Older Events

Details of any future events can be viewed in the events calendar.

2023

Pokhran: 1974 - A Journey into India's Nuclear History


Prof. Jayant Udgaonkar will deliver the first talk, sharing insights into his father, Padmabhushan Bhalachandra Udgaonkar's contribution as a high-energy particle physicist and his work on nuclear disarmament. The second talk will be presented by a distinguished nuclear physicist Prof. V.N. Bhoraskar from Pune University, shedding light on the physics of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons.

Event Details:

Date: 18th May 

Time: 6:00pm

Venue: LHC-103, IISER Pune


We have planned a stimulating debate competition, "It is necessary to maintain a nuclear arsenal as a deterrent against potential threats."

Date: 20th May 

Time: 6:00pm

Venue: LHC-103, IISER Pune


Winners:

For: Aditya Dahiya (2022 Batch)

Against: Prateek Makhija (2021 Batch)

Poster Credits: Shobhit Vats Sharma


 Sir Richard Feynman's Birth Anniversary

We want to invite you to attend a talk on the life and work of Sir Richard Feynman on the occasion of his 105th birth anniversary. The talk will be delivered by our very own Dr. Ashish Arora and is scheduled for the 11th of May, 2023 (Thursday) at LHC 101, starting at 7:00 P.M. 

We are pleased to announce that on the following day, May 12th, 2023 (Friday), we will be screening a documentary titled "The Fantastic Mr Feynman," presented in collaboration with Kaleidoscope. 

Poster Credits: Shobhit Vats Sharma

Know Your Professor

 A series of casual interactive sessions with our professors, with the aim of bringing some inspiration and motivation to students. These sessions are a platform for informal, casual interactions between students and the professor and hence, are not recorded. 

An Interactive Session with 



Poster Credits: Anirban Mukherjee

Nobel Evenings

A talk series on Nobel Prizes of 2022

The schedule for the talks is below:

 Friday, 17th March:

 Chemistry Prize: Prof. Srivatsan Seergazhi Gopalan, at 6:30 PM

Physics Prize: Prof. T.S. Mahesh, at 7:15 PM



Poster Credits: Science Club, IISER Pune

2022

Alumni Sessions

Interactive sessions with Alumni recording their journey(in or out of academia).

1) Reshma Chirayil Chandrashekharan: IISER Pune (2010-2015). Currently working as Assistant Professor in decision sciences area at IIM Bangalore. (Reshma.Chirayil@iimb.ac.in)

2) Sumana Chetia: IISER Pune (2014-2019). Currently a Ph.D. student as Institute of Photonic Sciences Barcelona Spain.

3) Chirag Gupta: IISER Pune ( 2017-2022). Currently in IIM Bangalore

Malavika Biju: IISER Pune (2017-2022). Currently in IIM Calcutta

Akash Trivedi: IISER Pune (2017-2022). Currently in IIM Bangalore 

4) Surojit Sural: IISER Pune (2007-2012). Currently a Postdoctoral Associate at Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Columbia University, New York. 


Poster Credits: Yatish Juneja

Playlist of Recordings: Alumni Interactions - YouTube 

2021

Nobel Evenings

A talk series on Nobel Prizes of 2021


The schedule for the talks is below:

Saturday, 20th November:

Medicine Prize: Dr. Nixon Abraham, at 5:00 PM

Chemistry Prize: Prof. Ramakrishna G Bhat, at 5:45 PM


Sunday, 21st November:

Physics Prize: Prof. Deepak Dhar, at 5:00 PM

Physics Prize: Prof. R Krishnan at 5:45 PM

Literature Prize: Dr. Pooja Sancheti, at 7:00 PM


Sunday, 27th November:

Economics Prize: Dr. Mrinalini Jha, at 5:00 PM

Peace Prize: Dr. Namrata Singh, at 5:45 PM


Poster Credits: Swayam Prakash Singh


Youtube links:

Day 1: Nobel Evenings 2021 | Day 1 - YouTube

Day 2: Nobel Evenings 2021 | Day 2 - YouTube 

Beyond the Molecular Biology of the Cell | Interview with Dr. Bruce Alberts

An interview with the renowned author of the book: Molecular Biology of the Cell, Dr Bruce Alberts.

