Ashoka International Summer Research Programme (AISRP)

Optimising workflow for tissue specific knockdown of cytoskeletal genes in C. elegans

Faculty: Anup Padmanabhan, Assistant Professor of Biology, Co-ordinator (Ph.D. program in Biology) Ashoka University

Co-supervisor name: NONE

Department/Research Centre: Biology

Project Description: C. elegans is a widely used model organism to study various questions in cell biology. This project requires participant to (1) generate C.elegans strains that is capable of tissue specific RNAi mediated knockdown of target genes , (2) cloning of RNAi plasmid containing specific fragments of genes to be knocked down, (3) validation of the tissue specific knockdown of some of these genes

The participant will be trained to handle C. elegans, C. elegans genetics, PCR, cloning and basic microscopy for estimating knockdown efficiency. A prior experience in any of the techniques above will make it easier and faster to accomplish the goals.

Duration (in weeks): 10 weeks (15 June – 24 August)

Start date: 6/15/2024.

End date: 8/24/2024

Level of Interns: Senior Undergraduates or Master’s Students

Max Number of interns accepted on this project: 1

Project type: Lab project

Technical skill/knowledge requisites: Basic Cell Biology, experience in molecular biology is added advantage.

Role of mitochondria in cell proliferation and differentiaton

Faculty: Kasturi Mitra, Associate Professor of Biology, Ashoka University

Co-supervisor name: NONE

Department/Research Centre: Biology

Project Description: Other than playing a central role in energetics, mitochondria are also crucial for cellular redox balance, calcium homeostasis, lipid modification and regulation of cell death in various developmental contexts. Mitochondrial structure has been found to be dynamic particularly in various proliferating cells. They exist in different inter-convertible forms resulting from fission-fusion events between individual mitochondria, significance of which is far from clear. Currently, we are focused on understanding the significance of mitochondrial dynamism in cell proliferation and differentiation. A set of proteins that govern either fusion or fission of mitochondrial inner and outer membranes have been characterized and it is their activities that decide the steady state mitochondrial morphology in a cell; when fission dominates mitochondria remain as small fragmented elements and when fusion dominates mitochondria coalesced into larger hyperfused forms. In mitotic cells the key cell cycle regulators modulate mitochondrial morphology during progression through a mitotic cycle, which in turn modulates cell cycle. We use various kinds of biochemical, cell biological, microscopy and genetic tools to understand if the mitochondrial fission-fusion proteins can regulate cell proliferation, deregulation of which could initiate or maintain tumorigenic processes. We use our favorite model systems, mammalian cell lines and Drosophila, in a complementary fashion.

Duration (in weeks): 10 weeks (15 June – 24 August)

Start date: 6/15/2024

End date: 8/24/2024

Level of Interns: Senior Undergraduates or Master’s Students

Max Number of interns accepted on this project: 2

Project type: Lab project

Technical skill/knowledge requisites: Knowledge of core biological processes. We are interested in students who would be interested in getting trained to perform bench or experiments or data analyses by themselves during the summer. We do not encourage mere shadowing.

Consortium for Climate, Health and AIr pollution Research in India (CHAIR-India)

Faculty: Dr Poornima Prabhakaran, Director, Centre for Health Analytics Research and Trends (CHART), Trivedi School of Biosciences

Co-supervisor name: NONE

Department/Research Centre: Centre for Health Analytics Research and Trends

Project Description: The overarching aim of this project is to realize sustainable goals on a global level linking air pollution and climate change with health. We aim to generate actionable evidence highlighting synergies and conflicts between global sustainable development goals of climate action, reducing air pollution and promoting better health, while interacting with key stakeholders. We will leverage cutting-edge methodologies, already developed for Delhi, using multiple sources for 1×1 km predictions of fine particulate matter pollution and temperature across India. Linking this data to health datasets, we will study associations of long-term air pollution and temperature with mortality and cardiometabolic and respiratory disease in rural and urban India. To foster public awareness, collaboration and policy change, we will also provide an interactive web-tool, open access to environmental data, and an ambitious stakeholder communications and engagement strategy.

