3rd National PostDoc Symposium 2019: A Report
This report was ready in Feb 2020. It still hasn't been published for some reason. For anyone who might be interested, I'm pasting this report here.
The National Post-Doc Symposium is a forum to promote career interests of Post-Doctoral scientists pursuing research in India. The organization of this event brings together Post Docs under the same roof as their peers, potential academic and non-academic employers with the express purpose of spurring broad scientific exchanges and practical tips to crafting any career of one’s choosing. This initiative is a grass roots effort of Post Docs chiefly in the life sciences to combat the reality that a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in India is a disadvantage to professional growth, or any perceptions thereof. With the current standards for hiring in place, Post Docs from India can still make a sizeable contribution given the opportunity to enter the fray.
In 2019, it was organized by Post-Docs at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune (IISERP) and colleagues from the Post-Doctoral Fellows Association (PDFA) at the National Center for Biological Sciences and Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (NCBS, InStem) Bangalore. This was the third in a series of such annual symposia. Previous national meetings had been organized by the PDFA in partnership with Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB, Hyderabad) in 2018 and at NCBS-InStem 2016. The trajectory of this event is guided by one vision. That vision is for Post-Docs from India to be aware of our situation, to build the skillsets and contacts to utilize opportunities available in India, while partnering with employers and policy makers to facilitate this process. Us Post Docs are certain that we have much to offer organizations in India. This annual event is an attempt to actualize our potential.
To assure readers’ interest in this report, we will present the distillate of the three-day event first. Unsurprisingly, we echo many of the thoughts and sentiments reported by S Jain (Current Science, 2019) reviewing the impact of the Young Investigator Meetings. This report not only reiterates that discussion and has additional topics pertinent to the immediate and long term welfare of the Indian Post Doctoral community. Recorded proceedings of the meeting, captured on camera, will be hosted on the Indiabioscience website. The context and organizational details will follow.
To summarize a few facts that came as revelations to at least some of us Post Docs in attendance:
1. There is a vast number of fulfilling professions that employ the skills we gained through a PhD. They can be as satisfying, remunerative and as competitive as academic jobs. The notion that non-academic jobs are a step down from anything is false and severely limiting. In view of the statistics regarding the percentage of PhD holders hired into academia, Post Docs need to be aware and prepare for avenues available to us.
2. Most critically, PhD holders need to evaluate where our talents actually lie and assess what careers are best for us.
3. The Indian higher education and research establishment, both private and government supported, is expanding right now. Opportunities may not present themselves in established Institutes and Universities as readily, but being part of a new and upcoming institution can have its benefits. Teaching is an irreplaceable and much desired ability in most of them.
4. The effort we put into research in the lab is crucial but not sufficient. Making the effort to spread word of our talents and soft skills to contribute to organizations, in addition to research is critical. In fact, publication record plays a smaller role in hiring in non-academic establishments. Soft skills matter a great deal everywhere.
5. Established industries are looking for good people who can contribute to their organizations. PhD hiring differs immensely from graduate hiring. PhD holders need to find roles where they can make an impact, and approach team-leads in their target organization for those roles. The least everyone should do is to update their LinkedIn profiles to be spotted by headhunters and HR personnel.
6. Mentoring matters. It is not a given, it must be actively sought and utilized. Mentorship can come from people other than your advisor, especially for non-academic career aspirations.
7. Communicate your research through interesting, simple, unalienating stories. This is a social responsibility and is the least that we can do. The benefits will come back to us in the form of prepared talent, funding and informed electorate that promotes wise policy decisions.
8. The Indian funding and business incubator environment is growing increasingly conducive to biotech start-ups. For people interested in taking an idea to the market, grants and basic infrastructure are available from various sources and incubation centers. Treading carefully and talking to entrepreneurs in similar situations is crucial.
9. Getting into and staying in the loop for any career of choice is critical. Taking initiative, leveraging networks and hustling are underestimated and irreplaceable traits in today’s scenario. The saying “Take care of your science and science will take care of you.” might be amended to “Take care special care of your science and then advocate for yourself.”.
10. A common refrain from all invited speakers, that many of us in an academic bubble never hear, was to take the initiative and actively meet people for professional interactions and betterment. The expectation that a job awaits because you’re qualified is not founded in reality in any avenue.