Youtube link: Beyond the Molecular Biology of the Cell | Interview with Dr. Bruce Alberts - YouTube 

Poster Credits: Arkadeep Mandal

Fundamentals and Finality: The life and work of Steven Weinberg” | by Prof. Sunil Mukhi

A talk by Prof. Sunil Mukhi on Saturday, 25th September,2021.

Youtube link:

Fundamentals and Finality: The life and work of Steven Weinberg” | by Prof. Sunil Mukhi - YouTube 

Digital Chemistry and Chemputation | by Prof. Lee Cronin

A talk by Prof. Leroy Cronin on 29th August, 2021

Youtube link: Digital Chemistry and Chemputation | by Prof. Lee Cronin - YouTube 

Poster Credits: Ritu Dhaulakhandi

Synthetic Biology - fundamental concepts to applications | Prof Pawan K Dhar

A talk by Prof Pawan K Dhar on 21st August, 2021


Youtube link: Synthetic Biology - fundamental concepts to applications | Prof Pawan K Dhar - YouTube 

Poster Credits: Yatish Juneja

Nature versus Nurture: How the environment shapes our genes | Prof. Sanjeev Galande

A talk by Prof. Sanjeev Galande on 31st July, 2021

Youtube link: Nature versus Nurture: How the environment shapes our genes by Prof. Sanjeev Galande - YouTube

Poster Credits: Ritu Dhaulakhandi

Alumni Sessions

Interactive sessions with Alumni recording their journey(in or out of academia).

1) Sujeet Katre: IISER Pune(2015-2020). Currently in IIM Indore. (sksujeetkatre@gmail.com)

2) Vishnu Nandakumaran: IISER Pune(2015-2020). Currently in University of Notre Dame, USA pursuing PhD in  Mathematics.

3) Nikhil Gupta: IISER Pune(2015-2020). Data scientist at Safe Security, Bangalore. He did his master's thesis on Rigid analysis and various internships from CMI, Chennai and ENS de Lyon, France on Number theory. 

4) Sinjini Bhattacharjee: IISER Pune(2015-2020). Master thesis project at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) on 'Machine learning activation energies in enantioselective reactions'. currently pursuing PhD at MPI KoFo, Germany in the group of Prof. Frank Neese. 

5) Vikas Negi(2009-2014) and Viraj Bagal(2016-2021): Vikas did his PhD in the Netherlands. Vikas is currently working at ASML, Netherlands as a functional design engineer while Viraj is currently working as an AI Scientist at Synaptica, Bengaluru. 

6) Vaibhav Ingale: Vaibhav is pursuing his PhD at University De Bretagne Occidentale, France. His research area mainly includes Marine Geosciences, Oceanography, Hydroaccoustics.

7) Anurag Agrawal(2009-2014): Anurag did his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the co-founder of WiSolve and worked as Director of Finance at WiSolve. Currently, Anurag is working as a Scientist II at Illumina, California, United States. His research work focuses on surface modifications for improving DNA sequencing. 

8) Anurag Mishra(2010-2015): Anurag is an IFoS officer (Indian Forest Service) with AIR 6 (Batch 2020). Previously, he also has worked on various research positions related to ecology and evolutionary biology, first at National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore and then at ETH, Zurich. He completed his BS-MS in 2015 with a primary interest in ecology and evolutionary biology. 

9) Palash Singh(2015-2020) and Viraj Meruliya(2016-2021): Palash Singh is currently doing PhD at the University of Oxford, UK. He did his master's thesis under Prof. Sunil Mukhi and several other projects at IIT Bombay and IISER Pune. He was the recipient of the IAS summer research fellowship program (2017), secured AIR 16 in the CSIR-NET exam (June 2019) and was awarded the prestigious Clarendon Fund Scholarship for his doctoral studies.

Viraj Meruliya is currently doing PhD at McGill University, Canada. He did his master's thesis under Prof. Sunil Mukhi and several other projects at Australian National University, TIFR-Mumbai and IISER Pune. He was amongst the top 1% students in the NGPE exam, secured AIR-33 in the CSIR-NET exam(December 2019) and was the recipient of the prestigious Future Research Talent (FRT) Award. 


