Monthly Archives: November 2017

Nature India Photo Contest 2017 now open!

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Three seasons. Three immersive themes. Hundreds of breathtaking pictures from across the world. That sums up our annual photo contest — that delightful burst of frenzied creative activity at the fag end of the calendar ¹, ², ³.

We are super excited to be back with the Nature India Photo Contest 2017. You can now submit your entries to win exciting prizes and be featured on Nature India‘s blog Indigenus.

Top entries from Nature India Photo Contest 2016

Top entries from Nature India Photo Contest 2016

The theme for this year’s contest is “Grand Challenges”.

Dan Ferber, Executive Editor, Grand Challenges for Springer Nature, introduces this year’s theme:

“Droughts. Typhoons. Rising seas. Refugees. In this big, crowded world of ours, the challenges we face can sometimes seem daunting. Indeed, we must address the complex global problems we face—the world’s grand challenges—to ensure humanity a healthy and sustainable future. But first we must see them clearly. That’s where photography comes in.

We must see the vast sweep of the flooded landscape in the aftermath of the typhoon, as well as the man carrying his belongings on his back through the waist-deep floodwaters. We must see the woman walking two kilometres to obtain drinking water for her family, as well as the young child, wan with fever from a treatable disease like pneumonia or diarrhoea.

But we must also see images of ingenuity and resilience: a scientist testing an improved form of wastewater treatment, a green skyscraper that not only cools the air, but grows food as well, a nurse vaccinating rural children.

Addressing the world’s grand challenges will require scientists—and all of us—to reach beyond our comfort zone, collaborate across disciplines and across sectors, focus on solutions. It’s a big, crowded world, but ultimately it’s a small one, and we’re all in it together.”

The theme for our inaugural photo competition in 2014 was “Science & technology in India”. In 2015, it was “Patterns” and last year, we made it simple with “Nature”. We received some breathtaking entries from across the world all three years. You might want to take a look at the winning entries of the Nature India Photo Contest 2014, 2015 and 2016 for some inspiration or the entries that made it to the top to get an idea of what we look for while selecting winners.

As for the prizes — three lucky winners chosen by our editorial and design team will be featured on Nature India. The winning entries stand a chance of being on the cover of one of our forthcoming print publications. The winner and two runners-up will receive a copy of the Nature India Special Annual Volume 2016 and a bag of goodies (which includes Collector’s first issues of Nature, November 1869 and Scientific American, August 1845; and some other keepsakes) from the Nature Research Group.

The contest is open to everyone – any nationality, any occupation. The only keyword for the subject of the picture is: ‘Grand Challenges’. You could use whatever camera you wish to – even your cell phone – as long as the photograph you send us high quality, unedited, original, in digital format and of printable quality. Just make sure you are not violating any copyrights. Also, no obscene, provocative, defamatory, sexually explicit, or other inappropriate content please (refer to the contest terms and conditions below).

Photographs will be judged for novelty, creativity, quality and printability.

Please send your entries in jpeg format to npgindia@nature.com with your name and contact details. Please mention “Nature India Photo Contest 2017” in the subject line of your email. The photograph must be accompanied by a brief caption (please see the photo captions here for reference) explaining the subject of the picture along with the date, time and place it was taken.

We will accept a maximum of two entries per person. The last date for submissions is midnight of December 10, 2017 GMT. On social media, please use the hashtag #NatureIndphoto to talk about the contest or to check out our latest updates.

So let the creative juices flow. Get, set, click, send!

 

[TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Please read these terms and conditions carefully. By entering into this Nature India Annual photo contest (“Promotion”), you agree that you have read these terms and that you agree to them. Failure to comply with these terms and conditions may result in your disqualification from the Promotion.

1. This Promotion is run by Nature Research, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited a company registered in England with registered number 00785998 and registered office at The Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London N1 9XW (“Promoter”).

2. To enter this Promotion you must be: (a) resident in a country where it is lawful for you to enter; and (b) aged 18 years old or over (or the applicable age of majority in your country if higher) at the time of entry. This Promotion is void in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria and where prohibited or restricted by law.

