Monday, October 12, 2009

Neuroscience in India

Neuroscience in India

(part of a series of Young Investigators’ Meetings, see www.indiabioscience.org/yim)
A Satellite Event at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Chicago


Date: Monday, October 19th 2009

Time: 6:30-8:30 pm

Location: McCormick Place Campus
Room: S403AB

***Snacks will be served***


This event is aimed at candidates considering faculty positions or postdoctoral fellowships in Neuroscience in India. Bioscience research prospects in India are set to expand enormously - a commitment by the Department of Biotechnology (Govt. of India) that is backed by plans for infrastructure and funding opportunities. The job opportunities in Neuroscience in India are increasingly attractive, but until now not well publicized. We will showcase Neuroscientists who have successfully set up labs in India over the past decade. The program will present a broad perspective of Neuroscience in India by Prof. Vijayalakhsmi Ravindranath, who was the Director of the National Brain Research Center for 10 years from 1999 to 2009, and is now heading a new Center for Neuroscience at IISc. This will be followed by a perspective by Prof. Shubha Tole (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research), who started her lab as an Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow in 1999. Tole will discuss the trials and triumphs of setting up the first vertebrate lab at her Institute, leading to recent publications in leading international journals. Dr. Anuradha Lohia will also showcase Neuroscientists at Institutes all over India who started their careers funded by the Wellcome Trust.


The panel discussion will present an overall picture that the stage is set for a huge influx of neuroscientists who can build upon what has already been started.


We hope for a strong participation from the Indian community and friends of Indian Neuroscience. Many, if not most, of the attendees will have left India at a time when Neuroscience research was barely a presence, except as Neurology or Neuropharmacology in a very limited set of Institutions. Indeed, aspiring Neuroscientists had to leave the country to get trained in this field. Furthermore, neuroscience as a subject was missing from most undergraduate and post-graduate syllabi across the country, which meant that interest or expertise in subsequent generations of students would be hard to cultivate. The proposed program seeks to change this impression of the Indian Neuroscience training at the student level. The DBT has sponsored MSc-Neuroscience courses at several Institutions. Over the past decade, several Neuroscience graduates have emerged and have applied to graduate programs all over the country. It is no longer difficult for a new PI to find students interested in this exciting field- in fact, it is now being regarded as one of the "happening" areas of research, as well it should be. the Department of Science and Technology has sponsored workshops in Neuroscience to build interest and train new generations of students. Significantly, the first IBRO workshop in Neuroscience was hosted by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 2006, which entailed experimental training and lectures with a panel of Indian and Asia-Pacific faculty members. The number of Institutions with Neuroscience faculty is growing- IISER Pune, TIFR, NCBS, NBRC, IITK, and now, IISC have joined the oldest- NIMHANS. Therefore, it will not only be much easier for new faculty to set up labs in india, but the manpower to run these research programs- PhD students- will be available in increasing numbers. The Wellcome-DBT early career awards will bring in an important component that has been thus far lacking- post-doctoral researchers who will add invaluable experience and expertise to labs fortunate enough to attract them.


Perhaps the most attractive aspect of Neuroscience opportunities in India is the impact even single individual PIs can make in their respective Departments and Institutions (new courses, new ideas for training students, contributing to nationwide training workshops- all extremely rewarding opportunities). The entire breadth of Neuroscience is yet to be represented in India, but the prospects look excellent in terms of opportunities and funding. We critically need to change the mental picture of Indian Neuroscience within the community of Indians who left the country years ago- so that they may encourage colleagues and students to return, or consider doing so themselves. This satellite event will hopefully motivate a wide spectrum of Neuroscience applicants at various levels- the very best of which will be candidates for prestigious fellowships and awards- but ALL of whom will be in a position to make a contribution to the teaching or research effort in Neuroscience in India.


Program:

1) Introduction: Genesis of the Young Investigator’s Meeting series (5 mins)

Prof. Shubha Tole (co-organizer of YIM-2010, Feb 8th-13th)


2) Neuroscience in India- A Nationwide Perspective (15 mins)

Prof. Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath, Director, Center for Neurosciences,

Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore


3) Setting up Vertebrate Neuroscience at TIFR- a 10 year journey (15 mins)

Prof. Shubha Tole, Department of Biological Sciences,

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai


4) The Wellcome-DBT India Alliance: showcasing success stories (10 mins)

Dr. Anuradha Lohia, CEO, WT-DBT India Alliance

Drs. Arun Sripati and Vastala Tirumalai (recent WT-DBT fellowship awardees) ( 5 mins)