Our specific aims are (in parenthesis are the SDGs they address):

1. To develop a nation-wide exposure model for daily ambient PM2.5 and ambient temperature from 2008-2020 at a spatial resolution of 1kmx1km and locally at 200m x 200m in India. (SDG 11.6, 13)
2. Link our national estimates of PM2.5 and temperature to health data to quantify the associations between PM2.5 and ambient temperature, independently and jointly on the following major public health endpoints: Total mortality (SDG 3), Cardiometabolic outcomes (SDG 3.4), Lung function (SDG 3.4).
3. Create a public website with environmental data on a 1 x 1 km grid that can be used by planners, policy-makers, and the general public to increase awareness and aid decision-making (SDGs 17.9, 3.D, 13.2, 13.3, 13.B).
4. Specifically engage with key stakeholders using a dedicated communications strategy that will increase the efficiency of the project, disseminate results well beyond the scientific community and facilitate translation of the project deliverables into policy action.

Duration (in weeks): 8 weeks (between May – August)

Start date: 5/15/2024

End date: 7/15/2024

Level of Interns: Master’s Students

Max Number of interns accepted on this project: 2

Project type: ONLINE

Technical skill/knowledge requisites: Handling complex datasets, coding proficiency in statistical software (R etc)

Biomimetic Electrocatalysts for Generation of hydrogen

Faculty: Munmun Ghosh, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Ashoka University

Department/Research Centre: Chemistry

Project Description: Our laboratory is focused on fundamental research on finding sources for sustainable energy. Nature produces H2 from water by a specific enzyme called ‘Hydrogenase’. These enzymes are ‘Metalloenzymes’ comprised of metal cofactor iron or nickel coupled with several amino acids. There are several trials to mimic the nature, either structurally or functionally. But we are still far to achieve the result what nature does. Our research involved mimicking these enzymes and finding out the mechanism. We synthesize series of metal complexes to convert proton to hydrogen, a reliable biofuel or CO2 to a value-added product like methane (CH4), methanol (CH3OH) etc electrochemically.

Duration (in weeks): 10 weeks (15 June – 24 August)

Start date: 6/1/2024

End date: 8/31/2024

Level of Interns: Senior Undergraduates or Master’s Students

Max Number of interns accepted on this project: 1

Project type: Lab project

Technical skill/knowledge requisites: Chemistry knowledge about redox, catalysis

Impact of free-ranging dogs on a carnivore community in the Indian Himalaya

Faculty: Manvi Sharma, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies,

Co-supervisor name: Pooja Chand

Department/Research Centre: Environmental Studies

Project Description: Land-use change is modifying wildlife habitats at unprecedented rates and studies predict that most of the wildlife is likely to be redistributed globally in this century. Changing land-use patterns has consequences for the behaviour, ecology, and abundance of wildlife populations, especially for large mammalian carnivores. A major anthropogenic stressor affecting carnivore populations is the threats posed by populations of free-ranging dogs in rapidly urbanising mountains. Current research suggests that free-ranging dogs not only compete indirectly with native carnivores over prey, but have direct effects, such as killing and attacking mesocarnivores, such as red fox. We lack in our understanding of overall community-wide impact of dogs on carnivore communities. This study aims to investigate the impact of free-ranging dog populations on the carnivore community in Himalaya. The study involves using camera-traps and playback speakers to quantify the nature of behavioural responses of carnivores to dog barks. The study will be conducted at our field site in Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Himachal Pradesh. The GHNP region is home to a complex carnivore community including snow leopards, common leopard, brown bear, black bear, yellow-throated marten, red fox, civet, leopard card, and jungle. The student will deploy camera-traps paired with playback speakers which will play dog calls. The videos will be transcribed to quantify carnivore response of the species mentioned above. This study will help us in understanding how dogs might have a diverse range of consequences on the carnivore community in Himalaya. Through this study the student will gain experience in conducting camera-trapping surveys to study wild carnivore populations, such as snow leopards. The student will experience how a research question is framed and an ecological field study is designed to address the question. The student will learn how camera-trap data are analysed for making inferences using statistical models.