Poster Credits: Yatish Juneja and Anuradha Meena


Playlist of Recordings: Alumni Interactions - YouTube 

Student Talks


1) Finding the questions to answers- | Pranjal Jain, 1st year BSMS on 26th June, 2021.
2)De-novo Drug Design:In Silico | Sreyas Adury, 3rd year BSMS on 4th July, 2021.

3)Quantifying Risks associated with Decarbonization of the Economy | Suryadeepto Nag,  4th  year BSMS on  12th August, 2021.

Poster Credits: Yatish Juneja and Akanksha K

Playlist of Recordings: Student Talks - YouTube  

Know Your Professor:  

 A series of casual interactive sessions with our professors (Inspired by the recent informal session organized by Prof. Sutirth Dey) , with the aim of bringing some inspiration and positivity in the lockdown situation. A casual discussion that is open for all students with no planned agenda

An Interactive Session with 

Prof. Srinivas Hotha on Saturday, 13th March, 2021

Dr. Aurnab Ghose on Saturday, 3rd April, 2021

Dr. Kaneenika Sinha on Sunday, 18th April, 2021

Dr. Joy Meerwin Monteiro on Saturday, 24th April, 2021

Prof. M S Santhanam on Sunday, 25th April, 2021

Dr. Sudha Rajmani, Dr N K Subhedar and Dr. Nishad Matange on Saturday, 1st May, 2021

Dr. Seema Sharma on Saturday, 8th May, 2021

Dr. Kalika Prasad on Saturday, 30th October,2021

Poster Credits: Yatish Juneja

Science Day 2021

Screening of The Vast of Night(2019)

(In collaboration with Kaleidoscope club)

The film is set in 1950s New Mexico, where Fay Crocker (McCormick), a young switchboard operator and Everett Sloan (Horowitz), a radio disc jockey search for the source of a mysterious frequency that has descended on their town. 

(Poster Credits: Official Poster :)

Symmetry: A talk series based on the theme of symmetry


The beauty in broken things- Dr. Arun Thalapillil

Symmetry and Invariance in Mathematics: A bird's eye view - Dr. Chandrasheel Bhagwat

Symmetry in Biology: From Organisms to Molecules - Dr. Chaitanya Athale

Patterns in Topography- An archive of long-term landscape evolution-Dr Ramendra Sahoo 

The role of symmetry in Chemistry - Dr. Anirban Hazra

Symmetry in Theoretical Linguistics- Dr. K.P. Mohanan

Playlist of Recordings of the talks: Symmetry | Science Day 2021 - YouTube 

(Poster Credits: Omkar Golatkar)

Write-up Competition and Logo designing competition
Winners:
Write-up competition: Jay Mangaonkar, Vikram Iyer and Atharva Valanju
Logo competition: Abhilipsa Das

Poster credits: Anuradha Meena

2020

Nobel Evenings

A talk series on Nobel Prizes of 2020


The schedule for the talks is below:

Saturday, 21st November:

Chemistry Prize: Dr. Girish Ratnaparkhi, at 6:00 PM

Economics Prize: Dr. Dinesh Garg, at 6:45 PM

Youtube link: Nobel Evenings 2020 | Day 1 - YouTube 


Sunday, 22nd November:

Medicine Prize: Dr. Vineeta Bal, at 6:00 PM

Physics Prize: Dr. Suneeta Vardarajan, at 6:45 PM

Youtube link: Nobel Evenings 2020 | Day 2 - YouTube 


Sunday, 29th November:

Literature Prize: Dr. Pooja Sancheti, at 6:00 PM

Peace Prize: Dr. Amrita Hazra, at 6:45 PM

Youtube link: Nobel Evenings 2020 | Day 3 - YouTube 


Links for the recordings:

Day 1:

Recording of the talk: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FioPX4xMNpTv70V-qG__F6BTjJvS_oyP/view?usp=sharing

https://youtu.be/1J5lDe-IlDI

Chat transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TRsdDSLpXsrrL34U_TCgua8ZBYVJHUK_/view?usp=sharing

 

Day 2:

Recording of the talk: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ahfvXL3XzH9gx3IotUempX_qaSX8KMpZ/view?usp=sharing

https://youtu.be/IY0QI1B4rR

Chat transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t59KHh0qVyb10cayWgFK75LItbqMVkyK/view?usp=sharing


Day 3:

Recording of the talk: 

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h2uZJtlbjS5sJHFEkZJ5WfhQ5Aj-mVwo/view?usp=sharing

https://youtu.be/rz1ulamCVwg

Chat transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hFPRICz66Yn0on3DaoQqsgoEi6ymnO1z/view?usp=sharing



The Nobel Evening talks are open to everyone and are an opportunity to learn about the pathbreaking efforts that have been recognized by this year's Nobel Prizes 



(Poster Credits: Vedanth S.V.U. )

Foundations of Quantum Mechanics- A Series of Talks 


Science Club is delighted to announce a series of talks spanning the month of November, on various concepts related to the foundations of quantum mechanics!


