Background:

Avinash’s research interests lie in Science, Technology and Society, Information and Communication Technologies, R&D Collaborations, and Social Network Analysis. He has been critically engaged in analyzing the structure, pattern, properties, and functions of networks- particularly scientific, social, and policy networks – studied using a combination of theoretical and empirical methods broadly situated within the scope and ambit of Science and Technology Studies.

Research Interests:

Avinash obtained an MA in Development Studies and a Ph.D. with a specialization in Science, Technology, and Society from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati. His Ph.D. dissertation focused on the dynamics of R&D collaboration in agricultural biotechnology. He was a Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Science, Technology and Society (IAS-STS), Graz, Austria (October 2016 to June 2017). He was the recipient of the ICSSR Post-Doctoral Fellowship hosted by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (January 2019 to January 2021). Avinash engaged as a Post-doctoral researcher in a transnational project called ‘COMPON,’ where he focused on comparative climate policy networks involving Australia, Brazil, India, and Japan. He also worked as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in a project funded by Princeton University at the Climate and Energy Research Lab (CEPRL), Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (January 2021 to September 2021).

Publication:

Kumar, A. and Mallick, S. (2020). Interests, Norms, Meanings: A Study of Rice Biotechnology in India, Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 40 (3-4): 31-39.

Kumar, A. and Mallick, S. and Swarnakar, P. (2020). Mapping Scientific Collaboration: A Bibliometric Study of Rice Research in India, Journal of Scientometric Research,9 (1): 29-39.

Kumar, A. and Mallick, S. (2019). Confirmations and Contentions over GM Technology: Socio-Political Construal of Innovations in Rice Biotechnology Research in India, Asian Journal of Social Science, 607-630.

Kumar, A. and Mallick, S. (2019). Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS) in Rice Biotechnology Research in India, Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, 18 (3): 293-314.

Kumar, A. and Mallick, S. (2015). Plant biotechnology representation and resistance: a study of plant breeding community in Bihar, India, Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, 14 (5): 544-66.

Conference Papers

Swarnakar, P. and Kumar, A., ‘Structure, Institutions and Organizations: Intricacies of Climate Change Policy Network in India’, IV ISA Forum of Sociology, Porto Alegre, Brazil, February 24, 2021 (shifted to online due to COVID 19 crisis).

Satoha, K., Swarnakar, P., Kumar, A. and Trencher, G., Climate Change Policy Network and Policy Cleavage Structure: India and Japan Comparison, 115 American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, August 8-11, 2020 (shifted to online due to COVID 19 crisis).

Kumar, A., ‘Climate policy network of India and Brazil’, Indo-Japan Workshop on Climate change and Energy policy of India and Japan, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, December 20-21, 2019.

Shukla, R. and Kumar, A., ‘Tracing Discursive Practices through Media Framing of Renewable Energy’, International Workshop on Socio-ecological relations of energy transition in Australia, Germany, and India, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, November 12-13, 2019

Kumar, A. andMallick, S., ‘GMOs and Questions of Sustainability: A Case Study of Rice Biotechnology in India’, International Conference on Agriculture and Human Development in India: Indigenous Practices, Scientific Views and Sustainability, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India, September 8-9, 2017.

Kumar, A., ‘Rice Biotechnology and Sustainable Agriculture in India’, 16th Annual Conference on Critical Issues in Science, Technology and Society Studies, Institute for Advanced Studies – Science, Technology and Society (IAS-STS), Graz, Austria, May 8-9, 2017.

Kumar, A. and Mallick, S., ‘Scientific Collaboration in Rice Biotechnology: Response of the Scientific Community in Bihar’, Indraprastha International Conference on Biotechnology (IICB 2013), Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, India, October 22-25, 2013.

Kumar, A. and Mallick, S., ‘Debates and Discourses: Innovations in Rice Biotechnology in India’, National Conference on Science, Technology and Society, National Institute of Science Education and Research Bhubaneswar, India, July 22-23, 2017.

Kumar, A. and Mallick, S., ‘Interests, Norms and Meanings: Socio-Political Construal of Rice Biotechnology Research in India’, Silver Jubilee National Seminar on Contemporary Debates on Science, Technology and Nationalism in India, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India, October 31 – November 2, 2018.

