Anindita Bhadra is a Professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata. She is a behavioural biologist, who joined IISER Kolkata in June 2009 and established the Dog Lab. She was the founding chairperson of the Indian National Young Academy of Science and is a member of the executive committee of the Global Young Academy. Apart from her engagement in research, teaching and science outreach, she is a thespian, being engaged with the theatre group mukhOsh.
Twitter: @Abhadra7 .
Blog : kathaykathay
Awards and honours
K. S. Rao Memorial Award from Vivekananda College, Kolkata for holding first rank in the Department of Zoology of the college in the B.Sc examination, November 1999.
INSA medal for young scientist in Animal Sciences, 2009.
Featured among 10 Indian scientists of the decade selected by The Telegraph, India (1st January, 2010).
Featured in the “Spotlight on” section of the ISBE newsletter, Vol 22, issue 2 (2011).
SERB Women Excellence Award, 2013, awarded by SERB, DST, Govt. of India.
Selected as young Indian delegate at the BAS-TWAS-ROCASA workshop on Initiatives in Science Education, Research and Capacity building, held at Dhaka, Bangladesh, 14-15 September 2013.
Selected as a Life Member of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World, TWAS.
Invited to participate as a young scientist the in the Commonwealth Science Conference organized by the Royal Society, UK and the Government of India, at Bangalore, India, 25-28 November 2014.
Selected as founding member of the Indian National Young Academy of Science by INSA, May 2015.
Selected as IAP Young Scientist 2015.
Affiliate Faculty Member, Dept of Animal and Rangeland Sciences, Oregon State University, USA.
Selected as a member of GYA, 25th January 2016.
Selected as Member, Standing Consultative Committee of Young Scientists formed by the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Govt. of India (December 2017).
Awarded the prestigious Janaki Ammal - National Women Bioscientist award, 2020-2021.
Teaching Experience
Teaching assistant to Prof. Raghavendra Gadagkar for two years in the course Sociobiology and Animal Behaviour.
Co-ordinator for practicals in the DST sponsored workshop on “Methods in Behavioural Ecology” organized by Prof. Gadagkar at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in 2004 and 2006.
Co-instructor at the UGC-funded workshop on “Evolutionary Approach in the studies of Ecology and Behaviour” organized by the Vivekananda College, Kolkata in 2005.
Training of many summer students, juniors and visitors at Prof. Gadagkar’s lab from 2002 to 2009.
Resource person for the UGC-NRCBS School on Animal Behaviour & Chronobiology at the Madurai Kamaraj University, Aug 28th to Sept 11th, 2009.
Undergraduate theory course on Evolution at IISER-K, 2009 - 2018.
Undergraduate theory course on Communication Skills at IISER-K in 2009 and 2010.
Undergraduate level lab course on Animal Behaviour at IISER-K in 2010.
Undergraduate level theory course on Organismal Biology (Introductory Biology) at IISER-K in 2014.
Undergraduate level theory course on Introduction to Biology (Cell Biology) at IISER-K in 2015.
Undergraduate level lab course on Evolution at IISER-K in 2017 and 2018.
Undergraduate level lab course on Biodiversity and data visualization at IISER-K in 2018.
Postgraduate level lab course on Ecology at IISER-K in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017.
Postgraduate level lab course on Animal Behaviour at IISER-K in 2013, 2014.
Postgraduate level lab course on Ecology and Animal Behaviour at IISER-K in 2018.
Postgraduate level theory course on Cognition at ISIER-K in 2013 - 2018.
Guest lectures at postgraduate level course on Communication in the living world at IISER-K in 2010.
Guest lectures in postgraduate level course on movement and motion at IISER-K in 2010.
Guest lectures in postgraduate level course on evolutionary dynamics at IISER-K in 2012.
Evolution – dialoguing between disciplines, a workshop course for undergraduates at CUJ, Jharkhand, 2012.
Guest lectures on animal behaviour at the Department of Zoology, WBSU, 2010.
Guest lectures on animal behaviour and ecology at the Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, 2012.
Guest lecture on Research Methodologies at the Department of Zoology, WBSU, 2015.
Positions held
Junior Research Fellow of the CSIR (2001 – 2003).
Senior Research Fellow of the CSIR (2003 – 2006).
Research Associate at CES, IISc (DBT) (Nov 2007 to June 2009).
IISER Fellow at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (June 2009 – March 2014).
