. Here, I studied the transcriptional regulation of key genes involved in Schwann cell development and peripheral nervous system (PNS) myelination. My research paralleled my Master’s thesis in that I was again investigating molecular mechanisms of genetic diseases, so I could use the skills I learned during my Master’s. Working in the Antonellis laboratory also allowed me to gain new experiences in zebrafish model systems and in the neuroscience field. I chose to attend the University of Michigan for my PhD, where I am currently in the Cellular and Molecular Biology programme at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Most PhD programmes require first-year students to do two to three lab rotations, which are like trial runs that allow students to spend time in different labs before committing to a mentor and a lab for their thesis research, along with taking classes. Lab rotations helped me explore different topics of research. Choosing a thesis lab after your rotations is a tough challenge. Some of the important considerations are the funding situation of the lab, successful publication record, a collaborative lab environment and a supportive mentor. For all these reasons, I decided to go back to Dr. Antonellis’ laboratory for my PhD thesis.

My PhD thesis involves understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying Schwann cell development. Schwann cells produce the myelin sheath in the PNS. Myelin sheath wraps around the axons to allow rapid communication between the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and the peripheral tissues. Damage to the peripheral nerve via physical damage, toxicity, diabetes or inherited mutations results in peripheral neuropathy, which is characterized by muscle weakness and sensory loss in the hands and feet. There are currently no treatment options available for these debilitating diseases. However, defining the regulatory pathways underlying Schwann cell biology will help us understand the pathology of peripheral neuropathy and design therapies for peripheral nerve repair. My dissertation focuses on defining regulatory pathways important for Schwann cell myelination by identifying target genes of SOX10, a key transcription factor regulating PNS myelination.

Pursuing a PhD has been an invaluable experience. In addition to the technical skills I learned at the lab bench, I acquired a number of transferable skills that I can take with me into any career I choose. Grad school has been an excellent avenue to learn things like how to give oral presentations, writing grants, management skills from working with undergraduate students, collaborations, and, most valuable, critical thinking and problem solving abilities. I know that whether I choose to stay in academia, or move into the biotech industry, my combined skill set will help me advance into any position.

Culture shock

I thought I had the American culture all figured out by watching Friends (one of my favorite sitcoms) but I was wrong. I expected every city in the US to be like New York City. Being born and raised in a big city like Bangalore and moving to a small city like Albany, which has less than one-sixth of the population of Bangalore, was a big change. While people were friendly, they tend to live independent lives with little to no intervention from neighbours unless specifically requested. Small talk, be it about sports or weather, is an important aspect of social interaction in the US. The first few months were an adventure and everyday was a new learning experience; from figuring out the public transportation system to the different types of food, to chores as trivial as grocery shopping.

A second wave of culture shock happened during the first day of my biochemistry class. Classroom etiquette took on a whole new meaning; habits frowned upon in India such as eating and drinking coffee/tea during lectures and referring to professors by their first names were the norm rather than the exception. Most undergraduate colleges in India require a minimum of 75% attendance to be able to write the semester exam but here most classes do not have a minimum attendance requirement. The idea behind this is that students should be in class if they truly want to learn and feel that they will gain valuable knowledge from being present, rather than being forced to attend. The concept of ‘open book’ exams was completely alien to me and, contrary to what I initially anticipated, turned out be a lot harder as compared to closed book exams.

I kept an open mind and over time began to blend into the culture. These experiences have taught me a lot about myself and have helped me be the person I am today.

Tips for students interested in pursuing PhD in the U.S.

Having a Master’s degree is not a requirement to apply to PhD programmes.
Plan ahead of time: It takes almost a year and a half to prepare for the GRE and TOEFL exams, and to put together your application. GRE scores are valid for five years and TOEFL scores are valid for two years so my advice is to take these tests sooner rather than later.
Competitive PhD programmes look for students with undergraduate research experience. My advice would be to gain as much research experience as possible during your semester breaks. Volunteering at non-profit organisations also helps your application.
Professors in the US are friendly and helpful, so do not hesitate to contact them with questions.
Most universities in the US offer a myriad of research opportunities, which at times can seem overwhelming, so spend some time narrowing down to a few research areas to focus on.

