For promoting sci-comm, gender diversity: IUCAA woman prof highlighted in prestigious journal Nature

According to Chatterjee, the well-known “leaky pipeline” model in gender studies shows how the number of women gets depleted as they climb up the career ladder in scientific research. “Often they are not given the recognition and visibility for their work as their male peers. My aim is to challenge the existing stereotypes and prejudices based on gender, race or ethnicity in India and globally,” Chatterjee, who is chair of education and public outreach – LIGO -India project at IUCAA, told The Indian Express.

Pursuing her post-doctoral studies in 2010 abroad, she also witnessed persistent race, class and gender biases in the international scientific community. She works in the field of gravitational-wave science and on her return to India, joined IUCAA where this June she became its first female full professor and continues to advocate for more women—especially in astrophysics through her work promoting gender equity.

Why it is important to popularise science

Science popularisation has been emphasised by many renowned pioneers in India, including IUCAA founder-director Dr Jayant Narlikar, Dr N Rathnasree and others. “At present, India is involved in global scientific collaborations and mega-science projects, and there is an urgent need to highlight their importance to the general public, to inform upcoming generations about the diverse career opportunities in emerging multi-disciplinary fields and to develop communities to ensure their successful execution. This was my inspiration behind introducing innovative initiatives for the LIGO-India mega-science project, such as student blogs and podcasts with experts, features highlighting women in gravitational wave science and interviews with early career researchers contributing to this field,” she said.

On international science fests

Traditional science teaching remains confined to classrooms and lecture theatres and hence learning about cutting-edge science in an informal and interactive setting through outreach events provides people the opportunity to interact directly with researchers and to experience it in a fun way so they are not intimidated. According to Prof Chatterjee, this was the motivation behind launching the Pint of Science festival in India. This is an annual international science festival that brings scientists to share their latest research with a wider audience in a pedagogical way with people in a relaxed atmosphere outside the labs and research institutes – such as their local cafes, bars or public spaces. Originating in the UK in 2013, this festival has spread to more than 500 cities in 27 countries, and in May 2025 the festival was launched in India across three cities – New Delhi, Pune and Bengaluru and aims to include other cities in the coming years.

Neglected science disciplines

“Highlighting research in a wide range of topics also provides information to the children and young students to make informed decisions about future career paths, beyond popular domains such as IT and medicine. This is crucial as currently many science disciplines are neglected as career options in universities due to less popularity,” Prof Chatterjee said. Direct interaction with scientists also serves to remove myths and misinformation. “Such events are helping to remove the preconception that science is boring and unapproachable. It has started a new trend of science-themed events in different cities, reflecting the need for broader science outreach to quench the thirst for curiosity in science in Indian society,” Prof Chatterjee added.