Scientists with an edge at computational prowess and mathematical techniques are in great demand ever since information technology has taken a central position in modern society. Here we discuss a couple of themes where data analytics and stochastic modeling tools have shown impressive track record for young graduates in the physical sciences to dream for that 'incredible career path'. Sound logic, experimental precision and computational powers have been increasingly harnessed to build efficient systems and arrive at prudent decisions. Godel's incompleteness theorem asserts that no formal theory that contains arithmetic can be both complete and consistent at the same time. Hence we are forced to carry out scientific computation using advanced numerical schemes using as many data points as available for better precision.
[Refer: Computing over the reals: Where Turing Meets Newton-BY LENOR BLUM]
In another direction we also require computational tools for market analysis, trading and investment analysis. Taking a cue at stochastic environments involved in quantum physics, the academia and industry recognized the value of engineering financial decisions using powerful mathematics. To narrate the story in a nutshell, financial decision making invariably involves numerical calculations, spreadsheet models for simple what-if- analysis, cost of capital calculation and business valuations. Of late research trends in risk management require sophisticated stochastic analysis. For instance asset price dynamics, evolutionary trends in commodity prices, interest rate analysis and derivative products. We shall quote A.Brown (of the Morgan Stanley group) "In the olden days of risk management you could take decisions looking at the data while now we have tons of millions of positions and hundreds of thousands of market factors Each position can have so many attributes and each market factor has thousands of data points and the market factors themselves are becoming very abstract, we dont have prices in there any more we have implied volatalities and implied correlations"
[Ref: Convergence of Technology and Pure Studies-Bulletin of Science Popularization]
-- J V Ramana Raju
As a student, fresh out of her Masters and keen on pursuing research, I applied for the DST INSPIRE Fellowship program. I was on the lookout for interesting work related to the fields of biochemistry and biotechnology with a focus on human aspects. My search for an ideal programme brought me to Jain University in August 2011, which was still in the nascent stages of their Ph.D. programs. The exposure to different programs, institutes, professors and the advice from my seniors made me realise that the most important part of higher research is being able to find a suitable research guide. Since I was still waiting for my Ph.D. fellowship results, I decided that the M.Phil program would be beneficial to me. A meeting with all the research guides and mainly my interaction with my guide (Dr. Vani R) ensured that the M.Phil was the right step for me. I found that the faculty at Jain was extremely helpful and provided immense encouragement and support. The learning obtained from the course work paved the way for me to develop a sense of confidence and passion towards my research work. The completion of my M.Phil examinations and the inception of my laboratory work substantiated my aspiration to continue my research further. In April 2012, my fellowship results were declared and I was awarded the INSPIRE Fellowship to pursue my doctoral work. I immediately shared the information with my guide and the authorities at Jain University, who were exceptionally accommodating with my situation. It was agreed upon that I would be able to carry on as a Ph.D. research scholar once I complete the necessary formalities. I am grateful to Jain University for supporting my desire to pursue my doctoral work and ensuring that I receive my INSPIRE Fellowship.
It has been over five years now and my association with Jain remains strong. As I am reaching the end of my research journey, I find that there has been a lot of learning and wisdom that I have acquired along the way. There has been a definite rise in my confidence, my team skills, my writing skills and the understanding and application of various concepts. I have raised the levels of my expectations of myself and obtained a better awareness of my strengths and weaknesses. Jain University and my guide have allowed me to follow my passions and become a strong-willed researcher with the skills and competence to take me forward in all phases of my life. I am grateful and thankful to them for all their support and encouragement through my research journey.
For centuries now, scientists have been working on some of the biggest puzzles in the universe i.e. How the universe was formed? What was it made of earlier? What’s the physics behind all these phenomena? and so on. Various experiments of different magnitudes designed and conducted all around the globe had given a very little information regarding the birth of the Universe and several other questions associated with it.
Among several such projects which are in quest of finding the answers to these questions The Big-Bang experiment has stood out to be a very significant one. This multi-billion dollar project aimed at answering these questions and also finding several sub-atomic particles such as Bosons.
The LHC acronym for Large Hadron Collider is the brain-child of many scientists all around the globe. Though the earlier ideas of this monster accelerator and detector was to European Organization for Nuclear Research or CERN, but because of the technical and financial glitches several foreign universities, institutes and organisations were roped in.
