HUMBOLDT KOLLEG On Interdisciplinary Science: Catalyst for Sustainable Progress September 4-6, 2014 NIAS Auditorium, IISc Campus ABSTRACT BOOK Scope of the Kolleg The progress of science has had a profound effect on our lives and the world as a whole. There is, however, a realization that many of the advances could have been achieved in a much improved manner if the solutions were built on an interdisciplinary approach. In such a case, the benefits derived from progress of science in one area would have led to lesser conflicts in another area. Therefore, “sustainability” has increasingly become central point of public discourse for science in the new millennium. Basic scientists need to have an understanding of the realities of the environment and the context of their discoveries. Without this realization, discoveries made in one laboratory have to be buffered by discoveries made at other laboratories to maximize the benefits and minimize the pitfalls. The most desirable situation would be when scientists work together to design their discoveries and inventions in a multidisciplinary environment where there is a common goal to adopt approaches and methodologies that give best outcomes. In this context, academia, government and industry are increasingly convinced that current problems in areas such medicine, ecology, and energy, research questions are best addressed through an interdisciplinary approach. However, relevant training, formation of a good research team, funding and evaluation are challenges that are common across the world, including India. Hence, we have undertaken to organize a three day Kolleg on “Interdisciplinary science: catalyst for sustainable progress” with Humboldtians, eminent scientists, engineers and clinicians from India and Germany to deliberate various aspects of Interdisciplinary endeavors, such as energy and materials, chemical biology, computational science and interdisciplinary thinking to increase the awareness and possibilities of an interdisciplinary collaborating environment, and foster establishment of multidisciplinary network. Researchers contributing directly or indirectly in the mentioned areas or working at the interface of two or more areas will be involved in the meeting. It is expected that the Kolleg will create a platform for the participants to learn about cutting-edge research developments which requires interdisciplinary approach, draft recommendations for future research, and network with Humboldtians and eminent scientists and German scholars to strengthen interdisciplinary collaborations for sustainable progress and robust scientific endeavors. 1 Program Page # Time Description Day 1, 4th September, 2014 (Thursday) 8:00-9:00 Registration 9:00-9:15 Inauguration Informative sessions for young researchers from AvH (Dr. Rekha Vaidya 9:15-10:30 Rajan), DAAD (Shikha Sinha/Shilpa Pandeshwar), DFG (Dr. Alexander Hansen, Krishnan Hariharan, Sangeetha R. Parthasarathi) 10:30-11:00 Tea Break 10-16 11:00-15:30 Session (Forenoon): Chemical Biology (Chairperson: S. Chandrasekaran) Keynote 1: "Thyroid Hormones for Health - Impact of trace elements and 10-11 11:00-11:45 endocrine disrupters on their synthesis, metabolism and action" by Josef Köhrle, Humboldt University, Berlin Invited Lecture 1: "Glycochemical Synthesis and its Significance in 12 11:45-12:15 Mycobacteriology" by Srinivas Hotha, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune Invited Lecture 2: "Interfering with Interference: targeting the microRNA 13 12:15-12:45 using small molecules" by Souvik Maiti, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi 12:45-14:00 Lunch Session (Afternoon): Chem. Biology (Chairperson: A. R. Chakravarty) Invited Lecture 3: "In search of potential inhibitors of human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in vitro and in vivo: a Chemical Biology 14 14:00-14:30 approach" by Suman Kumar Dhar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Invited Lecture 4: "Phytohormone ABA signaling controls intracellular calcium-mediated secretion and egress of merozoites in P. falciparum and 15 14:30-15:00 a good target for limiting parasite growth" by Shailja Singh, Shiv Nadar University, Uttar Pradesh Invited Lecture 5: "Interaction between Aβ and Aβ-inhibitor peptide with 16 15:00-15:30 tubulin/microtubule" by Surajit Ghosh, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata 15:30-16:00 Tea/Coffee Break Keynote Lecture 2 (Computational Biology): "Brain function across 29 16:00-16:45 scales" by Upinder S. Bhalla, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore 2 Page # Time Description 16:45-17:15 Interdisciplinary Junior Researcher Session Junior Researcher Lecture 1: “Base Pair Specific DNA Probe: Implications 45 16:45-17:00 in Efficient Parasite Detection in Human Erythrocytes” by Nagarjun Narayanaswamy, JNCASR Bangalore Junior Researcher Lecture 2: “Laser assisted hatching of cleavage stage 60 17:00-17:15 embryos” by Sachin D. Honguntikar, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal 39-79 17:15-19:00 Poster Session (Contributed by Junior Researchers) 18:00-19:00 Meeting of the Indian Humboldt Club Presidents 19:00 Dinner at NIAS Day 2, 5th September, 