The STEM Ceiling

Scientists on how they are navigating biases and challenges   Sandhya Visweswariah grew up in different parts of the world before beginning her academic journey in India. She completed her early schooling in England and her O levels (equivalent to 10th standard in India) in Zambia. Then, Sandhya came to India for her undergraduate studies […]

‘I don’t want to be “Durga”. I want to be Anindita’

Anindita Bhadra, Professor at the Behaviour and Ecology Lab, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata, does not believe in glorifying women as multitaskers. A former PhD student at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, Anindita studied hierarchy in social wasps and later shifted to researching the behaviour of stray dogs in India. […]

Bias and Behaviour

Can animal studies be truly objective?     In the early 20th century, a horse in Berlin captured the world’s attention with its mathematical proficiency. When asked an arithmetic question, Hans, the horse, would start tapping his hooves and stop when he arrived at the correct number. This remarkable feat elevated Hans’ status to genius. […]

Beyond Brick and Mortar

Unique centre at IISc’s Challakere campus exemplifies sustainable construction   The temperature was a sizzling 40°C on the morning of 24 April when I reached the IISc campus in Challakere. Summers in this area have become worse in recent years. The sweltering heat was becoming unbearable as I made my way past various buildings to […]

Scientists on Sci-fi

How the genre has evolved and influenced researchers   It was early 2005. GK Ananthasuresh had joined IISc a few months before. His neighbour in the campus quarters then was Utpal Nath, another faculty member who was researching gene mutations in plant leaves. It was known that certain genes are responsible for facilitating differential growth […]

When Teachers Become Students Again

Tracing the growth of a model training programme at IISc’s Challakere campus   Smita Bala Panda is among the 112 teachers who have travelled from Odisha to participate in the Teachers’ Training Programme at the Talent Development Centre (TDC), in the IISc Challakere campus. She covered the journey from Ganjam district to Bangalore via train, […]