5) Panel discussion

Prof. Prasun Roy (National Brain Research Center- NBRC) (5 mins)


Prof. Shankaranarayana Rao (5 mins)

(National Institute for Mental Health and Neurosciences- NIMHANS)


Prof. Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath, (IISc)

Prof. Shubha Tole (TIFR)

Dr. Anuradha Lohia (WT-DBT India Alliance)

Dr. Martin Reed (HFSP) (5 mins)

Prof. Mriganka Sur (MIT) (5 mins)


6) Question session (45 mins)






Thursday, August 20, 2009

YIM, Boston - OPEN SESSION on Sept 11th 2009

The hosts of the YIM, Boston received ~200 outstanding applications for the closed session on Sept 12-13 2009 of which around 40 have been selected for the meet. Going by the overwhelming response for the event and the inability to accommodate all those who applied, there will now be an open meet on September 11th from 3:55PM to 7:30PM. This will be an unique opportunity to network with faculty, researchers from various prestigious institutions.

Date & Time:
Fri, Sept 11; 3:55PM-7:30PM

Venue:
MIT, Bldg E25
Room. 111
Cambridge, MA 02139


The tentative program for the session is as follows:


• 3:55 – 4:20 Arrival/ Mingle

• 4:20 – 4:30 Introduction to YIM Open Sessions

• 4:30 – 6:00 Presentations
o The Bangalore Cluster
Satyajit Major (NCBS), Ramaswamy Subramanian (Center for Cellular and Molecular Platforms), Vijay Raghavan (NCBS), Jyotsna Dhawan (iSTEM)

o The HBS Cluster in Delhi
Martha Gray (THSTI), Dinakar Salunke (UNESCO RCB), Satyajit Rath (THSTI-Child Biology Center), Sudhanshu Vrati (THSTI-Vaccine Research Center)

o The CSIR System
Rajesh Gokhale (IGIB), Gautam Biswas

o The IISERs, IIT, TIFR (Hyderbad)
KN Ganesh/Shashidhara (IISER Pune), Pradip Sinha (IITK), Jitu Mayor (TIFR)

o Grant Opportunities / NIH – Thomas Mampilly

o DBT/Welcome Trust - Natesh, TS Rao

o DST – Hari Gopal

• 6:00 – 7:00 Panel Discussions on Emerging India
o Satyajit, Jitu, Jyotsna, Sashidhara, KN Ganesh, Pradip Sinha, Dinakar Salunke, Natesh, Hari Gopal, moderated by Martha Gray

• 7:00 – 8:00 Food/ Mingle


Please RSVP to Nandita Shetty at nandita@thsti.org


Monday, August 17, 2009

Young Investigator Meeting, Kolkotta, 2010


Dear Friends of the Bay Area YIM

I am writing to inform you about the second Young Investigator Meeting (Feb. 8-13, 2010) in Kolkata. This gathering should be of great interest to postdoctoral fellows who are working abroad or within India and might be potentially interested in an academic career in India. The meeting also will be attended by Indian junior faculty, and we seek applications from this group as well. The meeting will take place in an attractive resort along the Ganges River in the viciniity of Kolkata. Travel will be covered or mostly covered from a grant (depending upon the final funding).

Information on the meeting, the invited participants, meeting site and application information can be found at:

http://www.indiabioscience.org/yim

In brief, this meeting follows upon a very successful first Young Investigator Meeting held in Kerala in 2009. The response to this
meeting was extraordinarily positive, and it was very motivating and informative for both the young and senior scientists who attended. There was high demand for a similar meeting in 2010. The main attendees of the 2010 meeting will be 30 postdoctoral fellows and 30
Indian junior faculty (both picked through an application and selection process) and a distinguished group of international
scientists, senior Indian scientists, and leaders in Indian government and international granting agencies (see web site for details). The meeting will consist of a combination of science as well as mentoring on issues of how to set up a successful laboratory (through talks, panel discussions and poster sessions). Importantly, the meeting provides a venue for young people (the future leaders of Indian biology) to meet each another and discuss their questions with scientific leaders who are interested in mentoring young people. For the 2010 meeting, we will include a new 1 day satellite meeting where invited postdoctoral fellows will learn more about jobs in India and interact with institute/university directors and chairs.

As an important component of this meeting, we are seeking outstanding postdoctoral researchers who might consider applying for jobs and
setting up their laboratories India. These postdoctoral scientists will present their work (with brief talks and posters) and will benefit enormously from the opportunity to meet young Indian investigators, learn more about the current environment for scientific
research in India, and hear about developments that will take place in the near future. We would greatly appreciate if you could bring this
meeting to the attention of other postdoctoral researchers at your institution or elsewhere. We also are seeking outstanding junior
faculty in India (or abroad who might return to India). If you know of such individuals, please bring this meeting to their attention as well.