Below is a glimpse of what the speakers in the series will be covering.

Prof. Deepak Dhar- The Quantum Zeno Effect

Dr. Arijit Bhattacharyay- Bell's Inequality and the EPR Paradox

Prof. Spenta Wadia (ICTS Bangalore) - Quantum Information and the Black Hole Information Paradox












Prof. Deepak Dhar- The Quantum Zeno Effect

Title: A Watched Kettle Never Boils in Quantum Mechanics

Abstract: One of the immediate consequences of the description of the measurement process in quantum mechanics is that repeated measurements in quick succession  increase the probability of remaining in the same state during the measurements. This is called quantum Zeno effect. Unlike the classical Zeno paradox, which wrongly argued that all motion is impossible, the quantum Zeno effect is real, and can be used in quantum computers to combat decoherence that severely limits the longest computation possible. I will also discuss some interesting elementary mathematics questions that come up in understanding an improvement, called "Super Zeno effect".

The talk will be followed by a Q&A session. We recommend having some familiarity with elementary QM for attending the talk.

Date: 8th November, Sunday

Time: 6 PM

Recording of the talk: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qSiRA5tZTkrkqdjhq_5CExp5DC5hPPMV/view?usp=sharing


Youtube link: Foundations Of Quantum Mechanics: A Watched Kettle Never Boils in Quantum Mechanics- Dr. Deepak Dhar - YouTube 




Dr. Arijit Bhattacharyay- Bell's Inequality and the EPR Paradox

Abstract: The speaker will first talk about the ERP paradox and the local realistic theory that it contemplates. Then, he would talk about Bell's inequality and how holding of this inequality depends in general on the existence of local hidden variables. He will also comment on how quantum mechanical predictions are seen to be inconsistent with the validity of this inequality.  As a result, we would see that if the quantum mechanics, as we know today, is the right theory of nature then there cannot be any hidden variable (realism). On the contrary, if there indeed exist hidden variables then the quantum mechanics that we know today is incomplete and we have to find out experimentally at least one area where the present formulation of quantum mechanics does not work.  

Date: 17th November, Tuesday

Time: 6:30 PM

Recording of the talk: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bbibZaA3hf9OPjBm5PN8bvHVdPgo_g6a/view?usp=sharing


Youtube link: Foundations Of Quantum Mechanics: The EPR Paradox and Bell's Inequality| by Dr. Arijit Bhattacharyay - YouTube 






Prof. Spenta Wadia (ICTS Bangalore) - Quantum Information and the Black Hole Information Paradox

Title: Black Holes and Hawking Radiation


Abstract: Black holes are predictions of general relativity and there is a lot of evidence that they exist in nature. Quantized matter in the presence of black holes leads to the phenomenon of Hawking radiation. The black hole and matter system behave like a thermodynamic system where the entropy of the black hole is given by the celebrated Bekenstein-Hawking area law. Hawking's landmark 1974 calculation implies that the final state of black hole evaporation is thermal radiation and the information of the initial state that formed the black hole is in principle forever lost. This is in violation of the laws of quantum mechanics. We will give a brief exposition of the efforts in the past 45 years to resolve this `Information Puzzle' including more recent developments which propose a new formula for the fine-grained Von Neumann entropy of the black hole and radiation system.


About the speaker: Prof. Spenta R. Wadia is the Infosys Homi Bhabha Chair Professor at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS-TIFR) and Emeritus Professor at TIFR. He is the Founding Director of ICTS-TIFR, a unique institution in India involved in furthering the boundaries of fundamental research and science education emphasizing that science is one story. He has made basic contributions to quantum field theory, statistical mechanics, string theory, and black hole physics. He is an alumnus of St. Xavier’s College-Mumbai, IIT-Kanpur, the City University of New York, and the University of Chicago. 