Research interests:

Moumita’s research interest is focused on making science available to everyone. She is passionate about finding the ways to make open science a reality in India. Her research is focused on comparing the open access and open data policies across the globe to find out the suitable open science guidelines for Indian research ecosystem. Her pursuit for open science does not just end at designing policies. She is also interested in finding the ways to disseminate the knowledge effectively among researchers and general public. Moumita is also interested in open source drug discovery and want to expand her research on open science in the field of open source discovery of medicines. She is also interested in science diplomacy and use it as a tool to bring the emerging economies to cooperate and make open science a global reality.  

Background:

Moumita has completed her Ph.D from the Technical University of Vienna (TU, Vienna), Austria, in 2010. Her area of expertise is in the domain of synthetic organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry. She was the recipient of the best Ph.D thesis award from the TU Vienna (Hannspeter Winter Preis-2011).  She was also awarded Uni:Invent Award from the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research. She continued as a post-doctoral researcher in TU Vienna and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and investigated problems in the research field of metal and enzyme catalysis. Moumita then decided to explore teaching and joined the IISc as UG Instructor in chemistry. While teaching in the UG programme at IISc, she became interested in the science policy research areas, such as Open Science, Open Source Drug Design, Citizen Science, Research Assessment etc. She joined the DST- Centre for Policy Research, IISc Bangalore as a post-doctoral researcher (2020-23) and pioneered to develop an ‘Open Science’ research vertical within the centre. Currently. she is working as a consultant with International Science Council (ISC) for ‘The Future of Scientific Publishing’ project  and a visiting scholar of DST-CPR, IISc Bangalore.

Publications:

Book Chapters & reports:

Suchiradipta, B. and Koley, M. (2023) Exploring the Current Practices in Research Assessment within Indian Academia. https://sfdora.org/2023/02/16/community-engagement-grant-report-exploring-the-current-practicesin-research-assessment-within-indian-academia/ 

Suchiradipta, B. and Koley, M. (2022). Research assessment in India: What should stay, what could be better? DST-CPR, IISc. https://dstcpriisc.org/iisc/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Research-Assessment-in-India.pdf 

Power Resources of STI Diplomacy in the Global South. Jenice Goveas & Moumita Koley. Science, Technology and Innovation: the International Dimension. Accepted. 

Synthesis and Modification of Heterocycles by Metal catalyzed Cross-Coupling Reactions: With Contribution by: Á. Balázs, G. Dormán, J. Gerencsér, M. Koley, A. Kotschy, M.D. Mihovilovic, Z. Novák, L. Rycek, M. Schnürch, R.S.G.R. Seixas, A.M.S. Silva, V.L.M. Silva, L. Wimmer. Topics in Heterocyclic Chemistry. Springer.

Popular articles and Policy Briefs:

https://science.thewire.in/the-sciences/research-evaluation-system-national-culture/

https://www.deccanherald.com/science-and-environment/an-era-of-open-science-1051288.html

 https://science.thewire.in/the-sciences/india-can-have-its-own-open-access-digital-publishing-platform/ 

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/unwinding-the-open-data-debate-for-rare-diseases/ 

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/open-access-a-problem-way-beyond-one-nation-one-subscription/ 

https://www.psa.gov.in/article/great-power-comes-great-responsibility/3906

Policy Brief:

Open Research Data for India: Exploring Infrastructure and Governance. 

https://dstcpriisc.org/iisc/wpcontent/uploads/2022/06/Open-Research-Data_Policy-Brief.pdf

Journal Publications:

Chaube, P.; Koley, M. (2023). Does South Asia need a regional dialogue on Open Science?. Science Diplomacy. Vol 6(4). Perspective Article. Link: https://niscpr.res.in/includes/images/sciencediplomacy/Science-Diplomacy-April-June-2023.pdf

Koley, M.; Lala, K. (2023). Limitations of the “Indian One Nation, One Subscription” Policy Proposal and a Way Forward. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science.                                                  (https://doi.org/10.1177/09610006221146771). 

Koley, M. (2022). Open Science in Drug Discovery: Addressing the Gaps in Traditional Model of Developing New Medicines. CSIR NScPR Science Diplomacy (2022). Vol 6. Perspective Article. 