The LHC is located in the Franco-Swiss border deep underneath the ground under certain restricted conditions. The main aim of this project is to observe the collisions of the particles sometimes even heavy atoms, under the conditions that were said to exist during the formation of early Universe. In astronomy, there are two predominant theories to explain the formation and growth of The Universe. The first is The Big-Bang Theory that proclaims that the Universe was formed from a primordial ball of very hot gasses and is growing, and second is the Steady State theory that claims that the Universe has remained steady from the day of its formation. The LHC attempts to verify The Big-Bang theory.
The particles are accelerated to very high velocities in the LHC, at times reaching 99.999999% the velocity of light, at different stages. This is achieved by pulsating electric and magnetic fields. Each stage induces some energy to the particles and accelerates them to higher velocities. After reaching higher velocities the energy supplied to the particles translates itself into mass, thus increasing the mass of the particles to some extent. The energy in the final stages of the collider reaches upto range of few tera electron volt. There are 4 main detectors in LHC namely ATLAS, ALICE, CMS and LHCb to record and collect the data of particle collisions. The collected data is stored in huge mainframe computers on site and also on several systems around the globe. Complex algorithms have been devised to store, retrieve and analyse the data.
LHC has been functional and doing scientific experiments since 2009. The first set of data was collected between 2009 and 2013. After upgrading the LHC has been conducting experiments since 2015. The first run played a very significant role. The data collected upon analysis gave results that were mostly theoretical and were thought to be impossible to be seen in reality. The path breaking finding was the discovery of Higgs Boson, but its findings also include creation of quark-gluon plasma, creation of new composite particle having a bottomonium state, tests on supersymmetry, discovery of two new heavier subatomic particles belonging to baryons and some exotic hadrons called the tetraquark and pentaquark particles.
4 th July, 2012 was a very special day for physicists. The CMS and the ATLAS of LHC reported to have discovered a new particle that has the same mass as that of the Higgs Boson, as predicted by the Standard Model of particles. Higgs Boson is expected to have originated from the Higgs field which is thought to exist throughout the space, playing a vital role in understanding of electroweak forces and explaining how elementary particles like quark got mass. It’s named after the physicists Prof. Peter Higgs who contributed significantly towards understanding of such a field and the particle associated with the field. This resulted in Prof. Higgs winning the 2013 Noble Prize for Physics along with Prof. Francois Englert.
Apart from conducting collision experiments with protons, anti-protons and smaller particles, LHC has been conducting experiments with much heavier particles like lead atoms. The scientists expect much more interesting outcomes with lead-proton collisions and are planning to conduct these experiments majorly during the second run. They expect that it would give an insight into understanding what would have happened, what new particles were created a fraction of a second after the Big Bang and help us understand the Universe much better.
I have spent about more than 12 years in the field of teaching Biotechnology and other related courses. While working as faculty for Biotechnology at Jain College (affiliated to Bangalore University and presently Jain University), the institution has provided a niche for both teacher and student to explore into research field, which is very unique.
This has resulted in rapid expansion of knowledge within a short period of time. The effect of pursuing research by guiding PG students (MSc / MPhil / PhD) has culminated in the form of research articles being published in some of the impact factor journals.
Written By,
Dr K V Ramesh.
I joined the Department of Biotechnology, Jain University, after gaining teaching and
academic experience from other institutes. I found the department of Biotechnology at Jain
University unique in certain respects. Biotechnology is a subject that is inter-disciplinary in
nature. Biotechnology encompasses the interface in sciences and technology. Students are
taught diverse subjects in life Sciences thus enabling them to innovate in the technology
stream too.
The department includes faculty who are specialized in diverse subjects
including cancer biology, health sciences and the plant and animal sciences. The department
provides a holistic view to succeed in the inter-disciplinary work culture that exists today
either in the private or public sector. The university hosts a full-fledged PhD program in
diverse research fields. Therefore, the department also provides a unique setting that does
not exist in many university departments. PG students of the Biotechnology departments
are free to interact with PhD students who perform full-time research and therefore they
bridge theoretical knowledge with scientific practice. Most other institutes that I have
knowledge of work in isolation, i.e., research and academic activities are separate. Hence, I
feel this is a good conducive environment for learning and practicing science.
Written By,
Dr. Jitesh Narayanan