Date: 28th November, Saturday

Time: 6 PM

Recording of the talk:

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YraKa-8YiM8fVvRhk4UnZcZGcGxjnmTf/view?usp=sharing


Youtube link: Foundations Of Quantum Mechanics: Black Holes and Hawking Radiation | by Dr. Spenta Wadia - YouTube 

We hope you'll get to learn many interesting things about QM from these talks!


(Poster Credits: Vedanth S.V.U. )

The CMS experiment or a missing momentum microscope?  

A talk by Dr. Seema Sharma  


Recording of the talk: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B9mu0Ul7KFVxq4M75t0NrwaqZCkpy6i8/view?usp=sharing


Youtube link: The CMS experiment or a missing momentum microscope? | by Dr. Seema Sharma - YouTube 


Wednesday, 21 October 2020

(Poster Credits: Vedanth S.V.U.  )

Excursion into the Origins of Life 

A talk by Dr. Sudha Rajamani


Recording of the talk: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VuABBgBg7l_vKhlNMCZgxQ4DWTJat3Ct/view?usp=sharing 


Youtube link: Excursion into the Origins of Life | by Dr. Sudha Rajamani - YouTube 


Friday, 16 October 2020

(Poster Credits: Vedanth S.V.U.  )

An Interactive Session with Ms. Poornima :  

 An interactive session with Ms. Poornima R, fondly known as Poornima ma'am to many of us - one of the first people we got acquainted with, on campus. which is open for all students and has no planned agenda.

 

Sunday, 20th September 2020

Taking an Online Semester in Stride :   

 An online discussion session with the objective of having a conversation for the benefit of all students and faculty to enable them to make the most of the unprecedented situation of an online semester with Dr. Amrita Hazra, Dr. Anupam Singh, Dr. Devapriya Chattopadhyay and Dr. Suneeta Vardarajan as speakers.


It addressed many issues faced by both students and professors in the online semester, like making up for the deficiency in interaction, dealing with the lack of responsiveness of students in online classes, preparing for the 100% weightage endsems, and many others.


Recording of the talk: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1imou4oa7icntQ14zXeueNW2Wqh8UlY6k/view?usp=sharing

Chat transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nhBooTKQ7Qv4pvXqYH50Yon80QcsFsc3/view?usp=sharing


Monday, 17th August 2020

A Discussion on The Origin of SARS-CoV-2:  

 A discussion session driven by Prof. MS Madhusudhan, on The Origin of SARS-CoV-2, the strain of coronavirus responsible for COVID-19.

Recording of the talk : https://drive.google.com/file/d/16ecBpl-8274JsH2S4F8Iafc7EnwnwiMI/view?usp=sharing

Sunday, 28th June 2020

Know Your Professor:  

 A series of casual interactive sessions with our professors (Inspired by the recent informal session organized by Prof. Sutirth Dey) , with the aim of bringing some inspiration and positivity in the lockdown situation. A casual discussion that is open for all students with no planned agenda

An Interactive Session with 

Prof. Raghuram on Friday, 12th June 2020

Prof. Sunil Mukhi on Tuesday, 30th June 2020

Dr. Anirban Hazra on Saturday, 11th July 2020

Dr. Pushkar Sohoni on Monday, 20th July 2020

Prof. Shyam Rai on Sunday, 2nd August 2020

Dr. Chandrasheel Bhagwat on Sunday, 4th October 2020

Dr. Suneeta Vardarajan on Sunday, 11th October 2020

Science Day 2020

Screening of Coherence(2013)

(In collaboration with Kaleidoscope club)

Part cerebral sci-fi and part suspense thriller, COHERENCE is a tightly focused, intimately shot film that quickly ratchets up with tension and mystery.

(Poster Credits: Krishna Chaitanya Sattaru)

 Science Dumb Charades 

The classic word-guessing game, with a twist - instead of guessing movie names, participants will be guessing science jargon.