Assistant Professor (on contract) at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (March 10th 2014 – February 21st 2016).
Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (February 22nd 2016 – 28th March 2019).
Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (29.03.2019 – 02.01.2025).
Professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (03.01.2025 – present)
Founding Chairperson, INYAS (June 2015 – February 2018).
Nodal Officer and Coordinator for the Eastern region, Identification and Mentoring of Gifted Children in Mathematics and Science, a Program of the office of the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Govt. of India (2017 – present).
Editor, Connections, The GYA Magazine (May 2018 – May 2019).
Member of the Executive Committee, Global Young Academy (May 2019-June 2020).
Associate Dean of International Relations and Outreach, IISER Kolkata (Nov 2019 - ).
Committee memberships
Secretary of the Syllabus making Sub-committee of the Evolution meeting to be held in 2009 to celebrate 150 years of Darwinism (2008-2009).
Instructor, curriculum development program for Integrated Science Education at the Central University Jharkhand, Ranchi, conducted by the Higher Education Cell, Bangalore (2012).
Member of the three-member committee appointed by President, INSA, to draft a proposal for the establishment of the first Indian National Young Academy of Science (May 2014). The proposal for INYAS was sanctioned by the INSA Council on Dec 20th, 2014.
Founding Chair, INYAS.
External member, MS thesis committee of Ms. Lauren Brubaker, Dept. of Animal and Rangeland Science, Oregon State University, USA.
Member, expert committee to discuss funding in basic research formed by President, INSA, October 2016.
GYA selection committee member, 2016 - 2018.
Co-leader for the Working Group on Science Education for the Youth, GYA (May 2016 – May 2019).
Member, Standing Consultative Committee of Young Scientists formed by the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Govt. of India (December 2017 – present).
Member, Program Organizing Committee, GYA AGM 2018 in Pattaya, Thailand.
Co-leader for the Incubation project on Science Diplomacy in South Asia, GYA (January 2018 – May 2019).
Organizing committee member, LEAP India program hosted by IISER Kolkata, funded by MHRD (2018-19).
GYA YSAP selection committee member, 2018 and 2019.
Member, Program Organizing Committee of the Worldwide Meeting of Young Academies, Vietnam, July 2019.
Chair, Local Organizing Committee of the Global Young Academy AGM 2020 to be held in India.
I completed my B. Sc in zoology from Charu Chandra College and M. Sc in zoology from Gurudas College, University of Calcutta. From the very beginning of my city-life, I have been wondering how some animals live more successfully in urban and show quite different behaviours from our rural area. Does behavioural adaptation play critical role in their fitness? Taking this interest, I joined Dog Lab of IISER Kolkata as an intern in June, 2022 and finally joined as a PhD student in August, 2023.
Besides study, I love cooking, gardening and exploring lofi music.
Email : Sharmisthamajilp@gmail.com
Sm23rs007@iiserkol.ac.in
Dr. Manabi Paul
Doctorate, 2017
Dr. Sourabh Biswas
Doctorate, 2025
Dr. Debottam Bhattacharjee
Doctorate, 2020
Dr. Arunita Banerjee
Doctorate, 2021
Asim Basumatary
Graduated with MS in 2022
JVR Abishek
Graduated with MS in 2023
Sachin Eldho
Graduated with MS in 2021
Shubham Chakraborty
Graduated with MS in 2021
Graduated with MS in 2020
Piuli Shit
Graduated with MS in 2018
(Ongoing)
Anjira Sengupta
Graduated with MS in 2020
Muhzina Shajid Pyari
Graduated with MS in 2016
(Ongoing)
Graduated with MS in 2020
Sandipan Dasgupta
Graduated with MS in 2015
Prothama Manna
Graduated with MS in 2019
Jayjit Das
Graduated with MS in 2017
Suhasini Mallick
Graduated with MS in 2019
Sarab Mandal
Graduated with MS in 2019
Srirupa Sasmal
Graduated with MS in 2019
Sampurna Bag
Graduated with MS in 2025
Nayanika
Summer fellow, June 2020
Aayushi Vishnoi
Summer fellow, May-July 2018.
Souharda Saha
Winter fellow, December 2017
Priyadarshan Pradhan
Winter fellow, December 2017
Asawari Albal
Summer fellow, May-July 2016
Arpita Biswas
Summer fellow, 2015
Nikhil Dev N
Summer fellow, 2015
Saswata Roy
Summer Fellow during May-July, 2010