{"id":2718,"date":"2020-11-01T01:01:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-01T01:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/library.iiap.res.in\/collaborate\/?p=2718"},"modified":"2025-12-05T05:13:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T05:13:53","slug":"my-life-at-iia-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/library.iiap.res.in\/collaborate\/?p=2718","title":{"rendered":"My life at IIA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Vaibhav Pant<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have always had a fascination towards science since my childhood. I used to study books and articles related to scientific theories and discoveries as a child. After finishing secondary school, I took up Mathematics and Biology since I did not want to miss out on any stream of science. I joined St. Stephen\u2019s College of the University of Delhi for graduation in science, and was awarded the Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) fellowship from the Department of Science and Technology, India. During this time, I had an opportunity to do a project in Solar Physics at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. That\u2019s when I realised I had a desire to pursue Astrophysics, specifically Solar Physics, for higher studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While searching for the institutes across India which offered higher education in Astrophysics, I came across the PhD program at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore. I decided to apply for IIA for a direct PhD after my post-graduation studies. During my post-graduation days at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, I got a chance to work on a scientific project at the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital. This indeed made me realise that research is the career I would want to pursue further. I applied for IIA\u2019s direct PhD programme, and I was selected for the same. I distinctly remember that during my PhD interview, the panel asked me if I would like to work on general Astrophysics problems or on a new Indian Solar mission named ADITYA. Without losing a second, I had replied that I would choose to continue working in Solar Physics. I guess this predisposition was because of my experience working on various Solar Physics projects in different research institutes as a part of the Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) fellowship.<\/p>\n\n\n

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I joined IIA in the summer of 2012. I had the experience of staying in a hostel during my master\u2019s days; however, IIA\u2019s hostel Bhaskara was a bit different. I consider myself a selective talker, due to which I used to interact with very few people at IIA during the initial days. During my first year at IIA, we were taught advanced courses in Astrophysics, which was jointly done with the Joint Astronomy Programme (JAP) students from IISc. This was one of the most exciting but tiring days of my PhD. I believe that the course work is the last opportunity where a PhD student is taught something new. Once the research career starts, we learn new things instead of being taught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I really enjoyed the course work. In my opinion, the IIA-JAP course work is one of the best in Astrophysics. Starting from the microscopic behaviour of fluids to macroscopic equations governing the dynamics of stars and the universe, I enjoyed every bit of it. Along with the course work, there used to be regular presentations that students give to the class. This boosts confidence and inculcates the habit of presenting one\u2019s work in front of a general audience. Moreover, this helped me to find the shortcomings in my understanding of a topic, as I feel that we understand something best when we explain it to others. We also had projects along with PhD course work, which gave a glimpse of the real research awaiting us in the future. Being a research institute, IIA has always encouraged students to attend different talks on Astronomy and Astrophysics as a part of IIA colloquiums, seminars, workshops, etc. This helped us to stay updated on the current research in different fields of Astrophysics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I was determined to do research in Solar Physics, I joined Prof. Dipankar Banerjee\u2019s group for my PhD. He had a large group, and I feel that I greatly benefited from regular interactions and discussions with group members as well as my supervisor. Interactions and discussions with researchers, especially in your own field, are quite important in research. The suggestions and criticisms of group members are essential in improving the quality of research. The Solar Physics group and research facilities in IIA have helped me to shape my early research very well. I recall days when I would simply gatecrash the office room of my supervisor and discuss research, life, philosophy and much more. My supervisor always encouraged my interest in everything. Time flew, and soon my seniors went for postdoctoral positions, and in no time, I realised that I had become one of the senior-most members of the group. During my final years, I guided a few internship students for their projects, along with my PhD supervisor. This helped me develop an independent thinking capability, which is crucial for a researcher. My supervisor had many national and international collaborations. I benefited from this, and later, it helped me expand my horizon and collaborate in India and abroad. At IIA, I was always encouraged to attend national and international meetings to disseminate my work. I feel this is something vital during one\u2019s PhD so that they can publicise their work in the community, know about what others are working on, and it helps one to expand their collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though research itself takes a lot of time during PhD, we still get a fair amount of time to pursue our hobbies. In my free time at Bhaskara, I touched upon those subjects which I always wanted to learn. During my fourth year of PhD, I started reading about neuroscience and realised that the image processing techniques we use in Solar Physics and computer vision are similar to the image processing methods that a human brain employs for image identification. These things still fascinate me, and I am glad I continue to read about neuroscience. Apart from spending time for research at IIA, I spend most of my time at Bhaskara watching IPL and cricket. I, with my roommate, explored many restaurants in and around Koramangala, Bangalore. We used to go once a week outside for dinner. I am not crazy about travelling, so I explored only a few places outside Bangalore. I visited Belgium several times during my PhD, and I won\u2019t be lying if I say that Belgium has always treated me well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, the time came when I had to submit my PhD thesis. PhD thesis writing is a tedious task which takes a lot of time and sometimes is monotonous. I remember completing several TV series while writing my thesis. After submitting my thesis, I thought all went well, but it was not over yet. The main ordeal starts after thesis submission. I applied for a few postdoctoral positions and I was offered one at KU Leuven, Belgium. I wanted to get the thesis defence done as soon as possible, before leaving India. Since IIA\u2019s PhD students are awarded their PhD degrees from Pondicherry University (PU), we have to go to Pondicherry for all the administrative work related to the thesis submission and defence. However, the administration of PU was understanding and I got my thesis defence done in six months, after which I left IIA with many mixed memories. I will always cherish my time spent at IIA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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About the author<\/strong>
Vaibhav<\/strong> is a postdoctoral fellow at Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Tenerife, Spain. He is investigating the role of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in heating the solar corona using numerical simulations and observations.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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