IndiaBioscience Podcasts

Venkat Srinivasan is an archivist at the Archives at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bengaluru, India. The Archives at NCBS is a public collecting space for the history of contemporary biology in India. Venkat also serves on the institutional review boards for the archives at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, the Indi…

Five mentors, their journeys, experiences, and thoughts on mentorship and guidance; What better way than to listen to all of them, at once? We bring you, a rewind podcast episode with hand-picked segments from the five individual episodes featuring stalwarts in life sciences L S Shashidhara, Deepanwita Chattopadhyay, Sanjay Mishra, Bimalendu B Nath…

Should Indian institutes have an equivalent of a recruitment cell for PhDs and Postdocs as well? Why should we have more awareness about career paths other than academia? How is the Indian scenario for science writers as a profession? Laasya Samhita, a former postdoctoral researcher from the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, has a…

Why are scientists interested in studying G Protein Coupled Receptors? How could it impact people's lives? What are the Indian researchers doing in this area? Also, how important is mentorship for a postdoctoral fellow? Mithu Baidya, a postdoctoral researcher from IIT Kanpur, has addressed these questions in our latest podcast of #RadioPDF. If you …

IndiaAsksWhy Season 2 is starting soon! Check out their brand new website indiaaskswhy.org to revisit the season 1 episodes. They have also become an independent platform now. Utsuka and Jigyasa can’t wait to share with you all what they have learned! So stay tuned for the new fun-filled episodes!

What is your take on gender and science? Why are fewer women doing postdoctoral research compared to PhDs in India? What are the career scopes one can find if interested in Science Policy? Are there enough opportunities in Science Policy in India? We discussed these questions with a postdoctoral scholar Nimita Pandey from the DST-Centre for Policy …

Co-founder of Sree Padmavathi Venkateswara Foundation or SreePVF, Sudha Chadalawada is a rare combination of professional excellence and a generous, kind heart. To serve the community, together with her husband C Nageswara Rao, she founded Sree PVF in 2014. Both are successful medical professionals and alumni of prestigious institutes like Harvard …

In this episode, we have a conversation with Chinmay Tumbe, Professor of Economics at IIM Ahmedabad And the author of the book India Moving: A History of Migration Note: this conversation was recorded in May 2020. Credits: Recording: Shantala Hari Dass (IndiaBioscience) Artwork: Lakshmi Ganesan (IndiaBioscience) Editing: Moumita Mazumdar…

In this episode, we have a conversation with Niharika Pant, Assistant Professor at the Department of Community Medicine, Seth G S Medical College. Note: this conversation was recorded in May 2020. Credits: Recording: Dhananjay Chaturvedi (NCBS Bangalore) Artwork: Lakshmi Ganesan (IndiaBioscience) Editing: Moumita Mazumdar…

How can one decide whether to do research in India or abroad? What are the non-academic positions one can explore after doing a postdoc? Does having an association help? Dhananjay Chaturvedi, a postdoc from NCBS Bangalore is answering all these questions in this podcast of #RadioPDF. If you are a postdoc in India and would like to be a part of this…

In this episode, meet Ramgopal Vallath, or RamG Vallath, TEDx Speaker, Keynote Speaker, Growth Mindset Coach, Bestselling Author, Co-Founder, and above all, the happiest person he has ever met!! RamG has held leadership positions in many reputed companies such as Titan Industries, HP India, Dell Technology, Airtel, etc., and later, he associated wi…

We bring to you conversations with postdoctoral fellows in India wherein they’ll talk about their research, career, and some beyond the obvious details about the postdoctoral community in India. This is an overview of the podcasts releasing starting May 2022. Credits: PDFs: Dhananjay Chaturvedi, Laasya Samhita, Mithu Baidya, and Nimita Pandey IBS T…

In this episode, we talk to Abhigyan Arun, CEO of TNQ Technologies, a publishing technology, and service company headquartered in Chennai, India. Abhi has served as the CEO at TNQ Technologies since October 2016. Abhi’s focus has been on aligning the business, technology, and product strategy of TNQ to the demanding needs of the publishing industry…

☁️It’s a cloudy evening. You are sitting at your window and, suddenly, it starts raining 🌧 Along comes that earthy smell 😌Ever wondered, why does rain smell so good? 😍 In the last episode of season 1 of IndiaAsksWhy, Utsuka and Jigyasa talk about the origins of the smell of rain!🌦 They discover how microbes and the winds together lead to this lovel…

Season 2 of In Conversation with a Mentor kickstarts with Abhishek Goel, Co-founder, and CEO of Cactus Communications. Together with his brother Anurag Goel, Abhishek co-founded Cactus Communications in 2002, focusing on providing English editing services for researchers in Japan. It is an international enterprise with a head office in Mumbai and o…

