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“Unlike most of my batchmates during PhD, I had an engineering background. I did my B.E. in biotechnology and everything from the environment to the motivation of my fellow batchmates during my undergraduate days was very different. A lot of my peers were preparing for jobs in software companies and even our professors didn’t know enough to inspire us in other directions.

It was my two month IAS summer internship that opened my eyes. It was my first tryst with research as well as my very first opportunity to interact with people who were research minded and could guide me better. While graduating, I had a job offer from a software company that I declined in favor of a PhD position.

I joined a laboratory in one of the best life sciences research institutes in the country and with the support of a great advisor, great batchmates and extremely supportive labmates, had a fulfilling time during my PhD. I had other kinds of challenges though that I undertook on my own and struggled with like managing multiple projects at once and not being able to finish any of them on time. A few months before my defense, I even had to go to a therapist because the pressure was getting too much to handle. It was mainly my advisor who kept pushing me and helped me graduate in time.

Although I had managed to get in I knew very little about how the PhD system works in India, well demonstrated by…