Emergence: When the Whole is More than a Sum of Parts 

Emergence in Chemistry- Dr. Ramanathan Vaidhyanathan

Emergence in Physics- Dr. Arijit Bhattacharyay

Emergence in Mathematics- Dr. Pranay Goel

Emergence in Linguistics- Dr. K.P. Mohanan

(Poster Credits: Amitaprajna Mallik)

Nobel Evening

A talk series on Nobel Prizes of 2019

Nobel Prize for Chemistry: Dr Ramanathan Vaidhyanathan

Nobel Prize for Literature: Dr Suchetana Banerjee, Symbiosis School of Liberal Arts

Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine: Prof. Sanjeev Galande

Nobel Prize for Peace: Dr Vaidyanatha Gundlupet, Symbiosis School of Liberal Arts

Nobel Prize for Economics: Dr Bejoy K Thomas

Nobel Prize for Physics: Prof. Tarun Souradeep

10&11 February 2020

(Poster Credits: Aharna Sarkar)

Excursion into Complex Systems: from Classical to Quantum

A talk by Prof. MS Santhanam 


6 February 2020

Excursion into Entropy of a Water Molecule 

A talk by Prof. Arnab Mukherjee 


22 January 2020

(Poster Credits: Amitaprajna Mallik )

2019

Entropy

The event consisted of three talks featuring an exciting line up of speakers: 

Dr. M S Madhusudhan speaking for the biological sciences

Dr. Arijit Bhattacharyay speaking for physics

Dr. Anirban Hazra and Dr. Arnab Mukherjee speaking for chemistry.

This was followed by the 'Boltzmann game', an innovative, interactive and fun game that aims to help players understand the evolution of the Boltzmann distribution. The game is a very unique way of learning as well as teaching the evolution of a Boltzmann distribution from a set of random interactions: games of Rock-Paper-Scissors!

30 March 2019

(Poster Credits: Sarathchandran J )

Science Day 2019

Wheel Invention

The objective is to come up with the most complicated, funny and abundantly descriptive names for boring, everyday objects. As an example, a circular transportation facilitation device was patented as a novel means of transportation in Australia in 2001. Only later did people realise that this was just a flowery description of a plain old wheel. The descriptions can be quite hilarious - imagine the look on somebody's face as you tell them that you drove to their place in a fossil-powered motorised quadruped. 

Science Dumb Charades 

The classic word-guessing game, with a twist - instead of guessing movie names, participants will be guessing science jargon.

Blahfest 

Have you ever had a laugh convincing your unsuspecting friend that something absolutely ridiculous was actually true? Blahfest is essentially the same, on a larger scale - sell your ridiculous hypothesis to an entire audience, and a panel of judges. The more ridiculous, the better! 


28 February 2019

Viewing the beginning of time from the most remote places on Earth

Talk by Zeeshan Ahmed (Observational cosmologist at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

28 January 2019

`Nobel Prizes in Nuclear Physics 

Talk by Prof. V M Datar, India based Neutrino Observatory (INO) Cell, TIFR 

5 January 2019

(Poster Credits: Saptarshi S Mohanta)

2018

String Theory and the Experiments that Motivated It  

Public lecture by Prof. Sunil Mukhi   

12 November 2018

(Poster Credits: Aagam Shah)

Circadian Rhythm: Your Own Body Clock 

Student talk by Shrutika Lokapure  

26 October 2018

(Poster Credits: Shrutika Lokapure  )

Nobel Evening

A talk series on Nobel Prizes of 2018

Talks by

Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine: Dr. Satyajit Rath

Nobel prize for Physics: Dr. G V Pavan Kumar

Nobel Prize for Chemistry: Dr. Saikrishnan Kayarat and Dr. Nishad Matange


22 October 2018

(Poster Credits: Aagam Shah)

Social groups and how they are formed 

Student talk by Dayal Singh  

9 October 2018

(Poster Credits: Dayal Singh )

H2S – smell of trouble or hope? 