Away from home: Quantum thermodynamics in Israel

Posted on 12 Jun 2017 by Subhra Priyadarshini

A new story from a new country in the ‘Away from home‘ blog series today. The series features promising young Indian postdocs working in foreign labs. They recount their experience of working in foreign lands, the triumphs and challenges, the cultural differences and what they miss about India. They also offer useful tips for other Indian postdocs headed abroad. You can join their online conversation using the #postdochat hashtag.

Our ‘Away from home’ interactive map now features 45 bright Indian postdocs from around the world. Write to us to suggest names of postdocs from countries and disciplines we haven’t covered yet.

Arnab Ghosh is the first Indian postdoc from Israel being featured in this series. Arnab, a quantum thermodynamics geek at the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS), Israel is a Ph.D from Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Kolkata. He brings in a unique flavour from a country culturally close to India and witnessing a robust growth in science and technology. His collaborative work on ‘Born-Kothari condensation‘ was recently in the news.

Arnab Ghosh at Isarael’s historic Masada rock plateau

Fascinated with maths

My interest in science started with a fascination for mathematics, a subject I loved most in school. My first mentor Bikas Bhadra fanned this interest further. Long after becoming a chemist, I enjoy the maths stories he tells me till date, a recent one being that of Archimedes’ and his classic method of evaluating the mathematical constant π. I opted for chemistry in undergrads but the interest in maths steered me into theoretical chemistry.

I joined an integrated PhD programme at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Kolkata under Professor Deb Shankar Ray, who gave me full freedom to try out new ideas. This resulted in some interesting observations, the most important being the recent proposition of a new kind of condensation for fermions, namely, the Born-Kothari condensation (BKC). We named it after the seminal works of eminent Indian physicist D. S. Kothari and German physicist Max Born — a work that was dormant since 1943. This is reminiscent of the more familiar Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) for bosons named after Albert Einstein and Satyendra Nath Bose.

I wanted to expand my scientific horizon and so do a postdoc in a different field altogether. After the PhD , I started looking for a long-term postdoctoral position that would allow me sufficient time to learn the new subject. Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS), Israel offered me a rare three-year postdoctoral fellowship. I took the opportunity.

Dabbling in quantum thermodynamics

This field has attracted considerable attention in recent times, both in theory and in experiments. While thermodynamics was developed as a theory that limits possible macroscopic processes, quantum mechanics describes mainly microscopic systems. Thus it was unclear earlier why these two disciplines should be related. Richard Feynman envisioned ‘‘tiny machines’’working at the single-atom level in his seminal speech ‘‘There is plenty of room at the bottom’’ in 1959. His vision is now on the verge of realization, thanks to cutting-edge quantum technologies. Yet, these technologies, while entreating quantum mechanics, still rely on power-supply and cooling that are governed by 19th century thermodynamics. It is therefore important to examine the conceptual compatibility between these two disciplines. Despite considerable attempts over last few decades, their concordance is still an open fundamental issue.

The project we are currently pursuing under Professor Gershon Kurizki of the Department of Chemical Physics involves such crucial bearing on the validity of the conventional thermodynamic laws and the performance bounds of heat machines in the quantum domain.

Cosy team, Mediterranean bliss & costly weekend trips

My lab has is made of a small group of three — two from Kolkata, India and one from Austria. It is nice to have people from different cultures and ideological backgrounds under the same roof, makes for interesting conversations. An abundance of Indian postdocs in every university of Israel is an additional plus point.

The best asset of Israel is its captivating Mediterranean weather. Israelis are generally very hard working, helpful and cooperative. They love India and Indian people. They travel to India a lot. Indian festivals are gradually becoming popular in Israel. This year we had full-blown Holi celebrations organised in the WIS campus.

Language might have been a hindrance if there weren’t so many Indians in Israel to help newcomers make a smooth transition. Indians naturally gel into the Israeli work culture, easily find Indian groceries and can speak in Hindi with many Indian-Israeli Jews. An Israeli plumber once came in to fix a water problem in the apartment I share with an Indian friend. He inquired if we were Indian and when we said yes, he broke into a popular Bollywood number: “I am a disco dancer”! We realised that Bollywood is a big brand ambassador of Indian culture outside India.

