Molecular Biology Workshop for Underrepresented Groups in Academia

The 7-day karyashala concluded on 31-Jan-2023. We thank the funding agency, industry sponsors and all the people involved who made this workshop possible. For glimpses from the workshop, please click here.

List of shortlisted candidates can be found here. More information about the candidates can be found here.

Information at a glance

Dates: 25-31 January, 2023. Reporting on 24-January 2023.

Location: IISER Pune Campus

Type: Offline hands-on molecular biology workshop. Fully residential. Mandatory stay on campus.

Application / Registration fees: None. Organizers will cover the accommodation, food and travel reimbursement for the selected participants.

Number of Participants: 25

Certificates: All participants will get a certificate on successful completion of the workshop.

Last date for application: 20-Dec-2022

Contact: karyashala.iiserpune@gmail.com

The Backdrop

Molecular Biology Techniques are essential for all students who aspire for a career in biological research in Industry or Academia. Unfortunately, there are several students, particularly from underprivileged groups, who lack exposure to these techniques. Such students are at a considerable disadvantage when they join a PhD program or industrial research-related jobs. The lack of such exposure often implies that many students do not even consider research as a career option, which is perhaps a major loss to the intellectual capital of the country. To address this issue, IISER Pune has been organizing paid, hands-on molecular biology workshops for school and college students since 2019.

The Current Workshop

IISER Pune is organizing a 7-day long, all expenses paid, hands-on workshop on Molecular Biology Techniques for under-represented groups in Academia, enrolled in institutes in Type Y and Type Z cities. This workshop was made possible by a Karyashala grant under the Accelerate Vigyan program of Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) Govt of India as well as support from K.K. Nag Private Limited and Eppendorf India Pvt. Ltd.

Content

Basics: Lab safety and micropipetting practice, Agarose Gel Electrophoresis.
Gene cloning: PCR for gene amplification, Ligation, Competent Cell Preparation, Transformation and Clone Confirmation.
Regulation of gene expression: RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis, PCR confirmation
Protein biology: SDS-PAGE, Bradford, Western Blotting, Enzyme Kinetics (calculating Km and Vmax), ELISA.
Bioinformatics: Primer designing in-silico.
One-day long visit to research/ industrial labs.
Talks on advanced techniques in biology
1. X-Ray Crystallography
2. Next Generation Sequencing
3. Metabolomics
4. Genome Editing

We thank Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) for providing excellent background video resources for all the topics mentioned above to the participants.

Who can apply?

To apply, students must meet all of the following three criteria:

Criteria 1: Currently enrolled in a post graduate course (MSc or IV-V year of a Integrated Masters Program / BTech / MBBS) in Life Sciences or first two years of PhD in any branch of life-sciences
Criteria 2: Should belong to any of the five categories: SC, ST, OBC (non-creamy layer), Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Women.
Criteria 3: Must be enrolled in an institute from a non-metro (i.e. Category Y and Z) city. This essentially means that students studying in institutes located in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune CANNOT apply.

Application Process

To apply, fill this form (currently closed).
The form will require you to sign into a google account as you need to upload files through this form.
The form will require you to ask a research question in molecular biology and then propose a research methodology for addressing the same. This SoP will be graded, and the grades can be used as a criteria for selection.
The form will require a NOC. The prescribed format can be found here. Please download this document on your computer/mobile to fill the form.
Last date for application: 20-Dec-2022.
The names of shortlisted candidates would be published on this website on or before 31-December-2022.
The selected candidates will have to acknowledge and accept the offer for participating in the workshop by due date, failing which the wait-listed candidates will be given a chance.