Projects and Publications
Here’s proof that Biology at Azim Premji University can get boundary-defying. It’s about biodiversity explorations, discoveries, and more.
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People, Plants and Places: A Summer of Ethnobotany
A simple exercise of documenting local vegetation during the summer holidays transformed how three budding biologists view their hometowns, writes Nandita Jayaraj.
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The Biology of Sports and Fitness: Vamshi’s Journey
One of the first biology students at the university, Vamshi Gunda (BSc in Biology, 2016 – 19) found love in an unexpected place — sports! And he hasn’t looked back since.
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Branching Out: The Key to Healthy Cities
A new study by Jayanti Ray Mukherjee, Satyajit Oraon and Prachi Gupta reminds us that it’s not just about how many trees a city has that matters, but also what these trees are, writes Nandita Jayaraj.
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Back to High School: An Outreach Effort by Scientists
Entertaining close to 350 high school students with science sounds like a tall task, but a group of faculty members from Azim Premji University rose to the challenge, writes Nandita Jayaraj.
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India’s insects: Disappearing in plain sight?
Haunted by the possibility of an insect decline, ecologists of Azim Premji University are doing their best to overturn India’s severe data deficiency problem.
Research project collaborations
Aranya Broome and Neeharika Verma (BSc in Biology, 2017 – 20) illustrated images in iThink Biology e‑book, a collaborative project between students and faculty. In the video, they converse about the role of art in a biology textbook:
Publications
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Article
Testing the Novel Weapons Hypothesis of the Argentine ant venom on amphibians
The globally invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) possesses a venom lethal to some amphibian species in the invaded range. To test the novel weapons hypothesis (NWH), the effects of the toxin on the cohabiting amphibian species in the ant’s native range need to be investigated.…
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An arachnid’s guide to being an ant: Morphological and behavioural mimicry in ant-mimicking spiders
Batesian mimicry imposes several challenges to mimics and evokes adaptations in multiple sensory modalities. Myrmecomorphy, morphological and behavioral resemblance to ants, is seen in over 2000 arthropod species. Ant-like resemblance is observed in at least 13 spider families despite spiders having a distinct body plan…
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Story
Of dancing spiders, inquisitive scientists and arecanut dancefloors
Divya Uma and Dinesh Rao have been researching spider behaviour for over a decade. When Kiran Marathe told them about his dancing arachnids, they jumped at the chance to investigate.
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Story
No Place Like the Greenhouse
Plant biotechnologist Beena D B opens up about her plans for the campus greenhouse at Bengaluru, while reminiscing about the greenhouses in her past.
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Beyond Planting Trees: The Right Way to Restore
More and more young people are getting interested in restoration projects, but not all of them understand how ecosystems work. A recent workshop organised by the university addressed this gap.
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The Worm That Cannot Be Named: Pond Today, Gone Tomorrow (Part-II)
After discovering a strange organism in their backyard, a group of young biologists grapple with a pandemic and climate change to keep their investigations going.
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The Worm That Cannot Be Named: A New Species in Sompura? (Part I)
Unidentified creature in local pond sparks biodiversity exploration and climate change awareness among biology students
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Quantitative Ecologists: Why Ecologists Need Numbers
They could sit under a tree and admire it all day, but to make a difference ecologists Achyut Banerjee and Priya Tamma have to put their quantitative boots on, writes Nandita Jayaraj.
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Peacocks Don’t Fade: The Science of Structural Colours
Explore how Akshara’s boundary-defying physics project led to the inclusion of a new lab component in a biology course.
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Not a Lost ‘Caws’: Listening to the Corvids of Sarjapura
Studying crows may not change the world, but it certainly changed Aum Sarang Prabhune and Krishnapriya Tamma.
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Story
From flatworms to diagnostics: Praveen Talari’s story
Nandita Jayaraj explores how an undergraduate research project shaped Praveen Talari's (BSc in Biology, 2017–19) journey in science.
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How AlphaFold helps solve one of the foremost challenges in biology today
An experimental biologist and a computational biologist, Ananya Mukherjee and Shweta Ramdas, get together to discuss the new Artificial Intelligence system that can predict the structure of proteins, and its potential relevance to their own work.
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Waking up to Narcolepsy
Antara Das delves into the mechanism behind a sleep disorder, a scientific discovery that just won the Breakthrough Prize, one of the biggest science prizes in the world.
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Biology Research: The curious case of the ant-mimicking spider
Nandita Jayaraj explores how one crafty arachnid and two inquisitive ecologists, Divya Uma and Krishnapriya Tamma, inspired Nimish Anil, an undergraduate student of biology, to pursue a life in research.
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Story
Bugs in the system | Photo exhibition
From insect disgust to becoming bug finders, how a course for non-biology major students led to insect diversity awareness on the campus
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A new species of scorpions from southern India
Students and faculty of the Biology programme discover a species of scorpion in Chikkadunnasandra, Bengaluru