In Israel, Friday and Saturday are holidays when you have limited access to public transport. Though taxi services are available during the weekend, they are expensive. So it’s hard for us to plan a long distance outing after a busy week. Most people own cars, so they don’t face such problems. Our only saving grace are the trips organized by the institute for international postdocs. This leaves us with limited choice.

Tips for Indian students looking at Israel for postdoc

Having spent time in the US and in Israel, I would say the US is more formal and professional. Israel gives you a delightfully satisfying balance between work and personal life. So, if you have decided to come to Israel, don’t hesitate.

There are several ways to apply for postdoctoral positions in Israeli Universities:

Finding position online and apply for it. Here is one such link: https://www.academy.ac.il/Ads/?nodeId=940 . Alternatively, keep eye on the respective websites of the Universities. All nine Universities of Israel are world class.
Applying through different fellowship programmes. Special fellowships like VATAT support Indian and Chinese postdocs to do research in Israeli Universities. Here is one such link to apply for these: https://www.weizmann.ac.il/feinberg/fellowship-aid/postdoc-fellowship-opportunities
Directly contacting the faculty member you would like to join.

On coming back home

I do miss my own people, my family, playing with my little twin nieces, mom’s delicious dishes. I miss my native village Alampur, where I spent my childhood. I miss Diwali and Durga Puja festivities with my dear ones.

I came abroad only to get a better scientific exposure and experience. I would like to come back to India at the first opportunity. In a couple of years, I will start applying for positions back home.

When will our lab ladies get a life?

Posted on 15 May 2017 by Subhra Priyadarshini

[Reproduced with permission from Hindu Business Line, column ‘Science and Sensibility’. Published: 27 April 2017]

Always in a crucible

Subhra Priyadarshini

A fair piece of the science pie — that’s what women scientists from across the world have been seeking since the times of Rosalind Franklin, the English chemist whose contribution to the structure of DNA was unfairly eclipsed by the more celebrated Watson-Crick duo. The history of such discrimination actually goes way back in time but Franklin’s is one of the most controversial cases worth citing.

Pick up a policy document on ‘women in science’ from 10 years ago, it won’t look much different from the white papers we make every year somewhere around Women’s Day to make life better for our lab ladies.

{credit}S. Priyadarshini{/credit}

This Women’s Day was no exception, apart from the fact that there seemed to be a mightier onslaught of social media messages celebrating the “beauty, grace, sacrifice and work-life balance that women so enviably achieve”. Discerning, 20th century women seem to have had it up till their neck with these messages. What if I am not beautiful or graceful? What if I end up making a mess of my work-life? What if I decide to let my work speak, rather than my cooking or sartorial sense? Would I still be considered woman enough?

These were some questions women scientists were still grappling with at a get-together of peers from across the country in the heart of Delhi. Someone mentioned the much-talked about picture of the sari-clad ISRO women scientists, which has become synonymous with woman power in India’s space research. So much so that the international science journal Nature featured the picture of these women celebrating India’s Mars mission lift-off on the cover of their India-special issue in 2015.

Women scientists in India, like in any other profession anywhere else in the world, continue to encounter the same roadblocks; marriage that makes them drop off the radar, childcare responsibilities that do not allow them to go back to a crèche-less workplace, gender-based discrimination that steadily keeps them away from higher administrative positions and sexual harassment that makes them quit their work, often under coercion or while masking tears. (Yes, women scientists are not supposed to give into human emotions like anger or sorrow at workplace even if the humiliation makes them wish they had the license to kill.)

But slowly, very slowly, a feisty resolve seems to be driving many women scientists wanting to make a mark. One does come across a gentle intrepid spirit among women — even though a handful — in many leading labs and scientific institutions of this country. Statistics do not match up to that spirit, nor does a head count of women in power-positions higher up in the profession. Sadly, at this point in history, India also does not enjoy a particularly enviable position as far as the security of and opportunities for women are concerned. Attending an international conference outside the country invariably elicits questions like “So, does a male member of the house accompany you to work?” or “What time do you get back home?” or “How safe is Delhi if I want to come for a week-long exchange programme?”

More than ever, we are having to tackle the fundamental issue of ‘mindset’ — that socio-cultural demon which rears its ugly head again just when we think we have managed to slay it.

