November brings a reflective calm after the festive bustle —a time to wrap up the year’s projects, celebrate achievements, and look forward to new beginnings. As always, we are delighted to share fresh updates, opportunities, and inspiring stories from across the life science community.
We are excited to announce that 40 Young Investigators and 40 Postdoctoral Fellow applicants have been shortlisted for the 18th Young Investigators’Meeting (YIM 2026). The applications for YIM 2025 are now closed, and preparations are in full swing for the upcoming Regional Young Investigator Meetings (RYIMs) in Mumbai (4–5 December 2025) and Tirupati (29–31 January 2026). Note the date change for RYIM Tirupati.
Join us for the second roundtable on Communicating science in Indian languages on 12 November, 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM IST. The keynote of this session will be delivered by TV Venkateswaran, Visiting Professor at IISER Mohali, and moderated by Science Communicator and Educator Rohini Karandikar. The session invites open dialogue on the challenges, strategies, and way forward for science communication in Indian languages — register here.
We co-organised the Publishing and Peer Review course along with EMBO last month, and extend our thanks to all participants for their enthusiastic engagement. We will soon get back with details on EMBO’s Scientific Writing course in January 2026.
The IBS team was at the Science Journalists’ Association of India conference 2025, where our colleagues Moumita and Sreshtha, along with Srinidhi from Enjana Trust, exhibited an interactive booth with the theme “Local Voices in Global Science Storytelling”.
Here’s more on what we have been up to over the past month and what’s coming next.
We are excited to announce that 40 Young Investigators and 40 Postdoctoral Fellow applicants have been shortlisted for the 18th Young Investigators’ Meeting (YIM 2026). Preparations are now underway for the meeting, which will be held at Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune. The event will bring together several mid- to senior-career science leaders from India and abroad as mentors, along with institutional leaders from across the country, to guide participants in navigating the early years of establishing independent research groups in India.
The Regional Young Investigators’ Meeting (RYIM) Mumbai 2025 will be held at S.V.K.M.’s Mithibai College of Arts, Chauhan Institute of Science and Amrutben Jivanlal College of Commerce and Economics (Empowered Autonomous) in collaboration with Kishinchand Chellaram College, HSNC University and Gujarat Biotechnology University on 4 and 5 December 2025, with the theme “Science without Borders: Collaborating across Disciplines for Global Impact.” The meeting will bring together young investigators, clinicians, faculty, industry experts, and entrepreneurs from across Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra for keynote talks, panel discussions, and interactive networking sessions. A Crafting Your Career workshop on 5 December will further equip students and researchers with strategies for leadership, mentorship, and career planning.
The Regional Young Investigators’ Meeting (RYIM) Tirupati 2025 - 2026 will be held at IISER Tirupati and has been rescheduled to 29–31 January 2026. In collaboration with CSIR-CCMB, Hyderabad, and Krea University, Sricity and with the theme “Furthering evolutionary ecology and conservation science”, the meeting will bring together young investigators, mentors, and stakeholders for talks, discussions, and networking. The event will also feature a Crafting Your Career workshop on 29 January for PhD students and postdoctoral fellows.
In just two days, the team at IBS will meet science communication practitioners from across the country to discuss 'Communicating Science in Indian Languages.' The event is the second roundtable in this series and has been co-designed with Science Communicator and Educator Rohini Karandikar, who will also moderate the event. Scheduled for 12 November 2025 (Wednesday) from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM IST, this session will nurture a community-driven, informal dialogue focused on the challenges and exciting opportunities in this space. With a keynote talk by TV Venkateswaran, Visiting Professor, IISER Mohali, the event will provide a platform to reflect on ongoing initiatives, explore strategies for impact, and identify ways to build capacity and collaboration. If you communicate research in a language other than English, or are considering it, use this space to be part of the conversations.
We were at the SJAI Conference 2025, where our colleagues Moumita and Sreshtha, along with Srinidhi from Enjana Trust, exhibited an interactive booth on Local Voices in Global Science Storytelling, exploring how science journalism and communication in Indian languages can thrive in the age of AI. Co-created by IndiaBioscience, Ejnana Trust, and the SJAI team, it invited delegates to play, translate, discuss, and reflect through creative activities like “Translate the Toon” and quick talks. The booth gathered insights on AI tools, linguistic diversity, and inclusive storytelling.
Picture Credit: Ankita Rathore, Ashoka UniversityCollage by Srinidhi
On 28 October 2025, the IndiaBioscience team, Manjula Harikrisnna and Sreshtha Mondal, were part of a networking session with leaders and experts from the American Society for Microbiology, academic researchers, and industry leaders. The discussion focused on advancing microbial sciences and strengthening publishing practices.