In this episode, we have a conversation with Manju Sengal, Professor at the Medical Oncology Department at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. Note: this conversation was recorded in April 2020. Credits: Recording: Dhananjay Chaturvedi (NCBS Bangalore) Artwork: Lakshmi Ganesan (IndiaBioscience) Editing: Moumita Mazumdar…

In this episode, we have a conversation with Ayumi Ladher, a yoga instructor on the importance of wellness and staying fit during the pandemic. Note: this conversation was recorded in April 2020. Credits: Recording: Dhananjay Chaturvedi (NCBS Bangalore) Artwork: Lakshmi Ganesan (IndiaBioscience) Editing: Moumita Mazumdar…

Utsuka and Jigyasa, on their recent trip to the zoo🐯 wondered why tigers have stripes. 🤔 We’re sure you must have had that question, too! Listen to this episode as they explore why!🐅 👨‍🔬In the Ask A Scientist segment, they both talk to Mihir Trivedi, a wildlife biologist, to know the purpose of these stripes in the wild. He also talks about his lif…

In this episode, we have a conversation with Dr. Shekhar C. Mande, Director General of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) on ICMR's strategy and action to address the needs of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a two-part conversation. This is part 2. Note: this conversation was recorded in April 2020. Credits: Recording: Shantala H…

In this episode, we have a conversation with Dr. Shekhar C. Mande, Director General of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) on ICMR's strategy and action to address the needs of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a two-part conversation. This is part 1. Note: this conversation was recorded in April 2020. Credits: Recording: Shantala H…

Have you ever looked up at the sky and wondered why some birds fly in groups? Join Utsuka and Jigyasa to find the reasons why. In the Ask A Scientist segment, they both talk to Dr. Vishwesha Guttal (https://teelabiisc.wordpress.com/), a theoretical ecologist, to know why some animals group whereas others don’t. He also talks about how researchers u…

This podcast was recorded in April 2020 Impact of COVID19 and lockdown on the informal sector In this episode we have a conversation with Anand Saharanaman on the impact of the COVID19 outbreak and lockdown on the economy of the informal sector in India. Credits: Recording: Shantala Hari Dass (IndiaBioscience) Artwork: Lakshmi Ganesan (IndiaBioscie…

Have you ever experienced the warm fuzzy feeling when you look at babies? Why do you find them cute? Join Utsuka and Jigyasa to find out why. In the second segment, they both talk to Dr. Vidita Vaidya (https://www.tifr.res.in/~dbs/faculty/V_Vaidya.html), a brain scientist from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, about how researchers study …

In this episode, we have talked to Prof. Manju Bansal who is a professor of the Theoretical Biophysics group in the Molecular Biophysics Unit of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She is the founder-director of the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology at Bangalore. Credit: Guest - Manju Bansal Host - Shantala Hari Dass Edi…

Plants are everywhere. Ever noticed something about their colour? Yes, most of them are green. Have you wondered why are plants green? Like why not orange or blue? Utsuka and Jigyasa had the same question, too! Join them in this episode to know exactly why plants are green. In our Ask A Scientist segment, listen to Dr. Gitanjali Yadav, who studies …

The guest of this episode of In Conversation with a Mentor is Bimalendu B. Nath, an Emeritus Professor of Savitribai Phule Pune University, and the Vice President of the Association of Teachers in Biological Sciences, Mumbai. Bimal has been teaching Genetics, Evolution, and Biodiversity for nearly three decades and is actively involved in science o…

Gear up to listen to a brand new podcast series, IndiaAsksWhy, where Utsuka and Jigyasa answer curious questions! Growing up, we all have had questions running through our minds, and they seldom get answered by our science textbooks at school! Utsuka and Jigyasa are bringing you the answers to all such questions. They also talk to Indian scientists…

This podcast was recorded in April 2020 In this podcast, we are talking about mental health with Soumitra Pathare who is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Director of the Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy at ILS. He is also a member of the Policy Group appointed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, to draft a new nat…

This podcast was recorded in May 2020 This is a continuation of the conversation with Krishnan Ragunathan on the biology of viruses and how they impact human health. Credits: Recording: Shantala Hari Dass (IndiaBioscience) Artwork: Lakshmi Ganesan (IndiaBioscience) Editing: Moumita Mazumdar and Raghul MR (BLiSC Communications Office)…

Here, we talk to mentors who paved their way into unconventional career paths breaking the stereotypes, mentors who successfully led startups/businesses in the life sciences, mentors who found love for science management and administration, and of course the ones who made research look cool. In this third episode, from the series, we have Dr. Sanja…

This podcast was recorded in May 2020 In this episode, we have a conversation with Krishnan Ragunathan on the biology of viruses and how they impact human health. Krishnan is a virologist at the Children's Hospital at the University of Pittsburgh. Here he answers some general questions about viruses such as what is a virus, how it creates a new str…