Much like healthcare, science runs 24X7. Women scientists need flexi-timings, flexi-space, daycare and campus housing to be able to straddle the worlds of home and work efficiently. Flexi-enrolment in science courses could also equip them better to fit in personal milestones such as marriage and childbirth. Making policy tweaks to get more women into the government’s science and technology programmes, in selection committees and in top jobs would certainly be a way forward. That would mean pumping in special funds for women scientists so that they get a fair share of research grants, can plan mid-career or gap-period skill upgradation and travel for training programmes and conferences. Financially supporting and mentoring women-led start-ups and entrepreneurial ventures would also be worth considering.

There have been demands that our text books and scientific publications become more gender sensitive by addressing stark gender inequalities that they seemed to have got conditioned to knowingly or unwittingly. A gender-conscious science policy that allows women to be part of the national growth and media advocacy that inspires more women to take up science subjects in higher academics are also part of the recommendations that women scientists made this year.

Nothing majorly different from earlier years — and that’s the real reason to worry.

Away from home: Visa tips for postdocs to US

Posted on 16 Feb 2017 by Subhra Priyadarshini

Here’s bringing you a new story in the ‘Away from home‘ blog series. In this series, we feature promising young Indian postdocs working in foreign labs. The postdocs featured here recount their experience of working in foreign lands, the triumphs and challenges, the cultural differences and what they miss about India. They also offer useful tips for other Indian postdocs headed abroad. You can join their online conversation using the #postdochat hashtag.

Our ‘Away from home’ interactive map now features 44 bright Indian postdocs from around the world. Please feel free to suggest names of postdocs from countries and disciplines we haven’t covered yet.

Today, it’s Sneha Rangarajan, a postdoc at the Institute of Biosciences and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, USA. Sneha completed a masters in biotechnology from the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College in Mumbai, India before enroling in a PhD programme at SUNY Albnany, New York. She offers some some practical tips to postdocs in times when there have been concerns about visas to the US.

Sneha Rangarajan

Biotechnology: A fascinating cocktail

It was that time of my life when I had to make a career choice after 12^th grade – a choice between the “popular” like IT/engineering, especially since my grades would get me into a good programme, or the new bachelors programme in biotechnology that our college had just introduced. I chose biotechnology simply because it seemed like a fascinating cocktail of my interests and I didn’t want to do choose a career just because everybody else was choosing it. During the three years of bachelors programme, I learnt a lot about molecular biology principles which made me realize that I took the right decision. Later, I did a masters in biotechnology from Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College in Mumbai.

It was around the same time that I became aware of the US as a land of opportunities for the field I had chosen. Several of my senior colleagues had enrolled in PhD programmes doing cutting edge research on topics I had studied only in theory. I also learnt that if you get accepted in a PhD programme your tuition fees most likely gets waived. This was a very important piece of information since I did not want my father to spend an enormous amount of money on my education abroad.

Another key factor was my parents’ permission to let me go to the US considering I had never stayed away from home and was now talking about going thousands of miles away. I still remember how pleasantly surprised I was when my dad said if it is for education and the prospects of a bright future, he would be happy to let me do so. And that is how I reached Albany, New York.

Turning theory into practice

I remember being truly excited over actually performing a PCR, something I had learnt only in theory. With my masters in India, I had a solid background in the basics of molecular biology and biochemistry.

As it turned out, I could transfer credits from similar courses I had taken in the Indian university. Not many people are aware of this possibility but it is a huge time saver! You can bypass the same courses and spend time and effort on learning new and interesting things instead. I transferred almost all of my basic courses and was able to enroll directly in advanced level courses in the first year itself. I joined Dr. Joachim Jaeger’s lab of crystallography, where I learnt a great deal of analytical skills along with the ‘art of troubleshooting’.

After PhD, I moved to the Institute of Biosciences and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, for a postdoc with leading structural immunologist Dr. Roy Mariuzza. My work focuses on vaccine development against Hepatitis C virus (HCV). I express and purify various HCV antigens from mammalian cells to identify the best candidates with increased neutralization potency against the virus.

I like the diversity in my work place and the fact that you get to learn a little bit about languages and cultures across the world. One thing I absolutely like about this country is that you could major in music and biology at the same time or could to university at 50 and nobody will raise an eyebrow. You are limited only by your own imagination!

