I’m in third-year of my PhD. My project aims to develop various treatment strategies for bone related disorders. I have already developed a nanocarrier as a therapeutic option for osteoporosis, in which I have tagged parathyroid hormone to hydroxyapatite nanorods for targeted delivery at the site of osteoporosis. Currently, I am working on development of a live graft scaffold integrated with hydroxyapatite as an option for regeneration of the degraded intravertebral disc.
None of my weeks or days is same. Some days I just do the literature survey and some days I do my lab work. I also mentor the undergrad students with their project work. Our research group has weekly meeting so we have to discuss our work of the previous week and our plans for the upcoming week. Sometimes, I am just busy doing some administrative jobs at my department such as intending reagents, processing the invoice of procured items…
I have enjoyed the interacting with a variety of people during my PhD. Working in a University has its advantages and disadvantages. We frequently need to visit research institutes in and around Pune for using some facility or for collaborative research projects. This has helped me to extensively grow my network and work on my interpersonal skills. This has tremendously contributed to my personal growth and overall development as a researcher.
The most challenging part of the PhD is to keep myself motivated despite of continuous failures. Many times the experiments do not work at all for days and I do not feel like troubleshooting or repeating them. These are the trying times when a motivational speech helps.
The best part about working in a University is that the University set up teaches you a lot. Usually Universities are not as well-equipped as research institutes and therefore, we have to run to various places to get our experiments done. As a result, we do not remain confined to a particular place and interact with a lot of people from various research backgrounds. It improves our networking skills and also teaches us not to give up. However, Pune been a research hub, makes my University the best place to learn.
I enjoy watching movies, web-series, anime, reading and cooling off on the weekends. I also enjoy going out with my friends. Somedays I cook or go on treks.
Connect with him on Twitter, Instagram and ResearchGate, and check out his lab website, journal paper and Google Scholar using the links below:
Lab Website | Twitter | Instagram | ResearchGate | Google Scholar | Journal Paper