The Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc) is a national institute for fundamental research in the mathematical and physical sciences. This program of four talks aimed at the general public is part of the Triveni Outreach Series of IMSc.
No specialized knowledge of science is required to appreciate the talks. The program is free and open to all but registration is required.
Uma Ramakrishnan National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru
How understanding tiger genomes can help save a species
Like many other charismatic species, tigers are headed towards extinction.
Can scientists help save them? Studying the DNA of tigers can help us estimate
their populations and track their movements across forests. Such studies, helped
by recent technological advances like genome sequencing, shed light on the history
of tigers as a species. They reveal that the Indian tiger holds the key to
the survival of the species.
Uma Ramakrishnan is an associate professor at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, a part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). She obtained her PhD from the University of California, San Diego. Her research focuses on the use of genetic data, such as from feces and skin, to understand biodiversity and assist in its conservation. Along with her students, she has done fieldwork in Northeast India, the Himalayas, the Western Ghats, and the Central Indian Highlands. She is a recipient of the Ramanujan Fellowship of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), of the Outstanding Scientist award of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), the Wellcome Trust Indian Alliance Senior Fellowship and, recently, the Parker Gentry Conservation Award.
Amritanshu Prasad The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
Securing information in the internet era
Cryptography, the science of transmitting coded messages, was once solely associated with spies and the transmission of military information during wartime. Today we routinely transmit sensitive information like banking passwords over the internet as coded messages. How is this information secured? How have the algorithms that we use to code and decode such information changed over the years? Will advances in mathematics and computer science make it easier to break these codes? Can they help us design stronger codes?
Amritanshu Prasad is a professor of mathematics at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai. He graduated with a B. Stat. degree from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, completing his PhD at the University of Chicago. His recent research is in group theory (the study of symmetry) and combinatorics (the theory of counting). Although a pure mathematician, he uses computers extensively in his research work. He was awarded the Swarnajayanti fellowship of the Department of Science & Technology in 2015. He enjoys popularizing mathematics, sometimes using origami and matchstick models.
Yashwant Gupta National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune
Reaching out to the stars
Astronomy is among the oldest of sciences, star gazing being as old as man himself. How large is our universe? How is it evolving over time? We will take a tour through the vast expanses of the Universe, starting with the tools we use to study the cosmos and moving on to some of the secrets that our explorations have revealed. We will see how the different branches of astronomy have evolved, and how they complement each other, as well as what keeps astronomers busy through the nights (and days).
Yashwant Gupta is a senior professor at the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) in Pune, a part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). He is Dean at the Giant Metre Wave Radio Telescope (GMRT) located near Pune. He holds a BTech degree in electrical engineering from IIT Kanpur and a PhD from the University of California in San Diego. Pulsars and radio astronomy have been the focus of his research work. He currently leads India's technical involvement in the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), an international collaborative project to design and build the next generation global radio astronomy facility. He was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in the physical sciences in the year 2007.
S. Krishnaswamy The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
Of molecular shapes and functions: the Madras contribution
We are all composed of molecules: proteins, nucleic acids, fats, and carbohydrates, among others. How do these molecules function? Are their shapes and functions related? Can molecules take any sort of shape? How can we answer these questions? And, finally, what does all this have to do with Madras?
S. Krishnaswamy retired as senior professor from Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) and is currently a Visiting Professor with the Computational Biology group at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai. He holds a BSc (Hons) degree from IIT Kharagpur and a PhD in Biophysics and Crystallography from Madras University. At MKU, he headed the department of genetic engineering and was also the coordinator of the centre of excellence in Bioinformatics. A highly respected researcher and teacher, apart from his reseach in the areas of structural biology and bioinformatics, he has contributed to science popularization among students at all levels across Tamil Nadu.
