For PhD students

If I join PBL for a PhD what can I expect to work on?

Although my primary interest lies in population dynamics and experimental evolution, my students are free to work on whatever they please, provided they fulfill certain conditions as outlined below:

I am open to working on any problem in the broad field of ecology and evolution, as long as it is interesting. This means that I plan to give full freedom to my students to choose problem(s)/ model system(s)/ methodologies, provided:

• the problem is interesting (in my view), and   

• lies within the broad framework of ecology and evolution, and

• the proposed work is feasible, given the different practical constraints in the lab.

In case the student is unable to think of a suitable problem within a reasonable time-frame, I would help him/her to choose a problem of mutual interest. The issues addressed in the lab keep on changing and currently include the ones listed on the Research page.

Apart from skills in handling the model organism, our kind of work demands some degree of proficiency in statistics and (if needed) computer programming. I am aware that a biology education in India has probably prepared you for neither. Therefore, IISER faculty members, including me, offer a number of courses that are designed to make you familiar with the various tools needed for research in ecology and evolution, assuming no prior exposure to mathematics after class XII, or programming. This also means that I do not care about your masters background, as long as you are enthusiastic about doing something in ecology and evolution.

The other important feature of the lab is an almost equal emphasis on theory and experiments. Simply put, any PBL member is expected to be proficient in both.

What kind of an interview will I face? What are you looking for in a prospective candidate?

All students who wish to work with me are expected to be familiar with the topics mentioned below. Look them up in basic text books / internet if you need to brush up your memory before the interviews. Essentially this is the syllabus for the interview:

1. Basic mathematics and statistics

• basic concepts in probability (e.g. independence, mutual exclusivity etc.)

• basic statistics: mean, standard deviation, confidence interval, standard error, statistical significance (p- or α- value; applied to difference between 2 measured means), etc.

• simple functions: e.g. linear, quadratic, exponential, logarithmic, normal (bell) curve

• areas of standard shapes, volumes of standard solids; units of measurement; conversion between units

2. Basics of evolution and ecology

• Darwinian theory   

• Basic Mendelian genetics

• Basic population genetics (Hardy-Weinberg, Genetic drift, Inbreeding)

• Basic population dynamics models (logistic, Lotka-Volterra prey-predation and competition model)

• Basic logic of conservation biology

3. A topic of your choice from your Masters – (thoroughly!) to evaluate your ability to grasp a subject in depth

4. Your masters thesis – thoroughly!

• overview of the basic idea and objectives

• methodology - with focus on why you did what you did

• instruments: underlying principles, method of use, actual measurements and derived quantities

• results (including statistical significance of the same)

• shortcomings, suggested improvements, future lines of work

5. Why do you want to join my research group (beyond "I like ecology/evolution")