My persistent path to PhD

“I had wanted to pursue biotechnology ever since I was introduced to the subject in Class XII. Back then, the internet was not available in every house. I had to go to cyber cafes every now and then and spend hours looking for colleges that taught biotechnology as a major. I was so fixated on pursuing it that I settled for an average college despite having offers from better universities in other life sciences disciplines. The laboratory conditions were pitiful and I could barely develop any practical knowledge during my time there. I tried to make up for it by taking up internships every semester break.

After BTech, I wanted to study further and eventually a PhD in the field. I lacked information about the entrance examinations and therefore I missed the opportunity to get through any good, government institute for MTech. To avoid putting my family under financial burden, I started looking for private colleges that offered scholarships. Eventually I found one and yet again, settled for mediocrity.

When I heard about the IRCC internship program at IITB, I instantly applied for it. I spent 6 months in the Biosciences Department there, learning the most basic of laboratory techniques. It was so enriching that I wanted to come back to IITB. However, instead of Biosciences, I secured a PhD position in the Chemical Engineering department where I currently work.

Being in one of the country’s best institutes comes with huge responsibilities and expectations from my supervisor. I am always overloaded with work, handling multiple projects at a time. Impressed with my hard work and perseverance, my supervisor sent me on a short collaborative project to University of California, Berkeley at the end of my first year of PhD. I learnt a lot there and I am sure this opportunity is going to help me in later stages of academia.

But there are times when I fail to impress my supervisor and get demotivated. My boyfriend jokes that I am VVS Lakshman of the Indian cricket team who’s meant for test matches instead of T20 and if I can just stay on the field for a little longer, India will win the match.

I am learning a technique now during quarantine which none of my peers have experience with. My supervisor keeps scolding me on Zoom meetings saying that my progress is slow. I don’t feel bad because in this lockdown when I am away from the campus, he is taking care of my plants which I left with him. Well, that was in return for me grading 177 papers in less than a day for him before leaving!”

-Swati Madhu, PhD in Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

NOTE: The IRCC or Industrial Research and Consultancy Centre floats internship opportunities every year in the form of specific research projects and selects candidates through a rigorous selection procedure. This is a paid internship of four to six months and provides an opportunity to participate in the numerous research and development activities at IIT Bombay.