              -  A Science discussion session 

Moderator: Preeti Chauhan   

5 October 2018

Description: Hydrogen Sulfide has long been known for its strong unpleasant odor and fierce toxicity.  However, over past two decades it has gained its fame as an endogenously produced gasotransmitter along with nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO). H2S is produced inside a cell which helps in regulating various pathways and is involved in important physiological functions including blood pressure, neurotransmission, cardiovascular, respiratory etc. At physiological concentrations, H2S reacts with various biological targets to produce responses that range from cytotoxic to cytoprotective actions.  Therefore, the homeostasis of an organism is largely dependent on the levels of H2S produced and abnormally increased or decreased levels of this gas is associated with various diseases like diabetes, Alzheimers, Parkinson, liver diseases etc. In order to study the therapeutic role of H2S in various disorders we design small molecule based H2S donors which are otherwise stable but get activated under certain special physiological conditions and release hydrogen sulfide. My research specifically deals with carbonyl sulfide (COS), an analogue of carbon dioxide (CO2). The oxidation state of sulfur in COS is the same as H2S and this molecule is hydrolyzed to produce H2S. We trap H2S in the form of carbonyl sulfide in a small organic molecule tethered to a trigger which gets activated under specific conditions. Upon activation, the molecule releases COS. The hydrolysis of COS is greatly accelerated by carbonic anhydrase, a widely prevalent enzyme in the cellular system, to release hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Using this concept, we have developed several new methodologies for generating hydrogen sulfide in a controlled manner. 

Prediction of Indian Monsoon

Student talk by Snigdha Samantaray    

6 September 2018

(Poster Credits: Snigdha Samantaray)

The Mind of a Worm   

Student talk by Shreya Lakhera     

30 August 2018 (Sorry for the error in the poster)

(Poster Credits: Saptarshi Mohanta)

An Internship with a difference 

Talk by Prof. Deshdeep Sahdev  

13 August 2018

Abstract: If you're excited about a highly interdisciplinary internship producing world class products and research within India, this is the talk to come to. Be prepared, however, for an intellectual shock. Only those who can survive are advised to take this talk. The speaker has worked and interacted with the likes of Richard Feynman, Kenneth Wilson, Abdul Salam and Edward Witten. 

The Secret to a Stable Marriage

Student talk by Suman Kulkarni 

8 August 2018

Abstract: The stable marriage problem refers to the problem of finding matches between sets of equal number of men and women, all of whom have a preference order for their partners such that all the matches are stable (no incentive for extra marital-affairs!) 

In 1962, David Gale and Lloyd Shapley proved that for any equal number of men and women, it is always possible to solve this problem. They presented an algorithm to do so.

Bell's Inequality  

Student talk by Aagam Shah

8 August 2018

Abstract: Quantum Mechanics is probabilistic. But is the real world? According to Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen, the answer was no - there must be a hidden variable theory underlying Quantum mechanics that makes it completely deterministic. John Bell demonstrated that that cannot be so. The inequality used in his proof is called Bell's inequality. 

Studying the effect of age and stress on the egg laying preference of red flour beetle  

Student talk by Jitesh Seth 

8 August 2018

Abstract: Oviposition (maternal egg-laying) is a known form of indirect maternal care shown by insects which undergo complete metamorphosis. Females prefer to oviposit on host plants that maximize offspring fitness. In my summer project, using the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum as my model, he tested the impact of maternal age and cold shock (a form of stress) on maternal oviposition preference. This is an attempt to better understand how this phenomenon is affected by factors other than offspring performance.  

Electromagnets & Alzheimer's Disease  

Student talk by Siddhesh Zadey    

29 April 2018

(Poster Credits: Saptarshi Mohanta)

Sunflowers: The Secret History  

Student talk by Shubham Chhajed    

28 April 2018

(Poster Credits: Saptarshi Mohanta)

The Particulate Fabric of our Universe 

Student talk by Mangesh Sonawane   

17 April 2018

(Poster Credits: Saptarshi Mohanta)

Is Transition State Theory good enough?  

Student talk by Shreyas Malpathak   

15 April 2018

(Poster Credits: Saptarshi Mohanta)

Using Algorithms to Save Maximum Human Lives from Nuclear Attack 

Student talk by Aditya Kabra  

11 April 2018

(Poster Credits: Saptarshi Mohanta)

Representing the Apocalypse in the European Middle Ages, through a variety of motives and implications  

Talk by Élise Haddad de La Morinerie  

7 April 2018

(Poster Credits: Sagnik Ghosh)

An Undergraduate Overview of Particle Physics 

Student talk by Sourabh Kadam  

5 April 2018

(Poster Credits: Saptarshi Mohanta)

The Transform, The Interferometer, and Star Spectra

Student talk by Siddhartha Sohoni  

4 April 2018

(Poster Credits: Saptarshi Mohanta)

