Talks during the 2-day program, "Genes to Olfaction: 60 years in Science" beginning on 2nd January 2012 will be videostreamed in real time on the NCBS website. These videos can be viewed by both internal (NCBS) and external users. The detailed schedule of the program - speakers, topics and times - is available here.

Striking that perfect balance between work and managing a family is never easy. And being a scientist does not make things any easier. Feeding a fussy infant with experiments tugging at your brain, dropping your children to school as a grant deadline looms in the afternoon: juggling all these requires tremendous skill and exceptional time management. That's when child care facilities are a godsend.

Child care centres play a big role in helping parents handle their careers. Knowing that this can boost an economy, many countries like Australia and Norway offer subsidized child care facilities to their citizens. In India, a day care facility is mandatory in government institutes. NCBS too has its own child care facility - but it's something that people here know very little about. I decided to find out more about it: how it works, what it involves and the people who make it happen.

Yesterday two new videos were uploaded and if you watch them you will see we are more than happy to host light-hearted, and technically unsophisticated, productions. It's YouTube after all!

"Wow, that's art." That's something you're bound to have thought sometime, looking down a microscope.You might be right - be it the multi-faceted eyes of a Drosophila staring back at you through the lens or that amazing sight of nerve cells firing in a rat's brain that got you hooked on neuroscience for life. Whatever it was that took your breath away, it's time to share all those stunning digital microscopy images or videos that you may have stashed away - and win amazing prizes.

Akira Kurosawa, Karan Johar, Jacques Cousteau - they all had to start somewhere. It's time NCBSians unleashed hidden talents and made your directorial debuts too! Ever wanted to showcase your skills as a budding film maker? The time is right, and here's a great opportunity - we're happy to announce the very first NCBS video competition this July: a basic, mobile/camera-recorded video contest. And the best part is – the theme is entirely your pick!

When we walk around in NCBS, how often do we notice the other inhabitants of the campus? Mostly, we are too busy to notice anything else apart from the mosquitos in the upstairs canteen and the toads in the pond, who make sure we do not miss them. But on a relaxed day, if we take the trouble to look around, we do come across our campus-mates: an occasional rock lizard basking in the late morning sun, and the playful squirrels hopping from one tree to another. But NCBS has so much more to offer...

The last NCBS photo competition was such a great success, both in terms of participation and quality, that we have decided to go for broke with a competition every month! Upi has been thinking deeply about this and has come up with some inspired ways to highlight the superior lenscraft of our campus folk -- and to reward the winners in a way we know they will appreciate. Photos that win an award will be printed up on a grand scale, and gloriously framed, all at NCBS's expense, and then granted positions of honour in the NCBS Reception area. After a month, when it comes time for the next batch of winners to take their turn in the limelight, the departing masterpieces will be gifted to their creators.

What do NCBS students do first thing in the morning? They check their email, of course.

Almost everyone at NCBS has an email id ending with "@ncbs.res.in". And all of us check it religiously. Fire drills, renovation, due dates for assignments, and of course sweets - there is a mailing list for everything! When everyone is well informed, there is a sense of belonging.

NCBS is well known for its science. We address questions at the leading edge of biology. Given the quality of scientific research here, a person who has never been to NCBS might imagine it as as place with minimal focus on non-scientific interactions and activities. But the reality is just the contrary. We have a socio-cultural environment that is harmonious and vibrant.