Skill-enhancement for Under-Represented groups in Education (SURGE) 3.0 workshop

SURGE Workshop

Skill-enhancement for Under-Represented Groups in Education (SURGE) Workshop

Details about the final shortlisted candidates can be found here. Candidates have already been informed about their selection.

Information at a glance

Dates: 22-28 December, 2024. Reporting on 21-December 2024.

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 and food costs. Travel reimbursement (up to an upper limit of Rs 6000 or as per actual, whichever is less) will be provided 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: 06-October-2024 07-October-2024 (extended deadline)

Contact: molbio@acads.iiserpune.ac.in

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.

In January, 2023, we organized a 7-day long, all-expenses-paid molecular biology workshop for underrepresented groups in academia. 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.

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 Education (SC/ST/OBC-NCL, EWS, Women), enrolled in institutes in Type Y and Type Z cities. This workshop has been made possible by a grant from Praj Industries Ltd. and K.K. Nag Private Limited.

Content

Basics: Lab safety and micropipetting practice, Agarose Gel Electrophoresis.
Gene cloning: PCR for gene amplification, Restriction digestion of vector and insert, Purification and ligation, Competent Cell Preparation, Transformation and Clone Confirmation by colony PCR.
Regulation of gene expression: RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis, qPCR assay standardization (e-value), quantification of relative gene expression levels (SYBR-based qPCR)
Protein biology: SDS-PAGE, Bradford, Western Blotting, Enzyme Kinetics (calculating Km and Vmax)
Bioinformatics: in silico plasmid editing and primer designing.
Visits to academic/ industrial facilities
Talks on advanced techniques in biology

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 (M.Sc.) in Life Sciences or IV-V year of a Integrated Masters Program / BTech / MBBS/ BAMS 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.

Documents Checklist

Before applying, the students must have all the following documents ready. ALL FILES MUST BE 1 MB OR LESS and NAMED AS <YOUR NAME>.file name. For example: John Smith.pdf

Document 1: Current institute / college ID card that clearly shows your name, photo and the year in which you are enrolled. Please scan both sides of your institute ID card, paste both on a .doc file, convert into PDF and then upload the PDF. Only 1 file and that too .pdf file should be submitted. If we CANNOT OPEN your submitted file, then the application is null and void.
Document 2: Valid caste / EWS certificate issued by competent authority. In case this is not applicable to you, please upload your Aadhar card. OBC candidates must also upload their NCL certificate, without which the OBC certificate will not be considered. The uploaded file can be a pdf or an image file.
Document 3: Signed and stamped No Objection Certificate (in the prescribed format given here) from your institute.
Document 4: Short CV highlighting your academic and extra curricular achievements.

Application Process

To apply, fill this form. (Registrations 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.
Students should submit their overall percentage (aggregate of all semesters) obtained in B.Sc. and NOT only the core subjects percentage, wherever applicable.
The form will require uploading an NOC. The prescribed format can be found here. Please download this document on your computer/mobile to fill the form.
Last date for application: 06-October-2024 07-October-2024 (extended deadline).
The names of shortlisted candidates would be published on this website on or before 20-October-2024.
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.