Duration (in weeks): 10 weeks (15 June – 24 August)

Start date: 6/15/2024

End date: 8/24/2024

Level of Interns: Senior Undergraduates or Master’s Students

Max Number of interns accepted on this project: 2

Project type: Field project

Technical skill/knowledge requisites: Motivation to travel to a remote mountain valley

Measure the magnetic hysteresis loop of a magnetic hetero structure using MOKE magnetometry

Faculty: Susmita Saha, Assistant Professor of Physics

Co-supervisor name: NONE

Department/Research Centre: Physics

Project Description: Studying the magnetization reversal of the magnetic hetero structures provides insights into their magnetic behavior, allowing for the optimization and tailoring of their magnetic properties. This knowledge aids in the design of improved high performance high-performance spintronic devices . The student need to use the magneto optical Kerr microscope set up present in the Complex magnetic characterization lab at Ashoka University to measure the hysteresis loop of a ferromagnetic hetero structure. The student also need to simulate the observations with the help of micromagentic simulator to explain the results.

Duration (in weeks): 8 weeks (between May – August)

Start date: 6/15/2024

End date: 8/10/2024

Level of Interns: Senior Undergraduates or Master’s Students

Max Number of interns accepted on this project: 1

Project type: Lab project

Technical skill/knowledge requisites: basic knowledge of Condensed matter Physics, and programming

From suspicion to revenge: A multidimensional framework of Fear speech and its relationships with sharing intentions and truth perceptions

Faculty: Sramana Majumdar, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Ashoka University

Co-supervisor name: NONE

Department/Research Centre: Psychology

Project Description: Based on the idea that it is often fear, implicit suspicion, and doubt that are used to appraise communal prejudices rather than explicit hate or hateful call to action – this study aimed to create and validate a multidimensional framework for fear speech. We experimentally tested various intensities of fear speech messaging, how they are perceived, believed and likely shared.  Through this, the study aims to move beyond the current framework of hate speech, provide a greater understanding of fear as a motivator of online disinformation and highlight implicit forms of dangerous speech that are left out of content moderation efforts and hate speech discourses. In the next phase we hope to combine psychological theory with computational modelling tools to map our framework on larger online datasets and visualize, identify and detect multiple dimensions of fear speech. 

Duration (in weeks): 8 weeks

Start date: 6/1/2024

End date: 8/31/2024

Level of Interns: Senior Undergraduates or Master’s Students

Max Number of interns accepted on this project: 2

Project type: Lab project(The project will be a combination of lab and online work)

Technical skill/knowledge requisites: Data analytics, computational modelling, advanced experimental and quant data analysis

Understanding Domestic Violence with complex trauma theory

Faculty: Simantani Ghosh, Assistant Professor, Ashoka University

Co-supervisor name: Maitrayee Sen

Department/Research Centre: Psychology

Project Description: Violence against women, particularly in the form of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), remains a grave concern worldwide. IPV not only inflicts physical harm but also leaves enduring psychological repercussions. The World Health Organization reported that, as of 2018, approximately one in three women globally experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate or non-intimate partner.

In India, Intimate Partner Violence takes on a broader dimension and has to be defined in terms of domestic violence (DV). DV in the South Asian context is deeply entrenched in cultural norms that subordinate women to men, reflecting prevalence rates similar to global figures. However, the nature of abuse extends beyond the conventional understanding of IPV, as Indian women often cohabit with not just their spouses but also marital relatives who can be perpetrators. Emergent data suggests that domestic violence among married women reportedly doubled between 2014-15 and 2019, despite NFHS surveys more or less replicating the WHO statistics (1 in 3 women, approximately) with respect to DV exposure.

Episodic framing of issues pertaining to domestic violence, as is common in the literature, fails to capture the nuanced psychological consequences of sustained, and repetitive domestic violence. Researchers argue for a continuous trauma framework to better map the pervasive and chronic nature of domestic violence in India. The complex trauma theory, initially developed for childhood sexual abuse survivors, emerges as a relevant lens for understanding the multilayered trauma experienced by Indian women.

