Vinod Tiwari is an Associate Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Technology of the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi. In the eleventh article of our JOYI series, he shares the hurdles he encountered while setting up a pharmacology lab in India as a young investigator.

Bhuvan Pathak is an Assistant Professor at Biological and Life Sciences department of the Ahmedabad University, Gujarat. In the tenth article of our JOYI series, she shares her journey as a plant biologist returning back to her roots in India for contributing to biotechnology-based research in crop improvement.

Avishek Banik is an Assistant Professor at Institute of Health Sciences of the Presidency University, Kolkata. In the ninth article of our JOYI series, he shares his journey from fascination with the microscopic world to establishing a successful microbial interaction lab as a young investigator in India.

Nisha Singh is an Assistant Professor at Department of Bioinformatics of the Gujarat Biotechnology University, Gandhinagar. In the eighth article of our JOYI series, she shares her inspiring journey of transitioning from wet lab to bioinformatics as a young investigator in India.

Pavan Agarwal is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Molecular Neurosciences of Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE). In this invited article, he recounts his rollercoaster journey of setting up an independent research group during a pandemic as a newly returned young investigator in India.