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Tag: education

Conversation with Ayan Banerjee
Ayan is an experimental optical physicist and a Professor at IISER Kolkata: https://www.iiserkol.ac.in/~ayan/group_leader.html.

He is also a playwriter, theatre actor and a mentor to many science and arts enthusiasts.

What drives him to do all these things? We discuss this and many other things in this episode.

References:
1. “Group Leader | Light-Matter Lab.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://www.iiserkol.ac.in/~ayan/group_leader.html.
2. “IISER Kolkata – Ayan.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://www.iiserkol.ac.in/web/en/people/faculty/dps/ayan/.
3. “Ayan Banerjee – Professor – Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER), Kolkata | LinkedIn.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://in.linkedin.com/in/ayan-banerjee-3034208.
4. Department of Physical Sciences (DPS), IISER Kolkata, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgv7iODxYTY.
5. “Department of Physical Sciences : Home.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://physics.iiserkol.ac.in/.
6. Ayan Banerjee. Accessed December 2, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/ayan.banerjee.5895.
7. “‪Ayan Banerjee – ‪Google Scholar.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=GQo7yG4AAAAJ&hl=en.
8. Gupta, Subhasish Dutta, Nirmalya Ghosh, and Ayan Banerjee. Wave Optics: Basic Concepts and Contemporary Trends. CRC Press, 2015.
9. Haldar, Arijit, Sambit Bikas Pal, Basudev Roy, S. Dutta Gupta, and Ayan Banerjee. “Self-Assembly of Microparticles in Stable Ring Structures in an Optical Trap.” Physical Review A 85, no. 3 (March 27, 2012): 033832. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.85.033832.
10. “Indian Institute of Science.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://iisc.ac.in/events/remembering-prof-vasant-natarajan-1965-2021/.
11. “LML.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://sites.google.com/iiserkol.ac.in/light-matter-lab-iiserk/.
12. “LML – Physics of Micro-Bubbles.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://sites.google.com/iiserkol.ac.in/light-matter-lab-iiserk/research/physics-of-micro-bubbles.
13. Network, N. F. N. “Theatre At IISER-K Against Misinterpretation of Science And Superstition,” January 17, 2019. https://newsfromnadia.in/theatre-at-iiser-k-against-misinterpretation-of-science-and-superstition/.
14. “Self-Assembly of Mesoscopic Materials To Form Controlled and Continuous Patterns by Thermo-Optically Manipulated Laser Induced Microbubbles | Langmuir.” Accessed December 2, 2024. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/la402777e.
15. X (formerly Twitter). “Ayan Banerjee (@ayanban7) / X,” November 26, 2024. https://x.com/ayanban7.
December 4, 2024
Conversation with Bhaskaran Muralidharan
Bhaskaran is an Electrical Engineer & a Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay: https://cnqt-group.org/?page_id=25

He is a quantum transport theorist, musician and long-distance runner.

We explore his intellectual, musical and running journey.

Also, don’t miss a segment on Bhaskaran playing the piano.

References:
1. “Bhaskaran Muralidharan [Department of Electrical Engineering IIT Bombay].” Accessed November 26, 2024. https://www.ee.iitb.ac.in/wiki/faculty/bm.
2. “‪Bhaskaran Muralidharan – ‪Google Scholar.” Accessed November 26, 2024. https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=PWFVEKIAAAAJ&hl=en.
3. “Group Members – CNQT @ IIT Bombay.” Accessed November 26, 2024. https://cnqt-group.org/?page_id=25.
4. Muralidharan, B., A. W. Ghosh, and S. Datta. “Probing Electronic Excitations in Molecular Conduction.” Physical Review B 73, no. 15 (April 10, 2006): 155410. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.73.155410.
5. Prof. Bhaskaran Muralidharan || Electrical Engineering || EESA IIT Bombay, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8fFdb3-NRQ.
November 26, 2024
Learning & Happiness

November 24, 2024
Conversation with Chaitra Redkar
Chaitra is a political scientist, Associate Professor & Chair of Humanities at IISER Pune – https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/humanities-and-social-sciences/people/faculty/regular-faculty/chaitra-redkar/326

She explores modern Indian political thought through the lens of philosophy and history.

In this episode, we discuss her intellectual journey in capturing an interesting trinity.

References:
1. “Chaitra Redkar – IISER Pune.” Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/humanities-and-social-sciences/people/faculty/regular-faculty/chaitra-redkar/326.
2. Redkar, Chaitra. Gandhian Engagement with Capital. First Edition. New Dehli: SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd, 2019.
3. X (formerly Twitter). “Chaitra Redkar (@R_Chaitra) / X,” April 9, 2023. https://x.com/r_chaitra.
4. “Amazon.In.” Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.amazon.in/Books-Chaitra-Redkar/s?rh=n%3A976389031%2Cp_27%3AChaitra+Redkar.
5. “Chaitra (@my_historical_horizon) • Instagram Photos and Videos.” Accessed November 12, 2024. https://www.instagram.com/my_historical_horizon/.
November 13, 2024
Gerhard Herzberg – scientific life

References:

Pavan Kumar, G. V. “Gerhard Herzberg (1904–1999): A Pioneer in Molecular Spectroscopy.” Resonance 29 (2024): 1339. https://www.ias.ac.in/describe/article/reso/029/10/1339-1345.