If you have questions, please email the organizers, Deepak Barua, Sandhya Koushika (NCBS), Shubha Tole (TIFR,
Mumbai), or Ron Vale (UCSF) individually or through the meeting contact at Yimeet2010@ncbs.res.in

Application are through the web site: http://www.indiabioscience.org/yim

As an additional note, this web will be fully functional in about 4-6 weeks, and it will hopefully become a central hub of information and interactions.

Best regards,

Ron

Ron Vale
Chair, Dept. of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology
Investigator, HHMI
University of California, San Francisco

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Optimizing participation from different universities!


One of the challenges in organising a meeting of this nature is how to maximize participation from the target audience in different universities and institutes. Using the information on the sign up sheet on the June 11 meet (likely a subset of total participation) we plotted the participation as a function of distance of instituition from location of meet. Considering only the large instituitions with comparable number of post-docs in life-sciences(unverfied), it would seem that participation falls off roughly exponentially with commute distance. If true, ideas will be necessary to make commute distance a less important factor. Have a suggestion? Let us know!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

THSTI...we are now on facebook

Get connected !! Keep yourself posted with recent news, upcoming events and get involved in some stimulating discussions. Join the facebook group Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI). Simply click on the icon below and you will be redirected to the facebook page.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

THSTI

THSTI Promo Final height="500" width="100%" > value="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=16328042&access_key=key-idgeei6lqn4olbdmo55&page=1&version=1&viewMode=">

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Research grants in India

Applying for grants: In addition to the DBT, DST and ICMR programmes a major new programme of the DBT in Wellcome Trust offers many new programmes for those returning to India.
http://www.wellcomedbt.org/

Monday, June 8, 2009

Getting to UCSF for June 11 meeting


Driving:

The websites below include driving directions.

http://pub.ucsf.edu/missionbay/directions/


Parking around mission bay:

Public Transit:

The public transit options from anywhere in the Bay Area to 600, 16th Street, San Francisco can be found using either http://maps.google.com/ or www. 511.org

In addition, you may also avail of the shuttles services that UCSF has to connect its different campuses.

1. If you take BART, you would take it to 16th Street Station and catch the Red Shuttle from in front of the Burger King on 16th Street and Mission. (shuttle schedule below).

http://www.parking.ucsf.edu/transportation/shuttles/timetables/schedules_0907/RED-Temp.pdf


2. If you take Caltrain, you can take the Teal Shuttle from near Berry Street and Third Street

http://www.parking.ucsf.edu/transportation/shuttles/timetables/pdf/teal.pdf


Destination:

Here is a map of the Mission Bay campus:

http://www.ucsf.edu/maps/


When you get to Mission Bay, enter Genentech Hall on the Koret Quad (grassy area) side of the building, to the left of the large set of stairs, and check in at the Security Guard station. Byers Auditorium is next to the security desk.



Monday, June 1, 2009

Planned biotech clusters in India (Apr 2009 issue of Biotech News)

Indian Biotech Science Clusters height="500" width="100%" rel="media:document" resource="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=16019578&access_key=key-c4udz0325j3j8jtpmcp&page=1&version=1&viewMode=" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/searchmonkey/media/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" > value="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=16019578&access_key=key-c4udz0325j3j8jtpmcp&page=1&version=1&viewMode="> Indian Biotech Science Clusters hypoxicfly