Action points for institutions:
1. Indian labs can and should be an attractive destination for freshly minted Doctors of Philosophy. Training students to be exported abroad makes little economic and social sense. Post Docs given due freedom and infrastructure have produced quality research right here. Competitive salaries with tenure durations that afford some peace of mind are crucial.
2. Streamlined administrative processes and amenities must to be provided to Post Docs as much as PhD students. Group leaders must note, Post Docs can be auxiliary brains and aid the functioning of a lab, thus gaining valuable on the job training in the process. Treating them as technicians is a lose-lose situation.
3. Institute guidance sessions for grant writing and study groups comprising PIs to assess outgoing grants. Indian scientific talent manifests through research work but materializes in words on paper occasionally. Training in communication is an unmet need in our establishment. It may be conducted through a career development unit on campuses.
4. Until institutions themselves can provide for a better forum and tools than this Symposium for promoting PhD and Post Doc career trajectories, they should encourage participation in such meetings. We have occasionally encountered resistance from group leaders saying that this forum is a waste of time. Without a top down change in mindset, a bottom up, our long term attempt at maximizing contributions to the research and teaching ecosystem will delay bearing fruit.
Action points for policy makers:
1. Increase the number of years for which fellowships are provided. E.g. NPDF for 2+1 years is barely sufficient for any progress in research in many biological disciplines. Year long delays in the arrival of funds to recipient institutions and fellows are unacceptable if the system is serious about supporting research in India.
2. Make fellowships such as the Ramalingaswami fellowship an open competition where Indian PhDs and Post Docs are eligible to apply. These should be administered on the basis of merit, without excluding Indian trained talent.
3. For most disciplines of experimental Biology, the 35-year age limit on hiring for assistant professor level positions (advertised widely) is unreasonable. Combined with the high bar on publications for academic hiring (which can take several additional PhD, post doc years to achieve anywhere in the world), much Indian talent and potential is precluded. We strongly recommend policy makers commission a study asking one specific question: How much has Indian science gained and/or lost by placing this 35-year limit on hiring for entry level academic positions? If this is not a government regulation but is being implemented by government institutes, enforcement (even tacitly) of this rule must be stopped.
4. There is a need for channeling talent in the Science and Industry ecosystem. Even if jobs are actively sought, they are elusive in spite of increased connectivity. To maintain a continuum in networking resources between trained scientists and Academia or Industry, we strongly recommend that PhD and Post Doc level campuses be supported with Career development units through staff and funding.
Proceedings:
The three-day event was broken down into work presentations, chalk talks and posters by Post Docs; Invited talks by members of faculty at various Indian institutions, Science related Industry representatives and Policy makers; Panel discussions on opportunities in Academia, Industry; and workshops on career development.
Invited members of faculty: Drs. Jayant Udgaonkar (Director), Sanjeev Galande, Vineeta Bal, Mayurika Lahiri, Thomas Pucadyil, Anjan Banerjee (IISER Pune), Karishma Kaushik, Tuli Dey (Pune University, Dhiraj Bhatia(IIT Gandhinagar), L. S. Shashidhara, Imroze Khan (Ashoka University), Anindita Bhadra (IISER Kolkata), Sorab Dalal (ACTREC, Mumbai), D. Srinivasa Reddy (NCL Pune), Divya Uma (Azim Premji University), Sunil Laxman, Shannon Olson (InStem, NCBS Bangalore respectively) represented a section of private and government, universities and institutes and a range of experiences.
Through their talks and panel discussions, the challenges and joys of scientific research, practical concerns and tips for finding employment in academia in private and government establishments and the value of teaching; issues faced by women scientists in our country; crossing over from industry to academia and back; and the immense value of communicating science to non-scientists were discussed in rich detail. Drs Surat Parvatam (AIC, CCMB) and Chagun Basha (DST-CPR) discussed their journeys away from Academia and how they create value by communicating science and informing policy makers.
Drs Sanjay Singh (Gennova Biopharmaceuticals), Shambhavi Naik (Cloudkrate), Venkata Palle (Lupin Pharma), Sundarlingam SP (Syngene), T Srinath (Genophe), Premnath Venugopalan (NCL venture center), Sudheendra Rao (ORDI) and Rohan Kamat (Immuneel) shared with us what they look for in new employees; the differences between the mindset, goals and day-to-day running of industry and academia. The steps in starting a new business and the stumbling blocks along the way were discussed at length. They highlighted the need for leadership and the ability to work in teams within stricter time constraints. To help with how to protect intellectual property of business and career avenues therein, Dr Gopakumar Kumar Nair (Gopakumar Nair and Associates) shared from his vast set of experiences and his rewarding professional journey.