Studying astrophysical transients with AstroSat - CZTI 

Student talk by Arvind Balasubramaniam 

27 March 2018

(Poster Credits: Saptarshi Mohanta)

A Brief History of Stephen Hawking

Talk by Prof. Sunil Mukhi

22 March 2018

(Poster Credits: Aagam Shah)

National Science Day Celebrations 2018  

Emergence in condensed matter physics by Prof. R Shankar, IMSc, Chennai

The reverse flow: What can science learn from illiterate people by Prof. Milind Watve, IISER Pune

Constructing theories of the structure of languages, species, and cultures by Dr KP Mohanan

Thou shalt not see! Afun event

28 February 2018

(Poster Credits: Aagam Shah)

 TB or not TB - A diagnostic tool

Talk  by the IISER Pune iGEM team(2017) 

8 February 2018

Evolution of Cooperative Behaviour 

Talk by  Dr. Madhav Gadgil, Chair, Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, Founder of Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc 

31 January 2018

(Poster Credits: Saptarshi Mohanta)

Making the Sound Visible

(In collaboration with Math club)

Talk by Dr Sudhir R Jain, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai 

18 January 2018

(Poster Credits: Adithyan P)

2017

Fourth Annual Homi Bhabha Memorial Public Lecture

Strange Metals and Black Holes 

Talk by Prof. Subir Sachdev, Harvard University. 

14 November 2017

Nobel Evening

A talk series on Nobel Prizes of 2017

Talks by

Dr. Anuradha Ratnaparkhi, Agharkar Research Institute, Pune on Physiology

Dr. Sukanta Bose, IUCAA on Physics

Dr. Sai Krishnan Kayarat, IISER Pune on Chemistry


17 &25 October 2017

(Poster Credits: Jiffin Benjamin)

Image processing and perception

(In collaboration with Aakashganga)

Talk by Vaibhav Pant, PhD student, IIA Bangalore.

15 September 2017

(Poster Credits: Aagam Shah)

Role of ROS in Cancer treatment

Student talk by M B Harsha

5 September 2017

(Poster Credits: Aagam Shah)

Know Your Star!

Student talk by Radhika AC

21 August 2017

(Poster Credits: Aagam Shah)

Cooling Quantum Bits: Bringing Quantum Computers Closer to Reality

Student talk by Varad R. Pande

12 July 2017

(Poster Credits: Aagam Shah)

Advances in the understanding of behaviour and memory: Examples from my work with Drosophila melanogaster 

Student talk by Adithya Rajagopalan 

 6 April 2017 

(Poster Credits: Aagam Shah)

Bamboo Flowering: How an ecological phenomenon helped shape the social and political contour of a democracy 

Student talk by Himanshu Lagachu 

30 March 2017 

(Poster Credits: Aagam Shah)

Can Economics be a Physical Science? 

Talk by Dr Sitabhra Sinha, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai  

 7 March 2017 

(Poster Credits: Aagam Shah)

Search For Extra-terrestrial Life 

Talk by Dr. Sujan K Sengupta, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore  

 28 February 2017 (National Science Day)

(Poster Credits: Aagam Shah)

Tau Leptons at the LHC and its role in Higgs Physics  

Talk by Dr. Somnath Choudhury, Centre for High Energy Physics, IISc, Bangalore   

 3 Feb 2017

(Poster Credits - Sagnik Ghosh)

Random Matrices in Three Short Stories   

Student talk by Anup Anand Singh    

 19 January 2017 

2015

The Story of Prime Numbers: From Cicads to Extra-terrestrials 

Student talk by Anup Anand Singh

06 Aug 2015

2014

A Tale of Two Ions 

Siddhartha Sohoni

20 August 2014

Abstract: What do oil of vitriol, aqua regia and muriatic acid have in common except for their long names? Is PCl3 a base? Why do vinegar and lemon juice taste alike? And how did this seemingly trivial question give rise to one of the most evergreen concepts of Chemistry? Who found out bases? And who found out that they are chemically similar? This talk will take you through these questions and many more of this kind. It is designed to broadly cover the history of the concept of acids and bases and how the concept evolved over time. It is a general talk peppered with anecdotes from history to accompany some exciting acid base chemistry.