B3-XII National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS)
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B3-XII National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) Evaluative Report of Departments (B3) XII-NCBS-1 National Centre for Biological Sciences 1. Name of the Department : National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) 2. Year of establishment : 1991 3. Is the Department part of a School/Faculty of the university? NCBS is an autonomous department of TIFR. 4. Names of programmes offered (UG, PG, M.Phil., Ph.D., Integrated Masters; Integrated Ph.D., D.Sc., D.Litt., etc.) PhD, Integrated Masters-PhD, MSc-by-Research in Life Sciences, MSc in Wildlife Biology and Conservation 5. Interdisciplinary programmes and departments involved Interdisciplinary programmes including courses covering physics and biology are being conducted jointly with TIFR Hyderabad and the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS-TIFR) Bangalore. 6. Courses in collaboration with other universities, industries, foreign institutions, etc. Courses are conducted in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science, the JNCASR, and the Raman Research Institute. In addition, numerous workshops are run each year with industry partners, such as the Bangalore Microscopy Course (www.ncbs.res.in/BangaloreMicroscopyCourse/Home) which has been organized annually since 2009 in collaboration with partners such as Nikon, Zeiss, Leica, and Olympus. TIFR NAAC Self-Study Report 2016 XII-NCBS-2 Evaluative Report of Departments (B3) 7. Details of programmes discontinued, if any, with reasons No programme was discontinued. 8. Examination System: Annual/Semester/Trimester/Choice Based Credit System We have an Academic Calendar with two academic semesters: January – May and August – December. Examinations are conducted at the conclusion of each course and not simultaneously. This is a Choice-Based-Credit-System and students select courses based on listed offerings, each course is worth 2 – 4 credits and the students are assigned a final CGPA. 9. Participation of the department in the courses offered by other departments As mentioned above, we participate in the courses of TIFR-Hyderabad and ICTS- Bangalore, especially on interdisciplinary topics at the interface of physics and biology. 10. Number of faculty positions: Faculty Designation with DAE Grade Abbreviation (Item 11) Number 1. Distinguished Professor (J) Dist. Prof. (J) 1 2. Senior Professor (I) Sr. Prof. (I) 5 3. Professor (H) Professor (H) 5 4. Associate Professor (G) Assoc. Prof. (G) 6 5. Reader (F) Reader (F) 15 6. Others - 2 Total 34 11. Faculty profile with name, qualification, designation, area of specialization, experience and research under guidance Name Deg* Designation Specialisation Exp† Stu‡ Development of neural circuits K. 1. PhD Dist. Prof. (J) and muscles and the 27 8 VijayRaghavan emergence of behavior Jayant B Sr. Professor Proteins folding, unfolding and 2. PhD 25 5 Udgaonkar (I) misfolding Membranes and transporters 3. M.K. Mathew PhD Professor (H) 24 1 and salt TIFR NAAC Self-Study Report 2016 Evaluative Report of Departments (B3) XII-NCBS-3 Name Deg* Designation Specialisation Exp† Stu‡ Assoc. Prof. Roles of Serotonin in neural 4. M.M. Panicker PhD 23 1 (G) and non-neural systems Human cervical cancer pathobiology and developing 5. Sudhir Krishna PhD Professor (H) 23 1 biology-medicine iinterphase programme Motor circuit development 6. Gaiti Hasan PhD Sr. Prof. (I) 21 4 and function Mechanisms of membrane 7. Satyajit Mayor PhD Sr. Prof. (I) 20 3 organization and endocytosis Upinder S. Sequence learning: From 8. PhD Sr. Prof. (I) 19 7 Bhalla Molecules to networks The Amygdala and 5 Sumantra hippocampus in stress 9. PhD Professor (H) 18 M.Phil Chattarji disorders: Cells, circuits and 1 memories Computational approaches to 10. R. Sowdhamini PhD Professor (H) 17 9 protein science Spatial organization and 11. Apurva Sarin PhD Professor (H) assembly of notch signaling 17 2 networks 12. Mukund Thattai PhD Reader (F) The origins of Complex Cells 11 2 Deconstructing Indian Uma Assoc. Prof. 13. PhD Biodiversity: Evolutionary 10 2 Ramakrishnan (G) origins and future prospects Assoc. Prof. The Physics, Neurobiology and 14. Sanjay P Sane PhD 8 1 (G) Ecophysiology of insect flight Mahesh Assoc. Prof. Terrestrial Ecosystems and 15. PhD 7 2 Sankaran (G) Community Biology Computational protein folding 16. Shachi Gosavi PhD Reader (F) 6 0 and functional dynamics. Vatsala Development, modulation and 17. PhD Reader (F) 6 0 Thirumalai function of motor systems Assoc. Prof. 18. Sandeep Krishna PhD The Choices of a Cell 6 0 (G) Assoc. Prof. Phosphoinsoitide signalling in 19. Raghu Padinjat PhD 6 0 (G) cell Biology Speciation, Adaptation and Krishnamegh 20. PhD Reader (F) Morphological Diversification 4 0 Kunte in