Of ‘Good Mornings’ and weather shocks

The transition into a new culture and environment was made easier by the people around me. My PhD mentors were kind and helpful, always going out of their way to help students, especially the international ones, in adjusting to the new environment.

Moreover, I always found it interesting to discover differences – be it in the English language or the professor-student relationship or the norms of interaction in society, all of which differ from what we are used to in India. I still remember my experience taking a bus to the University campus where the bus driver politely greeted me with a “Good morning” as I got in and people thanking him as they got down. I liked the idea and imagined how it would be if I did this in India (would this make his day?).

However, depending on which part of USA you are coming to, you could be in for a major “weather shock”. I personally prefer the cold but sub zero temperatures may not be everybody’s cup of tea.

My postdoc tips

If you have an idea about what you want to do research-wise and have been unable to achieve that because of lack of means, then this is the place to be. In USA, there are tremendous opportunities and it is up to you how you use it to achieve your goals.

One practical visa tip in these times when there have been some concern about visas to the US. I am not sure if many of you know but you can now extend your Optional Practical Training (OPT) to as much as 24 months as opposed to the 17 months earlier. You can do that by using the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) extension. When I finished PhD, I did not get my OPT extended using STEM extension because I wasn’t aware of any advantages to doing so. But now, looking back, I can tell you that it was a mistake. Extending your OPT gives you the option of switching to an industry job if you so desire without worrying about a H-1B visa since the company doesn’t have to file for your H-1B until those 24 months. If you choose to continue in academics, it serves to increase your time in the US since you now have those 2 years plus your H-1B tenure.

Don’t wait for an advertisement. I did not. Just email the investigator whose work you like and describe how you would be a good fit to his/her lab and if they have the funding, you may just get accepted, like me!

Don’t be afraid to apply to labs that don’t exactly match your previous work. As long as you have a genuine interest and willingness to learn, people are usually open. Try to widen your skill set, that way you also broaden your future opportunities.

On returning home

I take one step at a time. For now, I see myself being here and making a mark in my research field. We are making huge strides in the field of vaccinology and if things go as planned, we should be able to enter clinical trials for the HCV vaccine in the next couple of years. Also, at this point, the infrastructure for my line of work is not very developed in India but who can say, in a few years things might be different.

As of now, I do miss my family and the street food. While there are a tons of Indian stores and restaurants that continue to surprise me with the variety, nothing can beat the vada pav or chaat from the streets of India!

Away from home: CRISPR and I

Posted on 31 Jan 2017 by Subhra Priyadarshini

After a gap, our ‘Away from home‘ blog series is buzzing again. Here we feature promising young Indian postdocs working in foreign labs. The postdocs featured in the series recount their experience of working in foreign lands, the triumphs and challenges, the cultural differences and what they miss about India. They also offer useful tips for other Indian postdocs headed abroad. You can join their online conversation using the #postdochat hashtag.

Our ‘Away from home’ interactive map now features 43 bright Indian postdocs from around the world. Please feel free to suggest names of postdocs from countries and disciplines we haven’t covered yet.

Today, we hear from Samrat Roy Choudhury, a postdoctoral fellow at the Myeloma Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), USA. Samrat, an alumnus of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, tells us about his pathbreaking work in CRISPR-based gene editing, its implications in cancer therapeutics, his first snow experience in the US and his tough journey to reach there.

Samrat Roy Choudhury in front of the Bindley Bioscience Center, Purdue University, USA.

Always loved science

Science, particularly biology and chemistry, were my favourite subjects in middle and high school. I aspired to become a high-school teacher or a college lecturer. When most of my classmates opted for engineering or medicine as careers, I chose the longer path.

Late Prof. Swapan Das at Kolkata’s Asutosh College was my inspiration in biological sciences. After a Zoology masters from University of Calcutta, I got a chance to work at the lab-bench of the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED), Kolkata. The experience was fascinating and convinced me to pursue research as a career – I enjoyed designing experiments, executing them and using analytical skills to interpret data. It’s empowering to think that my research might make a small but powerful impact in the way we combat diseases.

