Nithya Rani-1

“I was interested in biochemistry from the beginning. After my BSc and MSc, I joined an M.Phil program at Govt. College, Karyavattom. My thesis was about the anti-diabetic effects of coconut kernels and I also have a paper published on it. I was a STEC fellowship holder back then and I joined a PhD program at Kerala University. But I got pregnant during that time and had to drop out of the program. I took a gap year and then joined the Vellayani Agricultural College as an SRF fellow. I had just started out there when IISER called in for a walk-in interview. I applied and got selected for the position. This was in 2013. Initially, it was on a contractual basis, but in 2017 I got a permanent position here. I was assigned the foundation lab and worked there till 2021 and since last year I am managing the advanced biology lab. I mostly handle biochemistry and microbiology related techniques. I was exposed to most of these after coming here. In the foundation lab we used to design the experiments on our own since they were comparatively simple, but now the experiments are designed by the professors according to their coursework. Teaching wasn’t that appealing to me initially but once I started interacting with the students here, I began to like it”.

“ I used to help out the iGem students with their work. They used to call me frequently for help, sometimes even at night to ask doubts. At the end, they gifted me a badge. I keep it with me all the time”. She talks about how happy she was to receive the badge as she looks through her bag to find it.