2014 (Friday) 17-20 9:00-11:45 Session: Medicine and Technology (Chairperson: A. J. Rao) 17 9:00-9:45 Keynote 3: "Nematodes and Sepsis: A relationship waiting to be harnessed?" by Balachandran Ravindran, Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneshwar Invited Lecture 6: "Hemoglobin structure function correlation in living 18 9:45-10:15 human Red Blood Cells probed by isotope exchange based Mass Spectrometry" by Amit Mandal, St. Johns Research Institute, Bangalore Invited Lecture 7: “Spectrum of GALNS Mutations in India” by Girisha K. 19 10:15-10:45 M., Kasturba Medical College, Manipal 10:45-11:15 Tea/Coffee Break Invited Lecture 8: “Translating experimental approach to clinical practice 20 11:15-11:45 to improve Infertility success" by Pratap Kumar, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal 21-24 11:45-15:00 Session: Interdisciplinary Thinking (Chairperson: N. Marehalli) Invited Lecture 9: "Interdisciplinary thinking: Perspectives from the 21 11:45-12:20 History of Life Sciences" by Christina Brandt, Ruhr-University, Bochum 22 Invited Lecture 10: "Cross Disciplines: Exciting Possibilities" by Ashok 12:20-12:55 Sahni, INSA Emeritus 12:55-13:50 Lunch Invited Lecture 11: "Music and Technology" by Vikram Sampath, Indira 23 13:50-14:25 Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Bangalore Invited Lecture 12: "Language Studies: Through the lens of Rashomon" by 24 14:25-15:00 Vanamala Vishwanatha, Azim Premji University, Bangalore 3 Page # Time Description 25-28 15:00-17:45 Session: Computational Science (Chairperson: G. D. V. Gowda) Keynote Lecture 4: "Turbulent Flows and their Numerical Simulation" by 25 15:00-15:45 Volker John, WIAS Berlin 15:45-16:15 Tea/Coffee Break Invited Lecture 13: "Challenges in Computing Hyperbolic Conservation 26 16:15-16:45 Laws" by J. C. Mandal, IIT Bombay Invited Lecture 14: "Meshless CFD in Aerospace Engineering" by N. 27 16:45-17:15 Balakrishnan, IISc Bangalore Invited Lecture 15: "A Generalized analysis for wave and energy balance 28 17:15-17:45 equations during microwave propagations within food dielectrics of various shapes" by T. Basak, IIT Madras 80 18:00-19:00 Cultural Program 19:00 Banquet Dinner Day 3, 6th September, 2014 (Saturday) Plenary Lecture "What Can We Learn From Insect Societies?" by Raghavendra Gadagkar, 9 9:00-10:00 President, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi 30-32 10:00-12:45 Session: Computational Biology (Chairperson: Manju Bansal) Invited Lecture 16: "Combining Biology and Computing: Challenges and 30 10:00-10:30 Opportunities" by Ramesh Hariharan, Strand Life Sciences, Bangalore 10:30-11:00 Tea/Coffee Break Invited Lecture 17: "Analysis of protein structures - identification of a 31 11:00-11:30 new turn, and redefining the buried surface area in complexes" by Pinak Chakrabarti, Bose Institute, Kolkata Invited Lecture 18: "Microscopic Structure of DNA Nanotubes" by Prabal 32 11:30-12:00 Maiti, IISc Bangalore 12:00-12:45 Interdisciplinary Junior Researcher Session Junior Researcher Lecture 3: “Amino acid racemases: Novel regulators of 46 12:00-12:15 Salmonella pathogenesis” by Namrata Iyer, IISc Bangalore Junior Researcher Lecture 4: “Do not Call Me α, I am π-helix” by Prasun 71 12:15-12:30 Kumar, IISc Bangalore 4 Page # Time Description Junior Researcher Lecture 5: “Metal nanoparticle immobilized on metal- 74 12:30-12:45 organic frameworks (MOFs) for heterogeneous catalysis” by Bappaditya Gole, IISc Bangalore 12:45-13:45 Lunch 33-36 13:45-16:00 Session: Materials and Energy (Chairperson: E. D. Jemmis) Keynote Lecture 5: "Electrochemical Energy Systems: Materials 33 13:45-14:30 Challenges" by S. Sampath, IISc Bangalore Invited Lecture 19: "Tailored light emitting organic nanoaggregates from 34 14:30-15:00 π-conjugates oligomers" by Arne Luetzen, University of Bonn 35 Invited Lecture 20: "H2O → H2 + O2" Abhishek Dey, Indian 15:00-15:30 Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata Invited Lecture 21: "Light Harvesting Soft-Hybrids" by Subi J. George, 36 15:30-16:00 JNCASR Bangalore 16:00-16:30 Tea/Coffee Break 37-38 16:30-17:30 Sub-Session: Water (Chairperson: M. S. Mohan Kumar) Invited Lecture 23: "Sustainable Wastewater Management: Challenges 37 16:30-17:00 and Way Forward" by Ligy Philip, IIT Madras Invited Lecture 22: "Climate Change and its Impact on Water Resources 38 17:00-17:30 of a River Basin" by D. Nagesh Kumar, IISc Bangalore 17:30 Discussion and Closing Remarks 5 Poster Index Page Title Author(s) Chemical Biology Anup K. Pramanik, Siddik Targeted delivery of cytotoxic metal complexes to Uzzaman, Kumaravel 40 cancer cells using gold nanoparticles Somasundaram, Ashoka G. Samuelson Deiodination of Thyroxine by Deiodinase 41 Mimics: Nature of Chalcogen Atom Alters the K. Raja, G. Mugesh Regioselectivity K. Rajasekhar, N. Synthesis of Hybrid Cyclic Peptoids and Narayanaswamy, Piyush Mishra, 42 Identification of Autophagy Enhancer S. N. Suresh, Ravi Manjithaya, T. Govindaraju Photocytotoxic Ferrocenyl-Terpyridine Platinum(II) 43 Koushambi Mitra Complexes Biomimetic molecular organization of naphthalene M. Pandeeswar, H. Khare, S. 44 diimide in the solid state: tunable (chiro-) optical, Ramakumar, T.