I recently read views from a PhD candidate at IIT Bombay on pursuing a Comp Science PhD in India versus the US, and so thought of writing about the pros and cons of pursuing a life science PhD in India. On this note, I heard from a faculty in 2012-13, while visiting IIT Kanpur as a PhD candidate in New York, that instrument access and availability had increased significantly in many Indian institutes as compared to the early 90s or 2000s.
I carried out my PhD from SUNY Buffalo in Dr Sriram Neelamegham’s lab and was vastly amazed by the infinite resources I had access to during my PhD. I tried my hands on a variety of experiments covering molecular biology, cell biology, bioinformatics, analytical sciences, chemistry, animal work, etc. but realized that my experiments were limited by my understanding of the science. This made me realize that one should not get absorbed by the resources in reach but perhaps consider it as an opportunity to solve the most difficult of the difficult problems. Even though one may have every resource at their disposal, the experiments go only so far as the thinking. This is also primarily the reason why many Indian scientists despite researching abroad for decades haven’t won a Nobel in life science! Not sure but possibly the guidelines for awarding a Nobel in life science might have changed from a novel discovery to a novel discovery with vast social benefits/reach.
Having said this, I don’t have hands-on PhD experience in India but a postdoctoral experience from CSIR-CCMB, which although couldn’t be equated to a PhD degree still gave me a glimpse of life science research in an Indian institute.
Lab Selection
You may say that a PhD solely relies on the PI for awarding a degree and so the dynamics are different than that for a postdoc. This lies in investigating your probable PI and pursuing a lab rotation if the institute has an option. It may greatly benefit candidates. Otherwise, asking the right questions to current lab members may help assess your lab of interest.
A more rigorous but time-consuming approach is selecting a few PIs across India and reaching out to them with the hope of working in their lab for a 6-month to 1-year duration. This would provide a first-hand experience of the PI, helping judge compatibility to pursue PhD in their lab. While this is a time-consuming process and has many human variables involved, but is by far the best way.
You may also check the internet and social media presence of the lab to learn their ethos. While this generally is fine but won’t be as effective as reaching out to the lab in person to get a closer view.
Once you are sure to work in a specific lab, discuss the science problem you wish to spend your next 5 – 7 years on and have friends that give you mental satisfaction as well as support in your scientific pursuits. This is important as a PhD degree is often mentally draining. An advantage of being an Indian PhD is that in case of a mishap, your family and friends are just a bus/train/plane away.
Life Science Research in India
As compared to the prevailing notion that an Indian PhD is not at par with that from the developed countries, I came across a variety of great work from Indian PhDs either at IIT Kanpur or at CCMB and had the privilege of being in touch with a few of them till this day. Many of those who were PhDs in IIT Kanpur are faculties in India or abroad. Some have pursued freelancing/entrepreneurship while others are settled in the industry.
The disadvantage of life science in India is that the research options are limited. But that is obvious considering life science research expanded late in India and only in the past 20 – 30 years reverse brain drain happened resulting in many Indian researchers from abroad set up their labs here. Also with the opening up of the economy in the 90s, more opportunities arose and infrastructure improved over time leading to better acclimatization of NRIs on their return. Along with the infrastructure improvement in the last 15 years, many new IITs, IISERs, NITs, etc. have also been established giving more opportunities to faculties and in turn to students.
Instrumentation
I was in CCMB from 2020 – 2023, and the type of instrumentation present at CCMB is by far the best in India. However, there is always room for infrastructural improvements, which I am not an expert in but could gaze based on my life science experience in New York versus India. As India lies in a tropical region, based on the prevailing climate here throughout the year, tailormade infrastructure should be designed. Infact, if one compares the life science industry to a life science academic institute in India, the facilities in the former are highly upgraded and of international standards. This brings us to another point regarding more monetary investments in Indian science to meet global standards.
Awards and honors
In the last decade or so, many new national and international conferences have been held across India. In my brief stay at CCMB, I saw many PhDs getting awarded fellowships (national and international), poster and oral presentation accolades, volunteer certificates, etc. Not only this, many PhDs also taught school children in day activities thereby getting prior exposure to explaining science to the general public. The ability to share science with the public is something that one tends to see more in India where interest in science has seen an increase over the years.
Together, such certificates add to your profile and help accelerate career growth in the long run.
Manpower & Administration
There is no shortage of manpower in India and since students are completely funded by MHRD, many labs have more than 10 or more students in a variety of capacities. This provides an inclusive environment to work and helps in reaching out to various stakeholders to address concerns. However, due to mostly paper-based processes across various disciplines, even life science research suffers from administrative hurdles. Things get tied at various stages and thus timely availability of resources gets affected heavily.
There are other parameters like the Passport/Visa process, settling in, cultural shock and self-independence determining how successful one’s PhD journey abroad would be. I have seen the best of the best Indian students abroad, joining the industry after a PhD tenure that turned them bald. This only means there are other factors such as work-life balance and bank balance that one looks at after PhD which dictates how life goes!
As they say, no lunches are free and everything free in life comes with a price. But even if there are hurdles one must learn to move on. I would still say and as the recent trend suggests, see the world beyond your own country and decide what best fits you in the shorter or the longer run!