Resilience and representation in research: In conversation with Meenal Kowshik

Meenal Kowshik’s life has come full circle with this appointment: after earning a PhD from the University of Pune (now Savitribai Phule Pune University), she joined Goa University for a short postdoctoral fellowship before becoming one among the first faculty members to join the newly built BITS Pilani, Goa campus in 2004.

The foundational years at BITS Pilani, Goa

A new campus meant the opportunity to take on varied roles. Although BITS Pilani, Goa, was conceived as a teaching-focused campus, its first Director, T.C. Goel encouraged the team of young faculty members to also prioritise research. This required a shift in institutional culture. Meenal remembers him saying, ​“If you don’t do research for the next five years, then you all will never do research”.

For Meenal, joining as one of the first members of the faculty also meant early leadership opportunities, an experience she values deeply and one she feels is not always easy to come by for women in Indian science. Her administrative responsibilities have evolved significantly, from overseeing the setup of the library and hostel to serving as Associate Dean (Research), and now as Dean of Administration.

Still, the most rewarding part of her role remains teaching. ​“No matter how stressed I am, stepping into a classroom lifts my mood”, she reflected.

Research trajectory

Spending her early years at the interface of microbiology and nanotechnology, Meenal worked on the biosynthesis of nanoparticles. She soon shifted toward chemical synthesis and biological applications, recognising the limitations of the initial approach. ​“Applications began in antimicrobial and biofilm work, then expanded when we found our hydroxyapatite nanoparticles were fluorescent and taken up by cells. This led to work in gene delivery, first in prokaryotic systems, then eukaryotic, and later in stem cell differentiation”, she explained. 

Her current research focuses on exploring the translational potential of nanobiotechnology for muscular dystrophy, a condition with which she has a personal connection. ​“Our nanoparticles turned out to be effective in delivering large plasmids, making them promising for muscular dystrophy therapies. Now, we’re also working on other forms, like FSHD, in collaboration with the Dystrophy Annihilation Research Trust (DART) in Bangalore”.

Collaborations and mentorship

“Honestly, I haven’t always been lucky with collaborations”, Meenal says about collaborations, creating which has not always been straightforward.

In the early stages of her career, the absence of a postdoctoral stint limited her networking opportunities, and many of her attempts at building research partnerships, particularly with male collaborators, were shaped as much by complex dynamics as by scientific goals. Several promising efforts, she recalls, fell apart for reasons that had little to do with the science itself. 

Over time, however, she has found more meaningful partnerships, such as her ongoing work with Indrani Talukdar from BITS Pilani, Goa and with the Dystrophy Annihilation Research Trust (DART) in Bengaluru. Her experiences highlight a reality many women scientists in India face: that mentorship and collaboration are not only essential for research, they are also profoundly influenced by structural and cultural barriers within academia.

These uneven experiences with collaboration also shaped Meenal’s thinking about mentorship in Indian academia. ​“I haven’t had a ​‘godfather’ in research”, she reflected, noting that while her Ph.D. guide at Pune’s Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) was supportive, acceptance of a research scholar who was married was rare 25 years back. At another institute, she was outright rejected after disclosing her marital status, an experience that, she says, ​“stayed with me”. Those early exclusions have informed her approach as a faculty leader; she is determined that her students and younger colleagues should not miss out on opportunities she could not pursue, such as international postdocs or conferences. ​“At any given point, I had some other funding, so when new faculty joined, I always helped them until they were established”, she explains.

But her reflections are also candid about systemic shortcomings. Peer mentorship, she argues, is both underrated and largely absent in Indian academia, regardless of gender. 

I try to be inclusive because I know what it feels like to be an outsider”

she says, recalling her own experiences of shifting schools frequently as a child.

Yet the generosity has not always been reciprocated. She points to instances where she felt disadvantaged in proposal writing, or when her rise to Dean of Administration was met with scepticism: ​“There are always people who don’t like you or think you got there for reasons other than your capability”. For Meenal, these patterns highlight a cultural gap in which hierarchies dominate, but horizontal networks of support remain fragile, even among women scientists.

Leading with empathy

For Meenal, leadership has been shaped both by personal experiences and professional accomplishments. Frequent changes in schools, as a child, made her more adaptable and develop a deep empathy for newcomers. ​“It made me protective of my students’ opportunities”, she notes, recalling how she advocates for their growth so they do not face the exclusions she once did.

Her leadership has also been tested in more difficult circumstances. One such episode damaged professional relationships and likely cost her scientific opportunities. ​“Though it likely cost me scientific opportunities, I don’t regret it”, she reflects. These experiences, in turn, strengthened her commitment to supporting women in science.

Meenal played a key role in initiating PowerBio, which was drawn out during the Society of Biological Chemists (SBC) conference in Goa in 2023. To her, such platforms are vital in creating safer, more supportive research environments.

“A happy mother is more effective than one who constantly feels guilty”, Meenal says.

Looking back on the two decades of balancing administration, teaching, research, and family, she distils her lessons into a few essentials: women must not hesitate to ask for help; they should not feel guilty about investing in themselves; and they should recognise that personal well-being fuels professional success. She stressed that personal time, research, and goals are not luxuries but necessities for sustainable leadership.

Owning the step forward 

… For Meenal leads to a place where women can thrive unapologetically.

Meenal is clear about both PowerBio’s promise and its limits. ​“It’s no magic fix”, she says, 

but two things matter: finding the right mentors, women who have faced challenges and, creating a platform for mentorship”.

The other, she stresses, lies with the mentees themselves: the readiness to seek help and to do so without guilt.

Meenal’s own story illustrates the point. 

“When my daughter was very young, I had to leave for the U.S. for two months. People questioned me, but I had made my decision”, she recalls. She feels that this ability to listen, reflect, and then act decisively is what enables women to move forward. PowerBio, she believes, can offer examples, solidarity, and guidance, but ​“the step has to be taken individually”.

At the heart of her vision is dismantling the guilt that society often uses to hold women back. By normalising the act of seeking mentorship, creating structures of peer support, and encouraging women to prioritise their own goals, PowerBio hopes to foster a more equitable research ecosystem, one where women researchers can thrive without apology.

Being part of collectives like PowerBio, Meenal’s focus has been on empathy, opportunity, and solidarity among women in science. As she notes, organisations and collectives can provide examples and support, but the step has to be taken individually. For her, the way forward lies in this balance between mentorship and self-determination, and in rejecting the guilt society often uses to hold women back.