Pratidhvani - Humanizing Science

Gopal is an experimental physicist, a Professor at TIFR Mumbai and currently heads the National Physics Laboratory, Delhi: https://www.tifr.res.in/achanta/ . He and his research group have made important contributions in plasmonics, metamaterials and metrology. His work on magneto-plasmonics, plasmonic quasicrystals, exciton dynamics and quantum nanophotonics has opened some avenues in the field....

Devapriya Chattopadhyay is a paleobiologist and marine ecologist who studies how marine organisms respond to their environment over ecological and evolutionary timescales. We explore her intellectual journey from Bengal, Mumbai, Michigan, Kolkata and Pune. She is a professor in the Earth & Climate Science department at IISER Pune: http://sites.iiserpune.ac.in/~devapriya/ Her research focuses o...

Arnab Mukherjee is a professor of chemistry at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune, India. He is also associated with the Data Science Department at IISER Pune. His webpage: https://www.iiserpuneccblab.com/ In this episode, we go into granular details about his educational experiences and how he got interested in science. He highlights how chasing marks turned fr...

Dibakar Roy Chowdhury is a professor of physics at Mahindra University, Hyderabad. https://www.mahindrauniversity.edu.in/faculty/prof-dibakar-roy-chowdhury/ With a rich background in research, including stints at prestigious institutions like Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Australian National University, Dr. Roy Chowdhury has significantly contributed to our understanding of light-matter i...

Note: The audio in the first 10 minutes is of lower quality Sundar Sarukkai is a philosopher who specializes in the natural and social sciences. His webpage : https://www.sundarsarukkai.in/ He has made significant contributions to the field as a professor and visiting faculty at various institutions. Sarukkai is the author of numerous books, including “Philosophy for Children,” "Translating t...

Mayurika is a cancer biologist and a senior faculty member at IISER Pune : https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/biology/people/faculty/regular-faculty/mayurika-lahiri/289 In this episode, we discuss her intellectual journey, how she became interested in molecular and cancer biology, her initiatives related to breast cancer research, and her role in the Genome India project. We had a won...

Snigdha is a computational soft condensed matter physicist and a senior faculty member at IISER Bhopal: https://sthakurlab.iiserb.ac.in/ . She uses computational physics to explore a variety of soft matter systems, including active matter and, of late biological systems. In this conversation, we discuss her journey as a physicist and how she developed an interest in soft condensed matter. We also...

Sudipta is a molecular biophysicist who uses light and spectroscopy to study biologically relevant questions. He is a Professor at TIFR, Mumbai: http://www.biophotonics.co.in/ In this episode, we discussed what drew him to biophysics, his journey in establishing biophotonics as a research area in India, his motivation to start the FCS workshop and his thoughts on science in India. There are many o...

Youtube video version: https://youtu.be/hVAYYaoB_uE Link to the original blog : https://backscattering.blog/2023/09/15/oliver-heaviside-a-maxwellian/

Jayant Murthy is a distinguished Senior Professor at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru. His research focuses on space missions, interstellar dust, and diffuse radiation fields. With a rich scientific background, a deep love for teaching and notable contributions to the discipline, Murthy's work exemplifies excellence in astrophysical research. Explore further at Jayant Murthy&#39...

Umakant is an atomic physicist who is innovating on quantum optical technologies. What motivated him to study this fascinating area ? What has been his journey in atomic physics, quantum optics and the resultant technologies? We discuss this and many other things in this episode. Umakant Rapol, an accomplished experimental physicist, is known for his innovative research in quantum technologies. He...

Sandhya Koushika is a Neurobiologist and a faculty member at the Department of Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai : https://www.tifr.res.in/~dbs/faculty/koushika/people.html Her research focuses on understanding cargo transport in neurons, a critical process for nervous system development and preventing neurodegenerative diseases. In this free-wheeling conversation...

Hyperlinks on my blog : https://backscattering.blog/2017/11/13/colourful-sky-in-leonardos-eye/

Deepak Dhar is an Indian theoretical physicist known for his research on statistical physics and stochastic processes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepak_Dhar In 2022, he became the first Indian to receive the Boltzmann Medal, the highest recognition in statistical physics awarded once every three years by IUPAP. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2023. In this episode, we discuss his biography...

Anisa Chorwadwala is faculty member at the Department of Mathematics, at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune, India. https://sites.google.com/site/anisa23in/ In this episode we discussed how and why she got interested in mathematics, an interesting segment on learning in mother tongue, her journey through economic and social barriers. How she overcame them, and h...

Akhlesh Lakhtakia is a distinguished Evan Pugh University Professor and Charles Godfrey Binder Professor within the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Pennsylvania State University : https://sites.esm.psu.edu/~axl4/ As per Penn state website, he (recently) served as an expert consultant for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, as chair of the U.S.-India Higher Education P...

Balasubramanian Ananthanarayan is a Professor at the Centre for High Energy Physics, Indian Institute of Science: https://chep.iisc.ac.in/Personnel/pages/anant/index.html His research interests include low energy physics at high precision, beyond the standard model physics at colliders, and collider physics, particularly focusing on the 'new physics' that can be uncovered at the Internatio...

Suresh joins me from the Zanzibar (Africa) campus of IIT Madras ! Suresh Govindarajan is a theoretical physicist and a professor in the Department of Physics at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. https://physics.iitm.ac.in/~suresh/index.html He specializes in String Theory, and his research interests include conformal field theory, black holes, statistical physics, combinatorics, and mathe...

Susmita Adhikari is an Assistant Professor in the Physics Department at IISER Pune. She obtained her PhD in Astronomy from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and has held postdoctoral positions at The Kavli Institute of Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, and the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at The University of Chicago & Fermilab. Her research focu...

Atikur Rahman is an Associate Professor of Physics at IISER Pune, where he leads the Nano Energy & Quantum Transport Lab. https://atikurrahmanl.wixsite.com/scientist-site His research focuses on understanding fundamental charge transport properties and applications of quasi-1D (nanowires and nanotubes), 2D materials, and mixed-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures. His group studies elect...

Shivakumar Jolad works as an Associate Professor of Public Policy at FLAME University, Pune, India. His primary research interests are social policies focused on Education, Migration, and Human Development. He studies the structure of the schooling system, education policy, and governance in India. He has also worked on gaps between Language Diversity and Medium of Instruction in India. His other...

Ashish Arora is an Assistant Professor of Physics at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune, India. https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/physics/people/faculty/regular-faculty/ashish-arora/374 . His research interests include experimental condensed matter physics, magneto-optics, 2D materials (semiconductors and magnets), and low-dimensional physics. He i...

Neeldhara Misra is a computer scientist interested in algorithm design, computational social choice, and combinatorial games. She is an Associate Professor at IIT Gandhinagar: https://www.neeldhara.com/ This episode discusses her intellectual journey from literature and mathematics to computer science. Through this journey, we learn how she developed an interest in this field and her experience co...

This episode is an extended and edited version of my blogpost from 2018: https://backscattering.blog/2018/01/01/why-i-do-science/

This is a real short story I experienced a few years ago.