During my PhD in nanobiotechnology at the Biological Sciences Division of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, I got the chance to design and develop several nanoparticles and nano-conjugates of antimicrobial implications. I was amazed to see how the same chemical elements behaved dramatically differently at nano-level compared to their micronized state. I was fortunate to meet and work with several eminent physicists and biologists, such as Prof. Dipankar Chakravorty (IACS) and Prof. Ratanlal Brahmachary (ISI) who re-kindled the passion for research and innovation in me. They taught me that science is not simply an act to be performed in a confines of a laboratory but the inner vision to explore our surroundings.

I wanted to continue exploring novel biophysical and biochemical tools, beyond the area of nanoparticle research. I was particularly interested in evaluating the potential of bioengineering tools in deciphering intriguing bio-molecular complexities. The prime search criteria for my postdoctoral training was, therefore, aimed at finding a group, which is dedicated in developing innovative and functional biomolecular tools. I chose to work with Prof. Joseph Irudayaraj at the department of Biological Engineering at Purdue University, USA.

CRISPR and cancer therapeutics

I spent three years (2013-2016) at Purdue as a postdoctoral research assistant, where I was exposed to a new arena of bio-engineering applications. During this period, I focused mainly on designing and targeting novel synthetic protein tools such as TAL (transcription activator like elements), or CRISPR-Cas9 (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) to the cancer epigenome for site specific modifications with a purpose of therapeutic interventions.

Cancer, as the title of Siddhartha Mukherjee’s Pulitzer-winning book says, is indeed ‘The Emperor of All Maladies’. My team’s research efforts at Purdue resulted in CRISPR-based epigenomic editing at the promoter of a known tumor suppressor gene BRCA1. We utilized a deactivated version of the Cas9 (dCas9) enzyme, fused to a demethylating enzyme TET1, which specifically demethylated the BRCA1 promoter. By achieving these loci specific demethylation, we succeeded in increasing BRCA1 expression and obtaining a significant reduction in cancer cell proliferation. This illustrated the novelty of using CRISPR based bioengineering tools to promote targeted epigenetic corrections and broadening the scope of next generation cancer therapeutics.

Subsequently, I joined the Myeloma Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). In addition to studying the targeted epigenetic regulations in high-risk multiple myeloma (HRMM), I’m also engaged in identifying the aberrant epigenetic signatures of HRMM.

Of the first snow fall

I belong to Kolkata, a city which nicely orchestrates the core cross-over values. Hence, the transition to USA was smooth for me with a few minor awkward incidents. In any case, a postdoc’s life mostly revolves around laboratories, so the scope of social events remained limited for me. I witnessed the first snowfall in my life in USA, which was wonderful. I remember, my wife and I made a miniature snow-man (she called it a snow-baby), which grew bigger and bigger with subsequent snowfall. I however, do not enjoy hopping like penguins over 6 inches of snow all through winter.

USA has historically served as a key destination for scholars. In larger cities and universities, life can be busy but also very entertaining. For instance, Purdue’s campus was very cross-cultural with a diverse array of restaurants, multilingual people and a reputation for academic excellence. Both at Purdue and UAMS, I met very talented, hard-working, professional and helpful people. Lab-meetings, seminars, and inter-research group discussions are common, meant to bring out the best in people. USA could also be a wonderful destination for travel and recreation. The country is picturesque, has everything from acres of green meadows, amazing fall colours and an array of skyscrapers and ultra-modern works of architecture.

Postdoctoral life in USA is extremely challenging. At times it can be frustrating and even depressing. I realized, like thousands of other postdocs, the meaning of the maxim ‘publish or perish’. Continuous pressure at work, in addition to thousands of miles of distance from parents and friends, can be excruciating at times.

Tips for postdocs

Please do not give up on your dreams. I grew up in a lower-middle class family with continuous pressure of stable employment. I used to take private tuitions beyond the lab hours and was so exhausted sometimes that I slept off in public transport missing the right stop. But I never thought of leaving research or academics. When your innovation and hard work pay off, the absolute joy of that moment alleviates all injury and bitterness.

India, first choice

I miss my parents and friends. My parents are old and have limited access to video-chatting. A part of the ‘worried’ me, hence always remains with them.

I’m very keen on starting my own laboratory in India. My primary research focus would be the study of physicochemical influences of nutrients, nanoparticles and chemical compounds/drugs with respect to their instigation of epigenetic modifications. Furthermore, I would be interested to correlate their influence in various disease models. With a suitable offer, India would be my first choice.

