- We are open to people of all gender, caste, sexual orientation, race, physical ability and religion. We accept you as you are. Diversity brings lots of different opinions to the table, and helps in stimulating scientific discussions. Thus, we value diversity of people and opinions. We do not tolerate harrassment/discrimination in any form.
- We also welcome students from all different engineering and science backgrounds with interest in biomedical applications. We believe that such diverse background will facilitate a different outlook and approach to these biomedical challenges and result in innovative and efficient solutions. In the past, students from Medical (BDS & MBBS), Engineering (Biotechnology, Bioengineering, Chemical & Mechanical) and Science (Biology) backgrounds have contributed positively to our lab environment.
- For us, mental health is an absolute priority. The thesis supervisor encourages you to share difficulties during your PhD career, and to seek professional help if needed. Please remember YOU are more important than any experiment you perform or results you did (or did not) get.
- Failed experiments are part of research. Although it can be painful sometimes, there is no stigma attached to it. It should be embraced and build upon to achieve success.
- Always keep a healthy skepticism about scientific results presented to you in oral or written form. Please remember, almost everything in science is subject to revisions and updates, and hard truths are hard to come by. Please don’t take the word of your thesis advisor as absolute truth, and feel free to question it.
- In our group meetings, we will strive to keep a stimulating atmosphere for discussions. Everybody is welcome to join in these discussions.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can a student who has no experience in Bioengineering join the lab?
Yes, absolutely. We welcome students from all diverse background.
- How is my research project decided?
It depends on several factors. There may be a requirement for a person to work on an ongoing project or a recently approved new project. Alternatively, one can propose a new topic related to the core expertise of the laboratory.
- What kind of mentoring is provided?
Mentoring is provided at several levels. Students are taught various topics such as experimental planning, techniques, data analysis and plotting, statistics, scientific writing and presentation, grant writing, science ethics etc. Apart from this, we also do journal club where recent key papers are presented and discussed in the lab.
- What are the lab timings?
We are flexible with timings. One can choose the time they want to work in the lab. However, everyone is expected to be regularly present for pre-assigned meeting times and have some overlap with official IISc timings (9:30 am - 5:30 pm).
- What are your expectations from the students?
The major expectations are as following:
- Self-driven: Have the desire and focus to perform quality research.
- Problem Solver: Research presents various challenges and the person should be ready to take them head-on and not shy away. We will do our best to facilitate this.
- Honest: Student should be completely honest and perform research ethically.
- Punctual: Everyone is expected to be on time for meetings and deadlines.
- Lab members are expected to answer the emails within 24 hours during weekdays.
- Students are expected to plan and understand the experiments to the best of their ability before starting. It is okay to do fewer experiments that were performed after adequate planning rather than several unplanned experiments.
- Participate in all lab activities. Treat lab as your home. Keep it clean and well stocked. Respect and ownership of common spaces, equipment, reagents. You are expected to spend 4-5 hours per week for lab cleaning and maintainence.
- Be a good colleague to existing lab members. Train them on the things you know. Ask them for help for things you don't know. Attend practice talks and provide feedback.
- Prioritize science over credit and give credit where it is due.
- Give me sufficient lead time to expect reply that involves reading, writing and editing large documents. Typically, one to two weeks. Send me all required information in a single email. For recommendations, send your updated CV and documentation describing the position, fellowship, etc.
- Remind me of deadlines that I have agreed on. Don't hesitate.
- Once students finishes their lab tenure, they need to clean up all areas where they worked. A detailed excel sheet listing all the reagents and samples with their exact location must be emailed to Rachit.