Picture Credit: American Society for Microbiology
Coming up next is a community-driven online panel discussion on the theme of ‘Navigating career transitions and leadership as women in science in India’ with motherhood, caregiving, burnout, and mental health as key threads. The session has been co-designed with Sanchari Banerjee. We look forward to welcoming early- to mid-career women in academia and industry who are navigating motherhood, too. We hope the discussion will be valuable for institutional leaders and administrators who influence supportive policies. This panel discussion will be held online on 21 November 2025, from 10.00 AM to 12.00 PM IST.
If you’d like to attend the discussion, please keep an eye on our social media platforms for updates and registration details.
In the lead-up to YIM 2026, we spoke with three YIM alumni who have joined us to curate and co-organise the event. They reflected on their YIM experience and shared stories that helped them understand their motivation to give back to the community by contributing to the platform that changed their career path.
When Neha Jain walked into her first Young Investigators’ Meeting (YIM) in 2017 as a postdoctoral researcher from the United States, she didn’t know what to expect. “As a postdoc, you usually don’t get to see the other side, or meet directors, or meet mentors,” she recalls. To her surprise, leaders from institutions reached out even before YIM, and those conversations soon turned into real opportunities. Within a year, she landed her first faculty position at Ahmedabad University. A year later, she moved to the Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, where she is now an Associate Professor. Looking back, she calls YIM 2017 ‘a huge milestone’ that shaped her career in India.
In this interview series, we are documenting personal accounts from women in Indian science to understand individual pathways taken by them to navigate careers in India.
Latha T, a medical pharmacology postgraduate from Shivamogga, Karnataka, combines her passion for neuroscience and psychiatry with storytelling. She explores how theatre, beyond emotional impact, shapes our brains through neuroplasticity; bridging science and art to promote mental well-being and deepen understanding of human emotions and healing.
Imagine performing all your blood tests using a chip smaller than your palm, with just a drop of blood. Wouldn’t that make blood tests feel less daunting, more accessible, and far more comfortable? You might think this is the plot of a sci‑fi movie. But the surprising twist is, it’s real, and it’s happening right now in India. Read this piece by Anna Anandita.
Under our partnership with CSIR-CCMB to publish pieces by young science writers, we have been sharing articles originally published on SciTales by CCMB.
This month’s article is by Sai Poojitha, a molecular virologist who studies how mitochondria play key roles in immune responses, too. Read the original article here.
Mitochondria in action by Odra Noel, Wellcome Images
The Franco-Indian Workshop on Microscopy, held from 6–10 October 2025 at Ashoka University, brought together researchers from India and France to explore cutting-edge imaging in disease biology. Over five days, the event fostered collaborations, hands-on learning, and vibrant scientific dialogue across borders.
Group picture taken during the Franco-Indian Workshop on Microscopy, held from 6–10 October 2025 at Ashoka University. Photo Credit: Ashoka University.
In the sprawling metropolis of the human body, order is maintained by a careful system of governance. Every cell knows its duty, follows its genetic code, and contributes to the greater whole. But sometimes, amid the quiet rhythm of breast tissue, a rebellion stirs. This is breast cancer, a faction that looks like it belongs, yet works from within to undermine balance. Luminal cancers arise from cells that still display oestrogen and progesterone receptors, masquerading as diplomatic badges. These allow the cancer to blend in, hijack hormonal signals, and quietly build strength. A new study led by Ujjaini Dasgupta at Ashoka University and Avinash Bajaj at Regional Centre for Biotechnology, unravels how these cancers use lipids as secret survival codes.
RICTOR-UGCG axis: A molecular control panel for cancer proliferation | Image Credit: Animesh Kar (one of the authors of this study) & Mohammad Nafees Ansari
The EMBO course on Publishing and Peer Review was conducted from 30–31 October 2025. This workshop introduced 20 early-career researchers from India to the process of publishing a manuscript in scientific journals, from submission to acceptance.
Image source: EMBO website
Look out for future courses and workshops on our and social media channels!
Are you following our social media campaign #ScienceJobsTuesdays to stay updated about jobs, grants and events on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn? Subscribe to our monthly Jobs and Internships newsletter here if you haven’t already.
Proposals are invited from early-career researchers to develop and scale digital and blood-based biomarkers for dementia in India’s diverse cohorts. Projects should focus on biomarker discovery, digital health, or AI-driven data science to improve diagnosis and understanding. Fellowships are for up to four years duration, full-time, and will be hosted at the Centre for Brain Research (CBR), IISc campus, with up to three months per year at the co-supervisor’s UK DRI Centre.
IndiaBioscience will continue its journey with you through shared stories, experiences, and opportunities that lie ahead. If you have an inspiring story to share, an insightful article to contribute, or a collaborative event idea, we invite you to reach out to us at hello[at]indiabioscience[dot]org.
Your active engagement contributes immensely to our shared journey.