This podcast was recorded in April 2020 In this series, we talk to experts to understand various aspects of the current COVID-19 outbreak, the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, and research endeavours in this field. This episode is the second part of a two-part conversation where Shantala Hari Dass (IndiaBioscience, Bangalore) talks to Sitabhr…

In this series of podcasts, we will chat with mentors across various life-science fields. We will talk to mentors who paved their way into unconventional career paths breaking the stereotypes, mentors who successfully led startups/businesses in the life sciences, mentors who found love for science management and administration, and of course the on…

This podcast was recorded in April 2020 In this series, we talk to experts to understand various aspects of the current COVID-19 outbreak, the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, and research endeavours in this field. This episode is the first part of a two-part conversation where Shantala Hari Dass (IndiaBioscience, Bangalore) talks to Sitabhra…

IndiaBioscience brings to you the International Grants Awareness Program (iGAP) which aims to improve the success rate for Indian applications at international funding opportunities- for some of which India even contributes towards. Here we explore the DAAD’s binational doctoral degree or sandwich scholarship in a conversation between Sapana Sharma…

In this series of podcasts, we will chat with mentors across various life-science fields. We will talk to mentors who paved their way into unconventional career paths breaking the stereotypes, mentors who successfully led startups/businesses in the life sciences, mentors who found love for science management and administration, and of course the on…

This is the twelfth “informational interview” in the season on Crafting your Career in science. Here IndiaBioscience chats with Zeba Khatri, a Managing Editor at Cactus Communications. In this conversation, she discusses her journey as a scientific editor and insights into the field- a professional space where she has donned multiple hats. Credits:…

IndiaBioscience brings to you the International Grants Awareness Program (iGAP) which aims to improve the success rate for Indian applications at international funding opportunities- for some of which India even contributes towards. Here we explore the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) schemes. In the second episode in this series, we talk to t…

In this episode, Lakshmi, Shreya and Smita discuss the art of writing quality cover letters and the difference they make to a job application. They also discuss some practical tips to keep in mind while preparing and appearing for an interview. Please find some more resources linked below: The Commandments of Cover Letter Creation by Peter Fiske Wr…

Mental health is a serious concern in academia, across the world and at all levels of professionals. There is an increasing global push to acknowledge and bring discussions on mental health to the forefront (‘out of the closet’), and seek and share individual and collective solutions to support and promote the mental well-being of academic professi…

Mental health is a serious concern in academia, across the world and at all levels of professionals. There is an increasing global push to acknowledge and bring discussions on mental health to the forefront (‘out of the closet’), and seek and share individual and collective solutions to support and promote the mental well-being of academic professi…

Mental health is a serious concern in academia, across the world and at all levels of professionals. There is an increasing global push to acknowledge and bring discussions on mental health to the forefront (‘out of the closet’), and seek and share individual and collective solutions to support and promote the mental well-being of academic professi…

Mental health is a serious concern in academia, across the world and at all levels of professionals. There is an increasing global push to acknowledge and bring discussions on mental health to the forefront (‘out of the closet’), and seek and share individual and collective solutions to support and promote the mental well-being of academic professi…

In this episode, Lakshmi, Shreya and Smita talk about a very important survival skill in one’s career progression - professional networking. Find out from this podcast: What is professional networking? What unique advantages does it provide? What are networks made up of? What are the different types of networks? How can you study into your own netw…

Mental health is a serious concern in academia, across the world and at all levels of professionals. There is an increasing global push to acknowledge and bring discussions on mental health to the forefront (‘out of the closet’), and seek and share individual and collective solutions to support and promote the mental well-being of academic professi…

Mental health is a serious concern in academia, across the world and at all levels of professionals. There is an increasing global push to acknowledge and bring discussions on mental health to the forefront (‘out of the closet’), and seek and share individual and collective solutions to support and promote the mental well-being of academic professi…

This is part 2 of the eleventh “informational interview” in the season on Crafting your Career in science. Here IndiaBioscience chats with Pragya Verma, a researcher-turned educator, who still manages to do her science and take along with her school students as well as carry out social projects to promote application-based learning among students o…

This is part 1 of the eleventh “informational interview” in the season on Crafting your Career in science. Here IndiaBioscience chats with Pragya Verma, a researcher-turned educator, who still manages to do her science and take along with her school students as well as carry out social projects to promote application-based learning among students o…

IndiaBioscience brings to you the International Grants Awareness Program (iGAP) which aims to help Indian Life Science researchers seek and acquire international funding. Here we explore the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Fellowships. In the first episode in this series, Zill-e-Anam, PhD student at JNU, talks to two MSCA fellows- Amey Redkar…

In this episode, Lakshmi, Shreya and Smita chat about the most critical marketing tools for the job hunt - the resume / CV. Find out from this podcast: Are resumes and CV one and the same? What goes into each? Where are they used? How to dissect a job ad and identify key attributes that an employer is looking for? What is the PAR / STAR approach? H…