Our feedback indicates the most valued aspects of this Symposium were workshops on “Crafting your careers” that included resume preparation by Drs Smita Jain and Lakshmi Ganesan (IndiaBioscience) and Grant writing by Dr Divya Tiwari (Wellcome-DBT India Alliance). Dr Shivani Shah (Editage, Cactus Communications) conducted a workshop on how to craft and knit the basic elements of a manuscript for maximum impact. Separately she walked us through the need for and skills required in successful science writing. Ipsa Jain (Ipsawonders) discussed in details the basics of figure design by critiquing published figures. In all, these speakers provided key insights into essential but somewhat neglected tasks that are a part of research.
Drs K VijayRaghavan (Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India), Renu Swarup (Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India) and Meenakshi Munshi (DBT) graciously represented our interface with policy makers. They stressed the government’s resolve to promote science and technology in the country and sought suggestions on how to improve Post-Doctoral research through policy changes. This report aims to provide such feedback.
Participation:
To drum up active participation, the organizers leveraged personal contacts and wrote to heads of departments of 119 central and state universities, CSIR,ICMR, MHRD and DAE institutes, mailing and emailing flyers for the symposium.
The attached map and picture show the researcher participants of the Symposium and where they are currently working. Though a large number (70 Post Docs and late stage PhDs invited) and covering a fair number of states in India, we acknowledge our efforts at attracting participation can be improved. Kashmir contributed very active participation last year, but could not this year. With continued institutional support and funding, active participation and recognition, we hope to continue serving the needs of Post Docs from all over the country.
Program outcomes:
The benefits of networking and discussions can only be gauged over a period of years. Immediately however, we can confirm that conversations regarding jobs at least Immuneel, Takshashila foundation, Cloudkrate and Cactus communications were initiated. We hope to hear back from participants in due time regarding concrete successes that this meeting may have spurred.
Well over half the attendees rated the meeting at 8/10 or above. Networking opportunities, Career talks and Panel discussion categories were the most popular and no consensus can be reached for the most popular talk by an invited speaker or the most useful workshop. In rare consensus, no one had problems with arrangements for stay. The duration of the meeting was judged too short by some and too long by others but with a strong appreciation for every session. Some participants suggested that sessions should stick to time and that point is now noted.
The organizing team found this a deeply enriching experience and one giant leap outside the academic bubble. Each aspect of organization was a lesson in working towards our goal. The IISER Pune team deserves and has earned immense appreciation for putting on the ground execution of mutually envisaged goals with the Bangalore team.
In our small way, to promote quality research communication, we instituted prizes for the best presentations and posters. Drs Aditya Parekh, Gnaneshwar Yadav (NCBS), Ajay Tijore (NUS), Anushree Chaphalkar (IISERP) and Natasha Buwa (NCL) won poster awards. Drs Parveen Goyal, Avinanda Banerjee(InStem), Shraddha Mehta (UM-DAE CBS), Dhananjay Chaturvedi (NCBS), Pratik Chaudhari (TIFR Mumbai) won prizes for the best talks.
Funding and support:
The organisers acknowledge that our zeal and vision could never have amounted to anything without the support of Drs Satyajit Mayor, Jayant Udgaonkar, L Sashidhara, Aurnab Ghose and Mukund Thattai. Their faith and permission to use IISERP and NCBS-InStem infrastructure gave us well founded confidence to approach our major funding bodies IndiaBioscience, the Principal Scientific Advisor’s Office and the Wellcome-DBT India Alliance. All participants were provided travel subsidies, accommodation and boarding through their support. Special thanks to Dr Smita Jain for giving the organizers guidance as well as the freedom to implement our vision. Additional support came from Cactus Communications, CloudKrate and… Talk and Poster prizes were sponsored by CloudKrate.
The Road ahead:
If we have learned anything, it is the value of identifying and pursuing avenues that help us achieve our goals. We strongly hope that Post-Doctoral communities across the country come together in local associations for professional growth, that can liaise at a national level to sustain this endeavor. Since we have had three such meetings south of the Vindhyas, the PDFA seeks to partner with Post-Docs in the north of India to hold next National Post Doc Symposium.
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