"Mathematical discovery is built from many steps, and each step is not so different from problem solving. This does raise legitimate questions of scaling, but claims about discovery involving “true creativity” while problem solving does not don’t deserve to be taken seriously."

By Srinath Srinivasa, Professor & Dean (R&D) IIIT Bangalore. First published in his personal blog Random Graphs

Image: A representation of the paper-discs with the substrate and cell free extracts together with (left to right) increasing concentrations of the sensor without trigger (yellow) compared to with trigger addition (shades of red). Credit Prof Chaitanya Athale

Today, I complete 15 years as a faculty member at IISER-Pune. I have attempted to put together a list of some lessons (based on my previous writings) that I have learnt so far.

As a teenager, it is hard enough dealing with the emotional challenges of growing; add to it the stigma of living with HIV. Then there are researchers who aim to improve the mental health of these teenagers without ever involving them in the process! This leads to a disconnect between lived experience and research outcomes. It is a little-recognized barrier to effective mental health interventions for marginalised communities. 

Complexity theory offers opportunities for understanding these systems holistically

On Women's Day, Dr Alakananda Batni highlights some of the challenges and way forward for women in science, in India. 

Time for reform in medical research and publishing? Indian researchers provide shocking analytical insights.

Languages and scripts play a role in the way science is perceived and percolates through society.

The science of biodiversity loss may benefit by integrating people's knowledge with lab-based techniques.