The importance of networking in science

Posted on 23 Nov 2016 by Subhra Priyadarshini

Let’s talk career with Naturejobs

Every week, Indigenus brings you some interesting and relevant posts from sister blog Naturejobs, a leading online resource for scientists in academia and industry who seek guidance in developing their careers. The blog delivers a mix of expert advice and personal stories to help readers review, set and achieve their career goals.

This week we have a guest blog by Naturejobs journalism competition winner Ashish Nair, who found new hope at the Naturejobs Boston Career Expo.

A long time ago in a ~~land~~ galaxy far far away, there was a great gathering where those weary of the well-trodden trail of tenureships and grants repaired themselves. The gathering in question was the Naturejobscareer expo, a free one-day event organized for students and scientists alike. Featuring some truly inspiring speakers, it gave a much-needed boost to my hope for a career in science that can be both emotionally and financially (yes, $$$) satisfying.

After all, academic research seems to have less and less cash to go around recently for the swelling ranks of newly minted PhDs and post-docs; not to mention the technicians without whom no project can be run. For me, the difference seems especially stark when my friends in management and medicine are mulling over their property portfolios. Given this near-saturation, it often seems as if employment options are limited within academic research while career pathways elsewhere feel equally difficult to navigate. It is natural, therefore, that young scientists-in-training feel anxious about the future.

However, academic research need not be a gladiator’s pit; nor are career pathways outside the arena of academic research scarce or hard to come by. The key requirement in both cases is networking. Dr. Jim Gould, the director of the HMS/HSDM Office for Postdoctoral Fellows at Harvard Medical School, emphasized the importance of networking at the early stages of a research career. In a detailed (and brutally honest) presentation, he outlined the difficulties that face early career researchers, emphasizing the high level of competition for a limited number of places, all against a backdrop of shrinking research funding.

Despite this, Jim pointed out it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Academic research isn’t a dead end option that involves working on other people’s projects and ideas simply to secure funding. The key, he explained, was to decide what you wanted out of a scientific career, using an individual development plan to assess your skills and interests against your objectives. Armed with this knowledge, the next important step is to network with like-minded researchers and industry leaders, pooling resources and knowledge to enable the pursuit of mutually motivating goals and ideas. He explained how events like symposia and research conferences present the kind of low-risk, high-reward setting that give students the opportunity to network confidently and professionally with both their own peers and leaders in the field.

And if the individual development plan reveals that academic research isn’t your mug of media? Not a problem, according to Lauren Celano, CEO of Propel Careers. Speaking on the industry job market and the requirements for prospective employees, Lauren emphasized just how many different career pathways existed outside of academic research: ranging from industry and pharma to law and marketing, and provided a detailed exposition of the skills required for many of these roles.

Echoing Jim, she accentuated the importance of networking and collaboration to identify both the skills required for various industrial roles, as well as the opportunities to acquire them. Transitioning from academia to industry was neither impossible nor did it need to be difficult, provided scientists have confidence in the universal applicability of their skillset and network with those who had already made similar transitions. She urged scientists to be aware of these options and to have confidence in the transferability of their skills and talents. Demonstrating leadership experience in any capacity (clubs, charities, project work, etc.) and good interpersonal skills are an added plus when looking for industry roles.

Flying back to Melbourne, I was already busy updating my LinkedIn profile and signing up for a Twitter account (yes, I’ve only just started speaking hashtag); the words ‘network’ and ‘connectivity’ ringing bells in my brain. Of course networking involves a lot more than that but hey; I’ve got to start somewhere.

More importantly, having talked to both fellow grad students and post-PhD luminaries (again, networking), I understood that abandoning academia’s soulless grant-chasing does not negate your training or your claim to being a scientist. What makes you a scientist is the ability to cast out for a solution beyond the ken of current knowledge and reach for it using a patient, logical, step-by-step approach. And outside of the lab door is a whole world of career options, just waiting for you to reach out.

Ashish Nair is a researcher who discovered to his amazement that his written thesis apparently described a cogent, well-executed PhD project- despite all evidence to the contrary. He now invests more time in writing. Apart from writing for science, he still likes to work at the bench and also enjoys travel blogging.

The beginner’s guide to the LinkedIn network

Transferable skills: What are scientists good at (other than science?)

The faculty series: A case study