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Volume 5 | December 31, 2020 |
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Sci-ROI Leadership team is actively looking for new volunteers to expand our horizon in 2021. As you know, Sci-ROI organized a virtual annual event, a virtual recruitment week and a ‘cryo-EM in India’ webinar and initiated a job portal focused on Indian STEM sector this year. We also contributed to the formulation of Science, Technology and Innovation policy (STIP 2020) in India by representing the Indian STEM diaspora. Next year, Sci-ROI will continue its multifaceted vision to assist Indian diaspora with year-round activities and programs. If you wish to be a part of this endeavor, consider joining the Sci-ROI Leadership Team for 2021.
If you are interested, please fill out the following form by January 8th, 2021:
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On December 5, 2020, Dr. Kanika Khanna along with Sci-ROI organized a focused webinar titled “Cryo-electron microscopy in India”. In the recent decade, cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) techniques have revolutionized the field of structural biology by elucidating the structures of biological macromolecules at near-atomic resolution. The aim of the webinar was to discuss challenges and opportunities in the Indian cryo-EM biosphere and infrastructure by engaging students and post-docs carrying out cryo-EM research abroad in a dialogue with the cryo-EM community in India. We had 5 faculty from eminent Indian institutes as panelists – Prof. Manidipa Banerjee (IIT Delhi), Prof. Somnath Dutta (IISc Bengaluru), Prof. Jayati Sengupta (CSIR-IICB Kolkata), Prof. Arun Shukla (IIT Kanpur) and Prof. Vinothkumar Kutti Ragunath (NCBS Bengaluru). 100+ participants from all across the world attended the seminar.
During the pre-recorded talks and the webinar, we discussed the status of different cryo-EM modalities in India and how to navigate grant applications if you are selected as a faculty at one of the institutes, issues related to the management of facilities and infrastructure, collaborations in cryo-EM and training opportunities for scientists, and future plans and vision of cryo-EM in India. Pre-recorded talks by the faculty panel are already available on the Sci-ROI website. The webinar recording and the Q&A will be available soon on the website as well.
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I am a Researcher at the Shell Technology Center in Bengaluru working on rock pore physics and image analysis. I joined this role in June 2020 after finishing my Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Mechanical engineering in January 2020. My journey with Sci-ROI began with the 2019 annual event, which I attended in Chicago. I had already secured a job in India so my aim for this event was to learn about the opportunities in India and network with the who’s who of India’s STEM leadership. I found that there was a deep intent among the visiting Indian scientists to bring back the research talent. I also got to interact with the Sci-ROI team of 2019 and was convinced that if given an opportunity I would like to work with them to promote industry research careers in India, which is a path that is often dismissed by my peers in the US as a career option. After an initial vetting process, I got inducted into the Sci-ROI team. Even during the uncertainty of COVID, this amazing team adapted and reorganized to flush out a best possible virtual event. Not just that, a newsletter, a job portal, and a recruitment week were also conceptualized and have already been successfully integrated with the meeting. I personally worked this year on growing Sci-ROI’s Twitter presence, developed and maintained the job portal, coordinated with event speakers, conducted the industry session during the annual event, and handled the back end of our recruitment week.
Everyone in the team truly believes in the idea of Sci-ROI that we have an urgent need to bridge the gap between Indian-origin researchers studying abroad and the Indian STEM leadership. This engagement would help in reversing brain-drain and exponentially improving the Indian industry & academia. Out of that belief, I saw the hundreds of voluntary hours that the team invested in creating that seamless experience of the event. As I step out of the team for the next year, I truly believe that others will step up to the challenge and will channel their passion in connecting the diverse Indian scientific community.
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I work as a Research Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory in the field of Aerospace Engineering. My work revolves around leading a small team and research projects related to aero-propulsion areas like jet engines, scramjets and rockets. I got introduced to Sci-ROI through their annual conference and was impressed by the large network and community of PhD scholars with a common goal of finding and improving academic opportunities in India. I was deeply influenced by their efforts in highlighting entrepreneurship as a career path for science scholars and the opportunities that existed in India. I decided to volunteer in Sci-ROI to help organize their annual event. After the onslaught of the pandemic, when it was clear that a face-to-face meeting was not possible, our dynamic team deliberated over multiple ideas and decided to put together a virtual event. I enjoyed working with this team and organizing this event. I helped organize some of the webpages and track web traffic. I also helped the team in their efforts to find speakers and co-ordinate with recording their presentations. I also got the opportunity to co-moderate two sessions during the event. In my opinion, the virtual job fair and the job portal that started in 2020, will go a long way in helping PhD scholars find lucrative positions in India. Overall, I think that working with Sci-ROI provides an excellent platform to interact and work with a community of like minded colleagues. It also helps in developing teamwork, communication and management skills. |
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Current Job Opportunities in India |
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Sci-ROI's job portal is dedicated for helping researchers and Ph.D. scholars access job opportunities in India. These job listings are targeted towards research, industry and entrepreneurship based opportunities that may be of interest to the research community. Checkout some new additions to our job portal. |
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A National training workshop will be held online by IISER Pune in association with DST.
Topic : Scientific Project Management
Goal : Holistic training in managing scientific research grants and outreach projects
Dates : January 5 -9, 2021
Time Duration : 4-5 hrs per day
Target Audience : Scientists / Technologists in government sector only
Registration Fees: There is no registration cost. However, a nomination form needs to be submitted duly signed by the head of your organization.
Training topics and Link for nomination and application forms is available at the following link:
Last date of Registration: January 4 , 2020
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Sci-ROI 2020 outreach support |
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Your donations assist us in enriching the Indo-US scientific communication.
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