Stoicheff, Boris. Gerhard Herzberg: An Illustrious Life in Science. Ottawa : Montréal ; Ithaca N.Y.: Canadian Forest Service,Canada, 2002.

Stoicheff, Boris P. “Gerhard Herzberg PC CC. 25 December 1904 – 3 March 1999.” Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 49 (December 2003): 179–95. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.2003.0011.

November 5, 2024
Lilavati’s daughters – book link

Here is a copy of the full book: LILAVATI’S DAUGHTERS coedited by Rohini Godbole & Ram Ramaswamy https://archive.org/details/A0560IASLeelavathisDaughterFullBook/mode/1up… Internet Archives zindabad!

November 4, 2024
Article on Gerhard Herzberg

The October 2024 issue of Resonance, Journal of Science Education

highlights the life and science of Gerhard Herzberg.

He was one of the greatest molecular spectroscopists who laid the foundation of atomic and molecular quantum mechanics and deeply impacted molecular astrophysics and astrochemistry.

He lived an extraordinary life, first in Europe learning quantum mechanics and then escaping 1930s Germany as his wife was of Jewish origin. Then, he settled in Canada to build and lead his lab, which was considered the ‘mecca of spectroscopy’ at NRC, Ottowa.

I wrote a sci-biography article about him in this issue

Link to full edition: https://www.ias.ac.in/listing/articles/reso/029/10

If you don’t know – Resonance is a pedagogical journal published by the Indian Academy of Sciences. It is a true open-access journal. Free to read and does not charge the authors to publish.

Do explore the past editions. There are some absolute gems. https://www.ias.ac.in/listing/issues/reso

October 28, 2024
Open access : a few thoughts and books

I think that knowledge, especially academic knowledge, should be openly accessible to fellow researchers and the public. Given that most of the academic research in India is public-funded, it is imperative that our work is made available for anyone interested in reading and utilizing the knowledge. This makes a strong case for making our work open to access. Unfortunately, the open-access publication venture has been hijacked by some commercial publishers, who have misused the enthusiasm of academic researchers by converting it into a money-making opportunity via so-called ‘gold’ open-access models, where authors pay exorbitant article processing charges (APCs) to publish their work in the journals.

I have been searching literature to understand the philosophy and economics of open-access publishing models, and recently, by chance, I came across a couple of books by Peter Suber.

First is an open-access book on Open Access. Peter Suber has been a philosopher & open-access advocate for a long time. In this book, he explains what it really means to have open access to knowledge & the related philosophy, including its economics. Link to the book.

Second is a collection of writings on open-access publication (link), and as the online blurb says :

Influential writings make the case for open access to research, explore its implications, and document the early struggles and successes of the open access movement.

The green open-access model is very interesting and pertinent to countries such as India, and as per wiki it is defined as :

Green OA, is the practice of placing a version of an author’s manuscript into a repository, making it freely accessible for the scientific community.

The primary motivation of Open Access was
to provide Open Access to Knowledge to the READER of Publications and; to allow Open Access to AUTHORS Publication (unbiased publication of Knowledge)

Open access in the true sense, should neither have barriers to knowledge consumption nor to knowledge generation and dissemination. Therefore, APCs are a major hurdle to researchers and authors who do not have monetary support. This is most of the global south, and hence, a fair policy is needed to make it more democratic.

October 22, 2024
Teaching and its impact

Recently I got this email from one of the students who took my optics course:

I don’t know what to say…I am humbled is only thing that comes to my mind..
Fyi: this student is deeply interested in theoretical high energy physics, and I had a great time interacting with him during my course..
Teaching is enriching.

…

Next day:

After I posted the email by the student, there has been a flood of messages from many other students (current+former) sharing their experience of our interaction. I want to thank them all🙏🏽 and reiterate some points :
1.I continue to learn through teaching.
2.Learning needs context. Historical viewpoint is one of the ways.
3.Teaching has positively impacted my research and writing.
4. Technology can positively aid classroom teaching, including teaching on the board. Strategically adapting audio-visuals can enhance discussion in the class.
5. A course is a starting point to learn something. Many a times, the actual learning happens long after a course is completed.
6. One of the greatest challenges in academia is to measure impact. In research or in teaching, it is not easy to quantify how our work can influence the society.

December 28, 2023
My Bengaluru memo..

Residence of an accomplished bengalurian.
1/n pic.twitter.com/bRFEwK5z6G
— G V Pavan Kumar (@Pavan_KumarGV) December 6, 2023

December 6, 2023

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