3. This Promotion is not open to directors or employees (or members of their immediate families) of Promoter or any subsidiary of Promoter. Promoter reserves the right to verify the eligibility of entrants.

4. The Promotion is open for entries between 00:00 on 14/11/2017 and 00:00 on 10/12/2017 GMT.

5. No purchase is necessary to enter this prize Promotion and will not increase your chances of winning.

6. You can enter this Promotion by emailing npgindia@nature.com

7. Only two entries per eligible person. More than two entries will be deemed to be invalid and may lead to disqualification.

8. Promoter accepts no responsibility for any entries that are incomplete, illegible, corrupted or fail to reach Promoter by the closing date for any reason. Proof of posting or sending is not proof of receipt. Entries via agents or third parties are invalid. No other form of entry is permitted. Please keep a copy of your entry as we will be unable to return entries or provide copies.

9. The prize for the Promotion consists of the following: A copy of the Nature India Special Annual Volume 2016 and a bag of goodies (which includes Collector’s first issues of Nature, November 1869 and Scientific American, August 1845; and some other keepsakes) from the Nature Research Group.

10. The prizes shall be awarded as follows: The prize will be decided in the week following the close of the Promotion. The winners will be notified via email. Winners will be selected by a four person panel of Nature staff, at least one of which will be independent from the Promotion, based on photographic merit, creativity, photo quality, and impact. Full names of the judging panel will be available on request. Any decision will be final and binding and no further communication will be entered into in relation to it.

11. Ownership of entries: for consideration into this Promotion, you must sign a license to publish form granting the intellectual property rights to Nature Research for your image. This may be used in promotional or marketing material in print and online. You confirm that your entry is your own original work, is not defamatory and does not infringe any laws, including privacy laws, whether of the UK or elsewhere, or any rights of any third party, that no other person was involved in the creation of your entry, that you have the right to give Promoter and its respective licensees permission to use it for the purposes specified herein, that you have the consent of anyone who is identifiable in your contribution or the consent of their parent, guardian or carer if they are under 18 (or the applicable age of majority), it is lawful for you to enter and that you agree not to transfer files which contain viruses or any other harmful programs.

12. The winner(s) of the Promotion shall be notified by email no more than two weeks after the Promotion closes.

13. The winner(s) will be required to confirm acceptance of the prize within ten working days and may be required to complete and return an eligibility form stating their age and residency details, among other details. Promoter will endeavour to ensure that winner(s) receive their prizes within 30 days of the date they confirm acceptance of the prize. If a winner does not accept the prize within ten days of being notified, they will forfeit their prize and Promoter reserves the right to choose another winner(s). Promoter’s decision is final and Promoter reserves the right not to correspond on any matter.

14. The name, region of residence and likeness of the winners may be used by Promoter for reasonable post-event publicity in any form including on Promoter’s website and social media pages at no cost.

15. You can find out who has won a prize by sending an e-mail to npgindia@nature.com or checking the Nature India blog website Indigenus (https://blogs.nature.com/indigenus).

16. Promoter reserves the right to cancel or amend these Terms and Conditions or change the Prize (to one of equal or greater value) as required by the circumstances. No cash equivalent to the Prize is available.

17. All personal data submitted by entrants is subject to and will be treated in a manner consistent with Promoter’s Privacy Policy accessible at https://www.nature.com/info/privacy.html. By participating in this Promotion, entrants hereby agree that Promoter may collect and use their personal information and acknowledge that they have read and accepted the Promoter Privacy Policy.

18. Promoter may at its sole discretion disqualify any entrant found to be tampering or interfering with the entry process or operation of the website, or to be acting in any manner deemed to be disruptive of or prejudicial to the operation or administration of the Promotion.

19. Other than for death or personal injury arising from negligence of the Promoter, so far as is permitted by law, the Promoter hereby excludes all liability for any loss, damage, cost and expense, whether direct or indirect, howsoever caused in connection with the Promotion or any aspect of the Prize. All activities are undertaken at the entrants own risk. Your legal rights as a consumer are not affected.]

Away from home: Science entrepreneurship

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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 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

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.