Tropical Regions Understanding Epigenetics 21. P.V. Shivaprasad PhD Reader (F) 3 0 and Small Silencing RNAs TIFR NAAC Self-Study Report 2016 XII-NCBS-4 Evaluative Report of Departments (B3) Name Deg* Designation Specialisation Exp† Stu‡ Genomics of complex gene 22. Ranabir Das PhD Reader (F) 2 0 expression control in Bacteria Biology of host-pathogen Varadharajan 23. PhD Reader (F) interactions during 2 0 Sundaramurthy intracellular infections Naturalist-Inspired Chemical Shannon B 24. PhD Reader (F) Ecology: Targeting decision 2 0 Olsson making in nature Structural studies of 25. Arati Ramesh PhD Reader (F) Riboswitches and RNA-Binding 1 0 proteins in Bacteria Radhika Chemical Ecology of plant 26. PhD Reader (F) 1 0 Venkatesan interactions Cellular mechanisms in the 27. Hiyaa Ghosh PhD Reader (F) 1 0 adult brain Aswin Sai Narain Genomics of complex gene 28. PhD Reader (F) 5 0 Seshasayee expression control in Bacteria Theoretical approaches in cell 29. Madan Rao PhD Sr. Prof. (I) biology : physics of active, 7 2 evolving systems Active Evolvable Matter: Shashi 6 30. PhD Reader (F) linking activity, information 0 Thutupalli months flow and populations Gene Expression and 4 31. Dimple Notani PhD Reader (F) 0 Chromatin Architecture months Development and 2 32. Raj Ladher PhD Reader (F) Morphogenesis of the Inner 0 months Ear Honeybees and the 33. Axel Brockmann PhD Fellow (E) 4 6 mechanism of behavior Bacterial genome evolution 34. Deepa Agashe PhD Fellow (E) and evolutionary ecology of 4 7 adaptation * Highest degree obtained † Years of Experience as a regular Faculty Member (TIFR and elsewhere) ‡ Ph.D. students guided within the last 4 years (including those joined and those graduated) TIFR NAAC Self-Study Report 2016 Evaluative Report of Departments (B3) XII-NCBS-5 12. List of senior Visiting Fellows, adjunct faculty, emeritus professors • Christopher Michael Bate (Cambridge) • Francisco J Barrantes • James A Spudich (Stanford) • Mani Ramaswami (Trinity College Dublin) • Sanjeev Jain (NIMHANS) • K. Ullas Karanth (Wildlife Conservation Society) • Vivek Malhotra (CRG Barcelona) 13. Percentage of classes taken by temporary faculty – programme-wise information Approximately 10% of classes are taken by temporary faculty. These mainly pertain to interdisciplinary classes in basic mathematics, such as Calculus and Linear Algebra. 14. Programme-wise Student Teacher Ratio Programme Students (S) Faculty (F) Ratio S/F 1. Ph.D. 37 15 37:15 2. Integrated M.Sc.-Ph.D. 15 11 15:11 3. M.Sc. 9 7 9:7 15. Number of academic support staff (technical) and administrative staff: Scientific and Technical Staff Administrative and Auxiliary Staff 27 24 TIFR NAAC Self-Study Report 2016 XII-NCBS-6 Evaluative Report of Departments (B3) 16. Research thrust areas as recognized by major funding agencies The mandate of NCBS-TIFR is research in all major areas of the modern life sciences, including • molecular and cell biology, • developmental biology and genetics, • neuroscience and behavior, • ecology and evolution, • theory and modeling of biological systems. 17. Number of faculty with ongoing projects from a) national b) international funding agencies and c) Total grants received. Give the names of the funding agencies, project title and grants received project-wise. (a) Major national projects (2012-15): Total Grant Agency Project Title Faculty (Rs. lakhs) Collective migration in the fly 1. CEFIPRA 18.31 K VijayRaghavan nervous system DNA-encapsulated Quantum Dots 2. CEFIPRA 21.42 Yamuna Krishnan for Bio-imaging 3. CEFIPRA Olfactory Modulation of Insect Flight 15.24 Gaiti Hasan Genome-scale analysis of differential propensities of different 4. CEFIPRA 22.20 Aswin Seshasayee chromosomal domains for horizontal gene insertion in Escherichia coli Investigating connectivity in the montace sky island ecosystems in 5. CSIR 138.24 Uma Ramakrishnan the Western Ghats through genetics of a threatened endemic bird Biogeography of the Indian 6. DAE 19.54 Uma Ramakrishnan subcontinent Regulation of Drosophila larval 7. DBT growth and TOR signaling a novel Raghu Padinjat 25.62 phosphoinositide kinase 8. DBT Innovative young biotechnologist 50.17 Odity Mukherjee TIFR NAAC Self-Study Report 2016 Evaluative Report of Departments (B3) XII-NCBS-7 Total Grant Agency Project Title Faculty (Rs. lakhs) award -2009 (IYBA) Notch activated signalling cascade & 9. DBT the consequences for T-cell 64.54 Apurva Sarin homeostasis Genome wide sh RNA screens to analyse cellular mechanisms 10. DBT 213.25 Apurva Sarin regulating fundamental process in mammalian cells Analysis of type II 11. DBT phosphatidylinositol phosphate 60.04 Raghu Padinjat kinase function in Vivo Validation of novel target for HIV-1: 12. DBT Nef-CD80/CD86 for potential 99.40 Satyajit Mayor therapeutic intervention Peptide toxins of therapeutic value 13. DBT from toxoglossan mollusces 60.11