Prof. Rajinder Singh Chauhan is the Professor & Dean of Life Sciences at Mahindra University. He holds 30 years of post-Ph.D. academic experience in spearheading educational and research programs in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics. He is the recipient of national awards like the Jawahar Lal Nehru Academic Award of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Govt. of India and the Pran Vohra Award of the Indian Science Congress Association for his significant research contributions in Agriculture Biotechnology. He was awarded overseas fellowships by the DBT and DST, Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt of India to pursue advanced research in genomics and bioinformatics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA (1997-2004).

He is a prolific researcher with 6 patents granted by the GoI, 23 PhDs awarded, 110 national and international publications and close to 25 Crores funding through competitive research grants from GoI agencies like DBT, DST, DRDO, ICMR, and MoEF, including one Programme support in Centres of Excellence & Innovation in Biotechnology from the DBT, GoI. He has implemented research-enabled project-based learning with a focus on Curriculum-to-Career in UG programs.

Mahindra University

You held key positions at various prestigious institutions throughout your career. What excited you to join and walk with Mahindra University on the journey?

Well, there are a couple of reasons for joining Mahindra University. First and foremost is the exponential growth of the life sciences sector in Hyderabad, be it the establishment of a “Genome Valley”, “Pharma City”, “Medical Devices Park” and T-hub that provide a rich ecosystem for setting up strong industry-academia linkages. In addition, Hyderabad also has the largest number (20-25) of national/ international institutes engaged in world-class research on diverse frontiers of science and technology. I have been always keen to educate professionals in Biotechnology and Computational Biology in an industrially rich ecosystem.

How do you balance the needs of faculty, students, and administration as a Dean of Life Sciences?

It’s very simple. I am a core researcher and the research mindset always seeks opportunities to explore new knowledge. The best outcome of knowledge is to disseminate among young minds. Once we undertake academic pursuits with this mindset, the administration becomes secondary and the goal of doing research and imparting education becomes primary. I have been setting up and administering educational programs for almost two decades, which have enriched my wisdom and insight to educate and mentor faculty and students. We have recruited faculty trained in the world’s top institutes in the USA, Europe, and Asia who are not only PhDs but have also done extensive post-doctoral research in futuristic areas of biotechnology and computational biology. They are regularly mentored to implement outcomes-based pedagogical practices in teaching-learning. Smart colleagues and enthusiastic students make it easy to balance research, education and administration.

As a Dean of -Life Sciences, what is the USP or what are the differentiating factors that make Mahindra University stand out from other institutions offering the Life Sciences courses?

Well, our major USP has been to impart education in a research-enabled project-based learning ecosystem where every student, starting from 1st year onwards can take up a project of their interest with a faculty mentor. As I earlier pointed out that our faculty is deeply engaged in research, therefore, when a BTech 1st year student enters the class or lab he/she encounters how new knowledge is being generated, what scientific questions are being asked, what problems are being solved and what experimental methods are being used. All this creates an interactive learning ecosystem with extensive practical exposure. The ambitious students take on projects aligned with their career plans.

How do the team/faculty of Life Sciences stay current with the latest trends and developments in the field of Life Sciences and incorporate them into the curriculum and programs offered by the institution?

The diverse research backgrounds of faculty bring a diversity of futuristic tech domains to the curricular practices, particularly when researchers are teachers as well. Some of the high-tech domains are genome engineering, machine learning in biology, regenerative medicine, nano-medicine, biosensors, gene therapy, CRISPR editing, GMOs in plants, molecular diagnostics, recombinant therapeutics, genomics, computer-aided drug discovery, clinical informatics, etc. In addition, our curriculum broadens the horizon of students by undergoing courses in foreign languages (French), computer science, programming languages, applied electronics, machine learning, etc. We have also implemented the concept of specializations where a particular student can take specific courses and projects in biomedical, bioenergy, biopharma, food & nutrition, bioinformatics, etc.

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How well is Mahindra University focusing on maintaining industry relationships with companies in order to leverage them for live projects, training, and placements for the Life Sciences students?

Hyderabad is a hub of life sciences not only in India but also in Asia. It contributes to 1/3rd of the global vaccine output; is the only state in the world to have 200+ USFDA-approved facilities, has 40% of total Indian API production and 50% of API exports, accounting for more than 35% of India’s pharmaceutical production, is a home to over 800 pharma and biotech companies with a valuation of over US$ 50-60 billion, has 20+ Lifesciences and MedTech Incubators in the highest for any city in the country. We stay in touch with life sciences industries so that students can get exposure through internships during their degree programs. We are also setting up join research collaborations with industry partners through joint Ph.D. supervision.

What is something an aspirant who’s looking to pursue a career in Life Sciences can expect from Mahindra University?

A successful career requires education in a world-class educational institution that has highly qualified faculty, a futuristic curriculum, modern pedagogical practices, labs with equipment and regular connections with the industry. All these essential components of an education ecosystem exist at the Centre for Life Sciences at Mahindra University where students are not only educated for degrees but nurtured as professionals with futuristic technical competencies. The students are assigned faculty mentors right from 1stt year onwards to guide them in their academic journey, where faculty mentors help them to align their courses and projects towards industry or for higher studies or even to set up business ventures through startups. We ensure that our graduates are not only “Job-Seekers” but also “Job-Creators”.

What are the biggest challenges currently being faced by Life Sciences colleges /institutions and how do you plan to address them as the dean?

The biggest challenge is not faced by the colleges/ institutions but by the life sciences industry (Biotech, Pharma, Biomedical) for the last few decades due to a lack of properly trained graduates passing from most of the colleges/ institutes in India. We at Mahindra University have taken care of this problem by implementing an experiential learning system throughout the degree program so that when students who are passing out are equipped with not only technical competencies but also skills in critical thinking, teamwork, verbal and written communication, ethical behavior, problem-solving and above all become great human beings with a passion for life-long learning.

Can you describe What is the significance and support Mahindra University gives in encouraging its students and faculty to be involved in research activities?

I think the research support provided to students and faculty at MU is unparalleled by any private or even public institution. We have labs equipped with high-end equipment costing crores, Ph.D. program totally financed by the University which creates a rich research culture, and the seed grants research support to faculty which this year alone in life sciences has been to the tune of Rs. 70-80 lakhs. All these monetary investments are geared towards developing a research-enabled teaching-learning ecosystem so that not only the faculty and Ph.D. students benefit through research but undergraduates are also exposed to world-class research.

How would you promote experiential learning and practical application of knowledge within the Life Sciences programs?

Our main focus at Mahindra University has been to provide a research-enabled project-based learning ecosystem, which is heavily focused on experiential learning to connect most of the theoretical concepts with practical hands-on exposure. We implement a structured curriculum design process where core technical competencies expected among graduates in the next 5-10 years across different industry segments are cataloged, then going backward we define the courses required to develop those competencies progressively in the 4-year curriculum; detailing the course-wise syllabus in modules mapped to competencies; delivery through diverse pedagogical practices, and finally assessed to ensure the fulfillment of expected competencies. The other component of our curricular practice is enriching experiential learning among undergraduates is a strong Ph.D. program so that when a student enters a lab class, he/ she finds that a Ph.D. scholar is experimenting with topics relevant to the course taught by the faculty. This provides an opportunity for learning by doing.