Anupam Sengupta, RKMV 1999
About the Speaker:
Prof. Anupam Sengupta is an ATTRACT Fellow and Professor of Biological Physics at the University of Luxembourg. He heads the Physics of Living Matter Group, a cross-disciplinary team of scientists working on emergent functionalities in biological systems. Research in the Sengupta Lab spans soft and living matter physics, microfluidics, optics and microbiology. Anupam holds B.Tech and M.Tech degrees (Dual Degree) in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Bombay, India, and a Ph.D. in Physics for his thesis on Liquid Crystal Microfluidics, carried out at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self Organization, Goettingen, Germany (2013). His doctoral work is a recipient of the Glenn H. Brown Prize from the International Liquid Crystal Society (2014), the Springer Thesis Award and the Berliner-Ungewitter Prize (both in 2013). As a postdoc at MIT (Cambridge, USA) and ETH Zurich (Switzerland), Anupam switched fields to integrate engineering and physics to study biological systems. Anupam held a Human Frontiers Cross-Disciplinary Fellowship (2014-2017) awarded by the International Human Frontier Science Program Organization, and was selected as one of the six ”promising young scientists for future”by Nature during the 65th Lindau Meeting for Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany. Currently, Anupam is a member of the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Luxembourg, and among other roles, serves as the Director of the Physics Studies of University of Luxembourg.
About the Adda:
Academic research is a dynamic melting pot where thematic disciplines, innovations and personal aspirations cross roads with the overarching goal of knowledge dissemination and amelioration of ever-growing societal challenges. Despite the altruistic and philanthropic scope of academia, some of the best talents today - both in India and across the world - tend to opt for an 'easier' path out of scientific research, understandably due to the extremely competitive environments, rigorous international standards, and a disproportionate demand-and-supply curve of academic positions. During this Praktani Adda session, Anupam will make an attempt to present his understanding of what a rewarding academic career could look like, and how we - in particular, the younger generation - could prepare to secure a research career with international visibility. The three decades of his journey that started at Baba Dham in 1993 and continues to-date in Luxembourg, has taken him across diverse cultures and value systems - from Mumbai (India) and Goettingen (Germany) to Boston (USA) and Zurich (Switzerland), ultimately helping to identify the three guiding E-s of research: Evidence, Endurance and Ethics. The three E-s may provide relevant pointers to the younger generation (and scientists of tomorrow!) who dare to leave their comfort zone; and for the rest of us in the Adda, a reflection of our personal and professional journeys so far. It is going to be a very interesting talk . See you all there.