Twinning
“We have always felt a strong connection with science as kids and would ask a lot of questions about things around us. We would even dress up as scientists wearing lab coats and safety goggles since we were 10. It often surprised us that there weren’t many female scientists in the world and we aspired to break this stereotype. Our school also played a major role in shaping up our academic choices.
The desire to do a PhD intensified after we secured the IAS summer research fellowship and went to IISc for 2 months. We eventually got admitted to JNCASR which not only provides us the best of facilities but also an extensive collaborative network between different departments.
But we had different expectations before enrolling ourselves into the PhD program. We hoped to work on topics that seem fancy from the outside. But research is more about contributing to whatever area one gets into, no matter how ‘cool’ or ‘dull’ the subject matter may seem. The number of papers isn’t a criterion to judge how good a scientist you are either. Quality always rules over quantity.