Prof. Vikram Vishal, Assistant Professor at the Department of Earth Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, was recently awarded the prestigious NASI Young Scientist Award - 2018 for his work on unconventional hydrocarbons. He is one of the 20 researchers across the country, to be awarded the annual prize for exceptional research in the field of Electronics, Engineering, Chemical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Plant Sciences.

Prof Amit Agrawal, Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay), has been awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). This award recognises his outstanding contributions to the area of Fluid Mechanics including experimental, theoretical and numerical work in Microfluidic Devices.

Prof. Chandra M. R. Volla, an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, has won the NASI Young Scientist Award 2018 for his research in the field of chemical sciences. His work deals with catalysis, the process of accelerating a chemical reaction by the use of an agent referred to as a catalyst. He shares the award with three other recipients.

Researchers from two Spanish institutes—the University of Barcelona and the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, and CCMB in Hyderabad, have identified some genes and regulatory elements involved in damage-response of the Drosophila regeneration process.

In a recent study, researchers from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, USA, St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bengaluru, and the King George's Medical University, Lucknow, have revealed how changes in the gut microbes are related to inflammation in the HIV-infected children.

Prof Ambarish Ghosh, Associate Professor at the Centre for Nanoscience and Engineering (CeNSE), Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, has been awarded the 2018 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for his contributions to the field of experimental physics. Prof Ghosh, who is currently the Prof Ramakrishna Rao Chair Professor, is recognised with India’s prestigious award in science for his research on active magnetic colloids and nanomotors.

Dr Ganesh Nagaraju, Associate Professor at the Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, has been awarded the 2018 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in Biological Sciences for his work on DNA repair, chromosome instability, genetic diseases and cancer.

If you are a budding researcher with a keen interest in evolution and biology, the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) has some good news for you. The multidisciplinary research institute in Bengaluru is all set to host the first-ever 15-day school in Evolutionary Biology. It is planned to be held from 12–26 March 2019 and is sponsored by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB).

In a recent study, researchers from the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (InStem), Bengaluru, and the University Hospital of Odense, Denmark, have observed some fascinating aspects of non-dividing stem cells from the bone marrow. The study, partially funded by the Department of Biotechnology, was published in the journal Stem Cell Research.

In a recent study, researchers at Bengaluru’s St. John’s Research Institute, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and St. John’s Medical College and Hospital, have described how the presence of a particular mineral in the urine can tell a tale about the health of our bones. The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports, and the study was funded by the Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance and the Department of Science and Technology.