Setting up a new department: Celebrating challenges and success

Arun Upadhyay set up not only his own lab but also played a key role in establishing the Department of Bioscience and Biomedical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhilai. For the Journey of Young Investigator (JOYI) 2025 article, he writes about the three major aspects of the job profile of an early-stage academician.

When I joined the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhilai almost a year ago, the Department of Bioscience and Biomedical Engineering was in its budding stage. Joining as the first faculty recruited to the new department made me both excited and nervous. Although I was waiting and preparing for quite some time to start my independent scientific career, landing in a department that had just come into existence was not in my plan. But life brings surprises, and I took this surprise as an opportunity. Soon I started realising that my progress had synced with the journey of the department, and we both would grow together. 

Being a scientist is an endless journey. I just keep travelling and enjoying myself.

The researcher

Establishing the first lab in the department is both exciting and challenging; your experience and patience will sail you through.

When I accepted the offer from IIT Bhilai, I knew the next few months — maybe even a year — would be challenging, and I might not be able to do much active research. That proved to be true. I got my lab space with some funds to kickstart my research. Admittedly, the funds were not enough to start and run a new biology lab, especially because my research relies heavily on animal cell culture, molecular biology, biochemistry, and mass spectrometry. The consumables alone require not just one or two but multiple extramural grants.

When you join an old IIT or well-established university, you get several institutional instrumentation facilities that may help you start your work. But in my case, that too was missing. I just got a room.

The next challenge was securing my own research funding. I submitted multiple grant proposals in the past year, but the processing time of most agencies is too long and I am still waiting to hear back. Fortunately, I had my existing research grant from BrightFocus Foundation, USA and I was lucky that the funding agency and my postdoctoral mentor helped me to transfer funds to IIT Bhilai.

Meanwhile, when I had nothing much to do, I tried new things. It has always worked for me. I received an IndiaBioscience Outreach Grant to address postpartum depression, a highly prevalent problem — using artwork and infographics. Simultaneously, I started looking for more resources for my research work. I established several national and international collaborations and submitted multiple grant applications in collaboration with others. When things are slow, you can always look for collaborators who can share their resources and support you to get back to business again.

The teacher

Unless you are in a research institute, be prepared for teaching responsibilities.

Teaching is an essential component in an academic institute, especially in IITs, IISERs, and universities. As expected, soon after I joined the department, I started teaching BTech and MTech courses. It was not easy — coming from ten years of research as a doctoral and postdoctoral fellow, where you gain little to no teaching experience. Additionally, the curriculum you teach might be new as well. I started with two courses immediately after joining, and now I am teaching three courses to BTech, MTech, and PhD students. Trust me, in the initial years, teaching takes up a significant portion of your time. I had to design new courses too. 

A few months ago, I submitted a proposal to start a new MTech programme in Biomedical Devices, and we recently received funding from the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Govt. of India. Next, I am working on introducing a BTech programme in the department. Remember, these are part of your job profile, and you must be prepared to take on such responsibilities.

The administrator

The first two roles — researcher and teacher — were familiar to me and part of my academic training. But there are other responsibilities that don’t fit well into either category. I can call these responsibilities part of academic administration. These include purchasing, administration, recruitment, and planning and executing events. I never received any formal training for a lot of things that I do apart from research and teaching. Also, they are the most time-consuming part of your job. You need to spend hours understanding the rules before executing anything new. 

I was trained as a core researcher, but now my job profile has multiple verticals: research and teaching are only two of those.

Your effort matters the most

I began my scientific research journey at the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur as a PhD student and am now leveraging my experiences to help establish a new department. Your efforts may not yield immediate results or get acknowledged today, but consistent dedication ultimately leads to success.​I feel blessed to have received this opportunity. In this process, I have cultivated an environment that fosters a collaborative niche for future colleagues and students to thrive together. 

For those who are planning to become independent investigators, I would summarise my experience in a few words:

I continue to strive forward without dwelling on my failures, and that is how the journey of a researcher goes. This journey has taught me many things. After years of training and now working as a PI, I can confidently say that perseverance, dedication, consistency, and integrity are the four pillars that keep science alive.