Blogs
The Alchemy of Hope: Where Science Meets Resilience
Author: Rayavarapu Padmavathi, Former Postdoctoral Fellow, Drexel University, USA.
Editor: Paramita Sarkar, Ph.D, Postdoctoral Fellow, NIH, Bethesda, USA.
The Alchemy of Hope ✨
Where science meets resilience, IVF transforms possibility into life. This piece captures the unseen journey—of injections, uncertainty, endurance, and unwavering hope—that so many walk in silence. Behind every breakthrough is not just innovation, but courage, love, and the quiet strength to keep going.
AI and the Brain: A Two-Way Street Shaping the Future of Neuroscience
Author: Satya Surabhi, PhD Research Assistant Professor, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA.
Editor: Paramita Sarkar, Ph.D, Postdoctoral Fellow, NIH, Bethesda, USA.
Brain science has inspired modern machine learning, and in turn, computational AI tools are nowhelping accelerate neuroscience research. Together, this creates a feedback loop where biologyinforms AI, and AI improves how we study the brain.
In parallel, India’s expanding ecosystem spanning from research institutions, industry and semiconductor development is increasingly contributing towards this convergence between neuroscience and artificial intelligence.
Patent or Publication? Rethinking research impact in India
Author: Malavika J.M., PhD student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Editor: Paramita Sarkar, Ph.D, Postdoctoral Fellow, NIH, Bethesda, USA.
For decades, research impact has been measured mainly through publications and citations.But in an innovation-driven economy like India, should patents also be considered indicatorsof scientific success? This blog explores why India’s research ecosystem must recognise theevolving balance between sharing knowledge through publications and protecting thisinnovation through patents.
How to effectively communicate science to the public in India
Written by: Dr. Sonam Pandey, Scientist-RDO,
Centre for Stem Cell Research (a unit of inStem, Bengaluru),
Christian Medical College Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
From regional languages to social media reels, this blog explores how scientists, educators, and institutions in India can connect better with the public. Whether you’re aiming to bust myths, inspire the next generation, or shape public policy—effective science communication is the key. Dive in to learn practical strategies and powerful examples from the Indian context.
Recent Innovations: A Dive into R&D Startups Shaping India’s Future
Written by: Dr. Maharshi Dey, Sr. Scientist, UbiQD, Inc.
From regional languages to social media reels, this blog explores how scientists, educators, and institutions in India can connect better with the public. Whether you’re aiming to bust myths, inspire the next generation, or shape public policy—effective science communication is the key. Dive in to learn practical strategies and powerful examples from the Indian context.
Non-academic careers in India
Written by: Dr. Ankita Shrestha, PhD — Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar
Finished your postgraduate or postdoctoral stint abroad? Are you interested in going back to India? Are you exploring your options outside academia and wondering what the environment is like in the industry of your choice? We present to you the “Non-academic careers in India”, where we talk to people in India to help you decide which career is the one for you! Stay tuned…
Science Communication – A language of science
Transition to Indian Industry
Written by: Dr. Deeksha Bhartiya, Founder, Genomiki Solutions
Although academic jobs have been the most coveted traditionally after PhD, more are exploring opportunities in the industry. Many are driven by the challenge of translating basic research into services or products for humankind and the desire of giving back to society. Not much unlike SCI-ROI’s philosophy of ‘return on investment’. In this “Transition to Indian industry” series, we talk to scientists who have moved to the industry in India and successfully switched to the private sector. Through this endeavor, we aim to learn about the available opportunities in India and the challenges faced during the process of transition.
Perspectives on Indian STEM
Blog by: Rohit Vaidya,PhD Candidate,Biophysicist,The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Do you want to know what some of the prominent personalities think about the Indian research ecosystem, its progress so far, the current situation and future directions? In this series, we take an in-depth look at these opinions/perspectives, while sharing the writers’ own opinion, analysis and possible solutions.
Return to India: The Avenue of Re-Entry Fellowships
Crafting a career in Science Communication in India
A Need for Expanding Indian Research Beyond the Top Few Institutions
Forerunners of Indian STEM
After transitioning back to India, getting oneself established in a particular research field is no easy task. It is possible that you might be one of the few people working in a new, cutting-edge research field in India. Here, some words of experience can be helpful from people who transitioned back to India a long time ago and established themselves in a new field. Learning from the challenges that they faced and the unique experiences they had will help all of us. Their outlook on the future and their advice to young researchers will also be important. Keeping this in mind, Sci-ROIBlogs is starting this series called “Forerunners of Indian STEM”, to share the experiences of established researchers in India.
Rohini Godbole – Professor, Centre for High Energy Physics, Indian Institute of Sciences, Bengaluru, India
Umesh Varshney – Professor, Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, IISc Bangalore
Sudipta Maiti – Professor and Chair, Dept. of Chemical Sciences, TIFR, Mumbai, India
Vidita Vaidya – Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences, TIFR, Mumbai, India
Evolving Trends in India
Indian scientific research is growing at a rapid pace. New policies are being made and facilities are being developed to pursue different avenues of cutting-edge research. There is much left to be done as well. If you would like to know what is happening in India in an emerging research field of your interest, you have come to the right place. Evolving Trends in India series explores different aspects of the growing Indian research, showcasing the progress being made and providing suggestions for further improvement.
A Perspective on Indian Interdisciplinary Research In The Spotlight
How often have you thought about transitioning to a non-academic or a non-traditional career after your PhD or postdoc, but had limited exposure to such ‘alternate’ careers and STEM professionals making such transitions? A study conducted by the Royal Society in 2010 reported that out of all the freshly minted PhDs, 53% goes for non-research careers outside academia and another 26.5% will do the same at some point in their career. Hence, a whopping 79.5% of the PhDs will have a career beyond professorate even after specializing in a core competency for many years. Isn’t it time that we start thinking about these careers as ‘careers of choice’ rather than alternate careers? In the Spotlight Series, we will explore such fascinating and unique careers and learn from the STEM professionals who have embarked on their wonderful journeys in these careers.
Dr. Sarah Hyder Iqbal- Ex Communications and Public Engagement, DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance
Dr. Amitavo Mitra- Associate Partner, Saikrishna & Associates
Dr. Shambhavi Naik- Founder & CEO, CloudKrate
New Faculty Perspective
Is pursuing an academic faculty career your prime ambition? You might find that your mind has already started weaving multiple novel research ideas and as you are reading this, it has wandered off to your dream institute. Or maybe you know you want to remain in academia, but you do not know how and where to search for your dream institute or research ideas. You miss your family and friends (and oh, that delicious Indian food!) and would love to settle down in India and start a research lab. But you are not sure how to start thinking about that arduous transition. If so, you have come to the right place to get answers on how to navigate through your transition period from being a successful student or postdoc to being an established faculty in India. To learn more about how early career professionals in the United States have transitioned to a faculty position in India recently, Atul, Sayan, and Manali from the Sci-ROI team had conversations with some new faculty members from eminent universities in India.
Dr. Sriram, Faculty of Biology, Aziz Premji University
Dr. Shubhasis Haldar, Assistant Professor of Biology, Ashoka University