Turning points

My entry into the world of complex systems in a definitive way happened when I applied and got selected for the COMBINE (COmputation and Mathematics for BIological NEtworks) fellowship at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) in 2018.

Although I had heard about applications of network theory, I had never thought of my research problems in terms of complex networks. The fellowship was immensely useful to me as it entailed numerous courses, seminars, workshops and tutorials that helped me to form a better grasp on the subject. It was slow at first but then, I fell head over heels about the idea of viewing the structures around me in terms of concepts from complex systems - and also the trans-disciplinary nature of community that was a part of COMBINE program. I met some very close friends in the community who affected the way I do research.

If you are at UMD and want to do some cool interdisciplinary stuff, please consider applying to COMBINE!

Even though COMBINE brought me into the world of complex systems, it was Santa Fe Institute's (SFI) prestigious Complex Systems Summer School (CSSS) 2019, that put me in contact with young researchers from around the world who are at the forefront of such research. SFI is considered to be one of the cradles of modern complexity science. The school was one month long and involved amazing lectures from the best practitioners of Complex Systems Science from around the globe. But the key pull of the workshop was participation in extremely trans-disciplinary projects which sometimes spanned topics which one would not believe to have any connections. Talking to people whose research were completely outside one's comfort zone surely expands one's horizon and I saw it first hand everyday in the summer school.

Describing the summer school as an epiphany in my research life would be an understatement! I was a part of multiple working groups which formed during the school and we continue to be in touch and work on our respective projects. More importantly, the school taught us how to make collaborators out of friends and probably provided me with a lifelong supply of 'uber-cool' friends! Many of my current projects sprang into life due to people from the summer school. I would recommend SFI CSSS to anyone who has interests in any form of complexity science research!

After my first foray into complex systems science in general at SFI summer school and enjoying it thoroughly, I yearned for another enthralling multi-disciplinary workshop that will teach me cutting edge techniques, make me meet more cool people and help me build my research further. Therefore I applied to CNWW 2019 and got selected to spend a week in the cold stone halls of the St. Augustine Monastery in Quebec City and stuff myself with lots of poutine!

Jointly organized by Vermont Complex Systems Center (at UVM) and Sentinel Nord, Complex Networks Winter Workshop (CNWW) did not disappoint at all - rather it moved my expectations even higher up! I learnt a lot of new techniques and discovered a lot of really exciting datasets to apply networks on, in addition to forging new friendships and collaborations over (well, of course) poutine! If you ever want to dabble in some network witchcraft - CNWW is the answer to all your needs - do apply!

After my stint at the SFI CSSS 2019 and CNWW 2019, I had decided to apply to Winter Workshop on Complex Systems (WWCS) 2020, which is another week long complex system marathon workshop, drawing exemplary young scientists from different disciplines to a picturesque location in Europe (at least as of now). This year's workshop was in Charmey, Switzerland - set among the beautiful mountains and home to some of the finest cheese - it was yet another amazing week spent among excited researchers and talking about interdisciplinary research projects! Many friendships and collaborations were forged to perfection in the furnace of passionate debates about complex systems! Again, a definitely recommended workshop for anyone interested in Complex Systems!

The Woodstoich workshop is a product-focused event for early career scientists working in the field of ecological / biological stoichiometry or those interested in integrating stoichiometry to their research. It is held every 5 years. Its vision is to create a diverse community of early career scientists to invigorate ecology and evolution by improving and expanding the use of stoichiometric theory and Woodstoich in 2019 was its fourth edition. Woodstoich 4 was held at Flathead Lake Biological Station (FLBS) in Montana, USA.

For anybody interested in ecology and evolution - this is a great opportunity to mingle with ecologists with different backgrounds and come up with a cool project and end up with some really exciting collaborators!

This is not in the same category as others, but Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) fellowship is awarded to the top 250 (in 2011) high school students, who want to pursue a career in basic sciences in India, through a rigorous process of all-Indian examinations and a round of multi-disciplinary interviews. Through this fellowship, I discovered my passion and love for basic sciences and research, and also met most of my future undergraduate classmates (and made some long lasting friendships). This fellowship got me admitted into Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and provided a monthly stipend to support me during my whole undergraduate career. I owe the start of (most of) my scientific career to this fellowship.