Complex trauma theory posits that prolonged, inescapable trauma results in psychological disturbances beyond those defined by the clinical construct of PTSD. For Indian women, the pervasive environment of control, oppression, and abuse throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood aligns with the criteria of complex trauma. Our preliminary data (unpublished) also suggests that ever partnered Indian women trapped in abusive relationships often display psychological disturbances that are well aligned with the disorders of self organization (DSO) cluster of symptoms that complex trauma theory accommodates, that include interpersonal disturbances, negative self concept and extensive somatic symptoms.

In this study we ask the overarching question whether Complex Trauma theory can be utilized to investigate consequences of domestic violence in ever partnered adult Indian women.

Duration (in weeks): 10 weeks

Start date: 6/15/2024

End date: 8/24/2024

Level of Interns: Senior Undergraduates or Master’s Students

Max Number of interns accepted on this project: 3

Project type: Combination of field & lab project

Technical skill/knowledge requisites: Statistics (Regression, Mediation.Moderation), Psychometrics, Psychological Trauma.

The project will require knowledge of quantitative statistics, especially regression, mediation and moderation, and psychometric assessment. Participants will learn about unique cross-cultural moderations and nuances of conduction participatory action research in the global south

Quantitative and economic social choice behaviour in zebrafish

Faculty: Bittu K R, Associate Professor of Biology and Psychology,

Co-supervisor name: NONE

Department/Research Centre: Biology and Psychology

Project Description: The overall goal of these projects is to examine the ways in which quantitative cognition functions in the zebrafish system. One set of projects looks at economic rationality in zebrafish social decision making relative to decoy effects, internal hunger states and social boldness. A second project works on movement perception and quantitative cognition by zebrafish larvae in the context of social decision making as well as foraging and predator evasion. A third project looks at stress and social choices, to explore the ways in which stress impacts various traits we are interested in zebrafish: learning, social decision making, and foraging behaviour. We use stressful dominance/submissive dyadic interactions, social isolation, neuroinflammation and chronic unpredictable early life stress protocols to look into the mechanisms behind stress-induced analgesia and resilience in zebrafish larvae as well. A fourth project quantifies optimism bias in an animal model and set up an assay for how various factors influence that bias. A fifth project quantifies the ecological dis/advantages and metabolic markers of depressive behaviour to quantify the ecological costs and benefits of different behavioural strategies in zebrafish.

Duration (in weeks): 8 weeks (between May – August)

Start date: 5/20/2024

End date: 8/12/2024

Level of Interns: Senior Undergraduates or Master’s Students

Max Number of interns accepted on this project: 3

Project type: Combination of field & lab project

Technical skill/knowledge requisites: Just enthusiasm is required – any additional skills or knowledge is a bonus but not a prerequisite.

Impact of habitat degradation on small mammal microbiome

Faculty: Balaji Chattopadhyay,  Assistant Professor, Trivedi School of Biosciences

Co-supervisor name: NONE

Department/Research Centre: Trivedi School of Biosciences

Project Description: One of the unintended consequences of human mediated habitat destruction is the potential threat to humans and livestock from emerging zoonotic diseases. With the frequency of zoonotic diseases increasing significantly in the past two decades, understanding the potential causes of spillovers and anticipating hotspots for future outbreaks can collectively help in disease prevention thereby saving thousands of lives as well as financial resources. Among mammals, bats and rodents arguably harbor most diverse array of viruses with the potential for transmission into humans and other wildlife. They form a unique study system to investigate mechanisms of infection avoidance and to identify factors that facilitates spill-over of pathogens.

To accurately predict future zoonotic outbreaks, one needs to first understand the causes and mechanisms of spillover, particularly the association between climate change (including habitat alterations), biodiversity and pathogen movement. While our knowledge in this regard is improving, identifying the exact variables and their interactions has proven difficult. Both climate change and habitat degradation have been implicated to interact with species biology in aiding spillover through intermediate hosts such as livestock. The main research aim is to understand the impact of habitat degradation and climate change on small mammal microbiome community and transmission of pathogens between hosts.

Duration (in weeks): 10 weeks (15 June – 24 August)

Start date: 6/15/2024

End date: 6/15/2024

Level of Interns: Senior Undergraduates or Master’s Students

Max Number of interns accepted on this project: 2

Project type: Combination of field & lab project

Technical skill/knowledge requisites: Knowledge of R and command line is helpful