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Leaving paradise made easy

K. VijayRaghavan
National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore 560065, India.

It has been widely alleged that the (San Francisco) bay area is paradise on earth, to which many flock and few wish to leave[1]. It must therefore be the ultimate in hallucination that Indian biology’s first organized recruitment méla should begin at the University of California at San Francisco. This—the constant flying in the face of logic—has always been a serious problem with India. My friend Jim Spudich, a Professor at Stanford, told me about Obaid Siddiqi asking Arthur Kornberg many, many years ago about the wisdom returning to India[2]. “What do you think about India?” Obaid is said to have asked. Kornberg, never one to pull his punches, instantly shot back: “I’d give it six months”. There are many interpretations of this answer, but I would not be surprised that Kornberg was actually giving India a life, or half- life, of about 6 months. Yet Obaid returned to stay and work in India (I should say that he returned from New Haven, which is not a difficult place to leave, some say[1] but in the 1960s was just like the bay area was before California started going broke) and started a Molecular Biology Unit at a Physics and Mathematics Institute: The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. There were several other remarkable pioneers in Indian biology, who led the development of research institutions and university laboratories. In Calcutta of yore, A.K. Roy Choudhary who worked with Hermann Muller and A.K. Mukherjee who worked with Hans Beerman started research in cytogenetics. G. N. Ramachandran’s work at Madras University was the beginning of a group that would move to the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and set up its Molecular Biophysics Unit. What characterized these pioneers (and many more I do not have the space to mention in this brief write-up) was that they went back to develop laboratories with no promise of infrastructure, resources or funds. In the period around Indian independence, few but the privileged left India and those who went back did so, as an eminent bureaucrat put it[3], because they had a misplaced sense of patriotism or because their mother lived there. They made few demands of the system, on getting back, and the system made no demands of them.

Today’s India is, of course, very different. Indians of many diverse backgrounds go abroad for studies and work. India has learnt the huge value that this community brings to its growth and development. The involvement of the Indian Diaspora and of the many friends of India in the growth of Indian research in general and in the biomedical sciences in particular is not only useful, but also essential. India has made huge investments in institutional development in the past few years. The cry that is often heard is “Where are we going to get quality people to work in these new places?” Obviously the excellent pool of researchers in places such as the bay area is a valuable resource. Yet, today’s India cannot and should not rely on patriotism and family to attract talent back. And, many Indian institutions realize this.

To get you to think of working in India as a real possibility we need to of course make sure that research resources and infrastructure are available in plenty. But, this is the easy part. If you are to be attracted to a place, it must provide a vibrant, challenging and demanding intellectual environment. It must let you be yourself and give you the space to drive your research. Your colleagues should want you to join and provide you all the help you need to get started. The campus should be bubbling with bright students and postdocs. The best and the brightest from all over the world should be frequent visitors. You should have the flexibility to travel the world. Key social and family issues need to be addressed: A pleasant work environment, child- care facilities, transport, housing, cultural opportunities etc. Who would not like to go back to such a place, even if it is a bit distant from the bay- area? Who would not like the opportunity and the resources to build such places? The developing ‘bio-clusters’ in Delhi and Bangalore afford such opportunities but there are also many more places in India that you can join, shape and insist on building- well!

I would like to end on a personal note[4]. I don’t particularly feel that I am any particular kind of Indian or even an Indian. I grew up without extending roots or loyalties and would feel equally uncomfortable everywhere. Yet, the adventure and warmth working in India has provided has been truly scientifically stimulating and, (between you and me) emotionally rewarding. I truly feel that India today has put forth the possibility of building quality science by not just investing funds but by the exemplary effort many talented individual both inside and outside India bring to its effort. This latter aspect brings a sense of adventure and excitement while investment in laboratories allows the possibility of frontier research being done in India. On June 11, 2009, you will hear colleagues from Delhi and Bangalore tell you about opportunities at their locations in particular and in India in general. Remember that these people are committed to not only getting you to start a lab in India, but also to make sure that you have a happy and successful one. Change is never easy[4], but take a big leap: There’s an Indian trampoline waiting to make sure that you don’t crash and an adventure waiting to happen when you land.


References.

1. Baseless-Rumour, W., Unsubstantiated feeling that there is no better place to live and be a scientist than the San Francisco bay area. Imagine, 2009. 1(1): p. 0.
2. Apocryphal-Tale, I., Reminiscences over volatile material. Pub Crawling, 2006. 1: p. 0-0.
3. CantTell, I., Top 10 reasons why people return to India: I can't count beyond two. Diaspora, 2008. 1(1): p. 0-0.
4. Cliche-after-cliche, T., Why can't people be original? Naturally, 2009. 1(1): p. 0-0.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Have questions?

We welcome your questions about the Young Investigator Meeting in the Bay Area, June 11 2009, and about Indian Science on this blog. Just enter your question in the comments section of this blog, and one of our panelists or webmasters will post an answer.

Does India have recruitment options for foreign nationals?

This is a common question asked by non-Indian academics interested in expanding their scientific, social and cultural horizons by establishing research labs or obtaining other scientific positions in India.

Here's a response from one of our speakers, Prof. K. VijayRaghavan, Director of the National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS) which is a shining beacon amongst Indian research institutes:

"Some institutions explicitly solicit and welcome applicants of any nationality (NCBS, for example, does that) whereas others do not.  There is some 'back- end' bureaucracy which needs to get done for those who have non- Indian passports. This is not difficult to accomplish and we work with the new faculty member to make this happen. NCBS, for example, has just recruited Dominik Schwudke from the Max- Planck Institute of Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden.
 
