2020-2021

ChemCruise 3.2 was arguably the star event of Alchemia 2020-21. A webinar titled “Inclusion: A Cornerstone of Scientific Progress” featuring a glorious panel of speakers. This event constituted of three sessions. Session 1, a talk titled “Discovering Black Holes and De-gendering Physics Practice”, by Prof. Prajval Shastri, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru, discussing Andrea Ghez’s discovery that won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2020 towards advancement of our understanding of black holes. She also discussed what it meant to a woman or member of the marginalized sexes in science and research, and the struggle stories and need for development work in this area. The second session was a talk titled “Is it a Moral Obligation to Pursue your Dreams” by Prof. Deepa Khushalani, Department of Material Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). Prof. Khushalani shared her perspective as to what it entails for a female to pursue her vision of a productive and successful life. Session 3 was a presentation titled “Illustrating Women’s Career Pathway in Chemistry : Insights from Kerala for Future Policies”, by a group of six student researchers, V. Jithin, K. K. Asmabi, P. M. Jasil, P. Anu, P.T. Hanan, and T.C. Sreenath, working on an interdisciplinary project funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry, exploring and assessing the key factors influencing women at various stages of their career pathways in chemistry, with a survey-based approach involving statistical analysis. These were flowed by a “Discussion and Q&A Session” wherein the speakers exchanged their ideas and the audience participated with their questions and experiences.