Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Career in Environment Science
The Himalayas are melting, The Pacific is rising, Polar bears are dying and we are losing the untapped information and potential of plant species at an alarming rate. We need to protect the earth not just for ourselves but for our future generations. And as Yugratna Srivastava, speaking on behalf of the world’s three billion children at the UN summit at the Climate Change Conference at Copenhagen asked the assembly of world leaders: “If not here, then where? If not now, then when? If not us, then who?” However, to work in this field, you not only need a passionate concern for the environment, but also a clear idea about what needs to be done for conserving and improving it. If you have a logical mind, and a working knowledge of subjects like geography, geology, botany, chemistry and zoology, along with good communication skills, there are quite a few routes to working as an environmentalist without studying environmental sciences per se.
Here are some you could consider:
Environmental Education & Communication: This typically involves conducting awareness programmes in colleges/schools, coordinating community awareness programmes — on rural and specific urban issues and communicating through the media.
Environmental Journalism: Growing public awareness has generated enthusiasm and concern for environmental protection. People’s voices are now beginning to be heard and reported in the media. Reporting environmental issues such as nuclear tests, construction of dams etc, making documentaries on various aspects of the environment and producing films on various issues concerning the environment are areas that environmental journalists/photojournalists can actively pursue. Environmental Law: This would involve working as a lawyer for an environmental consulting firm, environmental organisation, conservation group, or the government.
Environmental Activism & Social Work: This would involve working with an NGO, fundraising/lobbying for an environmental organisation, conservation group or actively espousing environmental concerns. Don’t expect a fancy salary, but the work can be very satisfying and purposeful.
Here are some you could consider:
Environmental Education & Communication: This typically involves conducting awareness programmes in colleges/schools, coordinating community awareness programmes — on rural and specific urban issues and communicating through the media.
Environmental Journalism: Growing public awareness has generated enthusiasm and concern for environmental protection. People’s voices are now beginning to be heard and reported in the media. Reporting environmental issues such as nuclear tests, construction of dams etc, making documentaries on various aspects of the environment and producing films on various issues concerning the environment are areas that environmental journalists/photojournalists can actively pursue. Environmental Law: This would involve working as a lawyer for an environmental consulting firm, environmental organisation, conservation group, or the government.
Environmental Activism & Social Work: This would involve working with an NGO, fundraising/lobbying for an environmental organisation, conservation group or actively espousing environmental concerns. Don’t expect a fancy salary, but the work can be very satisfying and purposeful.
Career in Biophysics
Biophysics applies the principles of mathematics, chemistry, biology and physics to the study of living cells and organisms including structures and fine structures, bioelectric phenomena, radiation effects, molecular behaviour, photosynthesis, membranes and modelling.Breakthroughs in unravelling the DNA have made it possible to study the inner workings of biological systems with unprecedented precision to investigate how the brain processes and stores information, how the heart pumps blood, how muscles contract, etc. The goal of modern research in drug discovery is to develop drugs that act in a specific way with minimal side effects while being demonstrably better than the existing therapies. Conventional approaches of drug discovery end up being a long and expensive process. Hundreds of thousands of samples need to be screened before reaching some potential compounds with desired properties. Not just that, it ends up taking dozens of years and millions of dollars. However, with the advances in protein structure determination, structure-based drug design has emerged as a powerful and swifter tool to develop new drugs with specific properties and minimal side effects. In structure based drug design, the three-dimensional structure of a drug target interacting with small molecules is used for drug discovery. Biophysicists work in universities, industry, medical centres, research institutes and government. The applications of biophysics are quite significant in biochemistry, nanotechnology, bioengineering and systems biology but its range of research is vast and includes topics such as structural biology or enzyme kinetics etc. Like any other field of research, be prepared for extended study-a PhD and perhaps even post-doctoral research to make a headway in this field. MSc biophysics is offered at Panjab University, Chandigarh, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, University of Mumbai, University of Madras among others. The department of biophysics, at AIIMS is a centre of drug discovery and clinical proteomics, which seamlessly combines structural biology, bioinformatics and proteomics.
Eligibility: BSc (H) with minimum 60% aggregate. Selection is on the basis of an entrance exam (90 minutes with 90 objective-type questions).
Eligibility: BSc (H) with minimum 60% aggregate. Selection is on the basis of an entrance exam (90 minutes with 90 objective-type questions).
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