The Nikon Small World Competition 2012 is now open and invites participants to upload photographs online. Videos pertaining to the theme "Small World in Motion" are also invited for the Small World in Motion Competition 2012. The deadline for both competitions closes on 30th April 2012.

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.

"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!

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.

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.

A hard fought battle between competitors and judges has boiled down to these final, but difficult decisions. The first NCBS photo competition has come to an end with the announcement of the judges decision for best photo and runner-up. Ashesh's brilliant image of the hole in the roof of the cave had a clear edge over competition with unanimous votes from all our judges. The winner was clear, but the heat was on for the second spot.

As with the popular vote winners, the winners of the judges prize will receive cash awards reimbursable against the purchase of books, for Rs 1000 and Rs 250 respectively.Winners can contact the accounts section with the bills corresponding to their book purchase in order to receive their reimbursements.

For all the film buffs out there, NCBS now has its very own YouTube channel. We can now look forward to seeing more of what life in NCBS means, from sports and entertainment, to science and technology. Currently, the videos uploaded include excerpts from the science-art interface workshops in 2009, the work taking place in some labs at NCBS, public talks at NCBS and digital home productions.

Details about these videos are available under each video on the youtube site.

Perhaps inspired by the recent spate of sporting events organized by the wildlife contingent in NCBS, some of the badminton regulars felt the time was right for our approximately annual badminton tournament. An email was drafted and entries invited for the standard playing categories i.e. men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. A flurry of excitement followed with players gunning for the best doubles partners and aspiring champions religiously practicing everyday. A schedule was chalked out, not once or twice, but multiple times, as the entries trickled in and players oscillated between playing and not doing so, or having the odd person request a playing spot after having finally convinced someone to play as a partner. As a result, unless you’d seen the daily schedule update in time, you may be in for a surprise!