Koley, M. (2022). Analysis of Open Science Policy Recommendations Proposed in India’s 5th Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Draft. Journal of Science Policy & Governance. Vol 21, Issue 02. https://www.sciencepolicyjournal.org/uploads/5/4/3/4/5434385/koley_v21_i02.pdf

Koley, M.; Lala, K. (2022). Changing dynamics of scholarly publication: a perspective towards open access publishing and the proposed one nation, one subscription policy of India. Scientometrics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-022-04375-w

Koley, M.; Lala, K. (2022). Are Journal Archiving and Embargo Policies Impeding the Success of India’s Open Access Policies? Learned Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1002/leap.1441

Koley M., Namdeo S.K., Bhattacharjee S., Affi N. A. (2022). Digital Technologies for Open and Equitable Sharing of Knowledge in India. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. http://dx.doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/mc8xr

Peramunugamage, A. Kushwaha, P. K., Koley, M. et. al. (2021). Science for Diplomacy: Enabling a Knowledge Sharing and Capacity Building Framework for Water and Sanitation in South Asia. RIS Science Diplomacy Review, 3, 27-40. Read here.

Namdeo, S.K. & Koley, M. (2021) Citizen Science in India: Introduction, Challenges and Way Forward. DIALOGUE-Science, Scientist, and Society. http://dx.doi.org/10.29195/DSSS.03.01.0031

Jayaraman, D.; Joy, M.; Koley, M.* Chem. Educator, 2019, 24, 1. 

Schaaf, P.; Bayer, T.; Koley, M. et.al. Chem Commun, 2018, 54, 12978. 

Mike, A. K.; König, K.; Koley, M.; Heher, P.; Wahl, G.; Rubi, L.; Schnürch, M.; Mihovilovic, M. D. ; Weitzer, G.; Hilber, K. Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry 2014, 33, 205-221. 

Koley, M.; Wimmer L.; Schnuerch, M.; Mihovilovic, M. D. J. heterocyclic. Chem. 2013, 50, 1368-1373. 

Koley, M; Mike, A. K.; Heher, P.; König, K.; Schoen, M.; Schnürch, M.; Hilber, K.; Weitzer, G.; Mihovilovic, M. D. Med. Chem.Comm.2013, 4, 1189-1195. 

Koley, M.; Dastbaravardeh, N.; Mihovilovic, M. D.; Schnuerch, M. Chem. Cat.Chem. 2012, 4, 1345–1352. 

Koley, M.; Kirchnar, K.; Mereiter, K. Acta Cryst. 2011, E67, m1842–m1843 

Koley, M.; Schnuerch, M.; Mihovilovic, M. D. Tetrahedron 2011, 67, 4169-4178. 

Koley, M.; Wimmer L.; Schnuerch, M.; Mihovilovic, M. D. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2011, 1972-1976. 

Koley, M.; Koneig, X.; Hilber, K.; Schnuerch M., Stanetty, P.; Mihovilovic M. D. ARKIVOK. 2011, 6, 45-61. 

Koley, M.; Schnuerch, M.; Mihovilovic, M. D. Synlett. 2010, 10, 1505-1510. Koley, M., Sarkar, B.; Ghumaan, S.; Bulak, E.; Fiedler, J.; W. Kaim, W.; Lahiri, G.K. Inorg. Chem. 2007, 46

Patent:

US 8,986,994 B2 – Substituted pyridines and pyrimidines. Mihovilovic, Marko; Schnuerch, Michael; Koley, Moumita; Hilber, Karlheinz; Koenig, Xaver. 

Research Interests:  

Mohua works on health policy research focusing on aspects of equitable and inclusive health that can benefit all sections of society. She has specific interest in understanding the challenges faced by the rare disease community in India and identifying the policy and public health interventions that can help to provide better quality of life to such individuals and families. To address these issues, she also takes special interest in analysis of Orphan Drug approval system and Clinical trials data. Further, as a part of the STIP 2020 Secretariat, she has gained first-hand experience of a national policy formulation process.

Background:  

Post-doctoral Research Fellow (2019-2020)  

Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, Bengaluru 

Involved in a project to quantify the reporting of clinical trials of orphan drugs in clinicaltrials.gov by comparing them with those that were mentioned in FDA approval documents. 