I personally feel that Indian institutions should try to recruit the best, irrespective of nationality: This approach sets high demands on us [scientists in India] to develop an attractive scientific and social environment. A few institutions in India have indeed hired non- Indian citizens who are not of Indian origin, but the numbers are still very small."

In short: if they want you, it can happen.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Young Investigator Meet in Boston


http://www.thsti.org/index.php?news&nid=2

The Translational Health Sciences and Technology Insititute, India, will organize a young investigator meet in Boston, in Sep 12-13th, 2009. This is geared towards young postdoctoral fellows and graduate students at advanced stages of their career, and who plan to start an academic career in India.
The fellows will be selected for short oral and poster presentations, which will be attended by the leaders of Indian academic organizations. There will be talks by Indian academic leaders on the academic environment, opportunities and challenges. This meeting will be restricted to a total of 30 postdoctoral fellows and senior graduate students who plan to start an independent faculty career in the next one to two years. Candidates will be selected based on CV and a one page research and vision statement. Please send in your application to Dr. Shiladitya Sengupta at shiladit@mit.edu by the 30th of June. Selected candidates will be informed by the 15th of July. We will try to arrange partial travel grants to defray costs of attending the meeting.Please contact Dr. Shiladitya Sengupta at shiladit@mit.edu for further information.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Save the date - June 11, 2009, at UCSF


Venue: UCSF, Byers Auditorium in Genentech Hall, 600, 16th Street, San Francisco, CA
Time and Date: 4 PM to 7 PM, June 11, 2009
Dinner: 7 PM in the atrium outside the hall

RSVP: medha_pathak@hms.harvard.edu

--
3.30pm
Welcome reception

4.00 pm

Aathavan Karunakaran (UCSF) & K. VijayRaghavan (NCBS).
Introductions

4.15-4.45 pm
M.K. Bhan (DBT)
The trajectory of life science research in India and emerging opportunities.

4.45-5.30 pm
Martha Gray (MIT), Dinakar Salunke (NII), Sudhanshu Vrati (NII), Satyajit Rath (NII)
The new Health Science and Biotech Cluster in Delhi:
-The Translational Health Sciences and Technology Institute
-The Regional Center for Biotechnology
-The Infectious Disease and Vaccine Center
-The premature child biology Center

5.30- 6:10 pm
Satyajit Mayor (NCBS), Jyotsna Dhawan (Stem Cell Institute), K. VijayRaghavan (NCBS)
Bioscience Cluster in Bangalore:
-NCBS, Bangalore
-The Stem Cell Institute

6.10-6.25 pm
Ron Vale (UCSF)
Young Investigator meet: From Trivandrum to Sunderbans

6.25-7.00 pm
M. K. Bhan (DBT), John Kuriyan (UC Berkeley), Satyajit Rath (NII), Martha Gray (MIT), Satyajit Mayor (NCBS), Iswar Hariharan (UC Berkeley), Jim Spudich (Stanford) and S. Natesh (DBT)
Panel discussion: Settling in and getting science done in India: Views from outside and inside.

7.00-8.00 pm
All!
Dinner and discussions

8.00 pm
Last shuttles leave UCSF for BART and Caltrain Stations

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Future of Biological Sciences in India

Here is an interesting article by Ron Vale (UCSF) and Karen Dell (J. Cell Biol) detailing growing opportunitites and the future of Biological Sciences in India

http://www.ncbs.res.in/events/ValeDell.pdf

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Young Investigator Meet in Bay Area

A discussion meeting for Postdocs, PhD students and others who are looking for academic career options in the Life Sciences in India.

Panelists
Lead Speaker
M. K. Bhan, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology

The new Health and Biotech Cluster in the Delhi region.
Martha Gray
Dinakar Salunke
Sudhanshu Vrati
Satyajit Rath

The National Centre for Biological Sciences, the new Stem Cell Institute and the ‘Bangalore Cluster’.
Satyajit Mayor
K. VijayRaghavan

A large number of scientists from the Bay Area who have worked closely with India will also be present.

Time and Date: 4 PM to 7 PM, June 11, 2009
Venue: University of California, San Francisco, Byers Auditorium in Genentech Hall. 600, 16th St. San Francisco CA 94158.
Dinner: 7 PM in the atrium outside the hall
RSVP: Medha Pathak (medha_pathak@hms.harvard.edu)

Website: http://youngindianinvestigators.blogspot.com/