National Post-doctoral Fellow (2017-2019)  

Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, Bengaluru 

Analyzed clinical trials associated with approval of all the orphan drugs approved by the US-FDA. Captured the present scenario of rare disease treatment and management in India through a series of interviews with key persons in the patient advocacy groups and orphan medicinal product industry. [Related publications: Ref* 1, 2, 3, Presentation 1] 

 Ph.D in Biotechnology (2011-2015) 

Assam University, Silchar 

Taxonomic and molecular identification of Indian freshwater fishes along with genomic data analysis and molecular phylogenetic analysis to identify species, developing DNA barcode libraries and resolve discrepancies in species classification. 

 M.Sc in Bioinformatics (2008-2010) 

Banasthali University, Banasthali, Rajasthan 

Publications 

Choudhury MC, Saberwal G: The work, goals, challenges, achievements, and recommendations of orphan medicinal product organizations in India: an interview-based study.Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases 2019; 14:241 

Choudhury MC, Saberwal G: The role of patient organizations in the rare disease ecosystem in India: an interview-based study.Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases 2019; 14:117 

Choudhury MC, Saberwal G: Patient advocacy.Current Science 2019; 3:116 

Chakraborty M, Dhar B, Ghosh SK. Design of character‐based DNA barcode motif for species identification: A computational approach and its validation in fishes. Molecular Ecology Resources 2017;17:1359–1370. 

Chakraborty M, Ghosh SK: An assessment of the DNA barcodes of Indian freshwater fishes. Gene 2014, 537(1):20-28. 

Chakraborty M, Ghosh SK: Unraveling the sequence information in COI barcode to achieve higher taxon assignment based on Indian freshwater fishes. Mitochondrial DNA 2014, 0(0):1-3 

Dhar B, Chakraborty M, Devi NN, Malvika S, Chakraborty M, Trivedi S, Aloufi AA, Ghosh SK Molecular Identification of Reptiles from Tabuk Region of Saudi Arabia Through DNA Barcoding: A Case Study. In: DNA Barcoding and Molecular Phylogeny. Edited by Trivedi S., Rehman H., Saggu S., Panneerselvam C., Ghosh S. Springer International Publishing 2018, 397-411 

Chakraborty M, Ghosh SK, Khomdram B: Revealing the genetic diversity of Clarias batrachus using DNA barcode. Journal of Environment and Socio-biology 2013, 10(1):25-32. 

Chakraborty M, Chatterjee A, Krithika S, Vasulu TS: A Statistical Analysis of MicroRNA: Classification, Identification and Conservation Based on Structure and Function. In: Growth Curve and Structural Equation Modeling: Topics from the Indian Statistical Institute. Edited by Dasgupta R. Cham: Springer International Publishing 2015, 223-258 

Mahadani P, Devi KM, Das MM, Chakraborty M, Rahman F, Hansa J, Ghosh SK: Bioinformatics in DNA Barcoding. In: A text book on DNA Barcoding 2013, ISBN 81- 922989-4-8. 

Talukdar FR, Ghosh SK, Laskar RS, Mahadani P, Chakraborty M, Dhar B, Bhattacharjee MJ: Implication of nucleotide substitution at third codon position of the DNA barcode sequences. Journal of Environment and Socio-biology 2013, 10(1):55-63. 

Sengupta A, Vasulu TS, Varshney M, Mohapatra R, Chakraborty M: Statistical Analysis of Human miRNA. Proceedings of the Ninety ninth Session of the Indian Science Congress Section of Mathematical Sciences; Bhubaneshwar 2012. 

Ghosh SK, Bhattacharjee MJ, Ksh MD, Ahanthem M, Kundu S, Mahadani P, Dhar B, Khondram B, Chakraborty M, Rahman F, Mondal R, Hansa J, Laskar RS, Mazumdar TH, Sarkar P, Rajbonshi S, Chakraborty A, Das MM, Ghosh PR, Das KC and Laskar BA: DNA Barcoding: Digital Taxonomy of Bioresources. Strategic Physiological Research for Sustainable Animal Biodiversity 2011, 268-275.