Biologist Ujjaini Dasgupta is the Research Group Leader and a SERB-POWER Fellow at Ashoka University’s Koita Centre for Digital Health (KCDH‑A). She specialises in lipid biology, with a research focus on metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells and the tumour microenvironment. When she first stepped into Presidency College as an undergraduate, she couldn’t have foreseen the winding, uncertain path that would lead her back into academia, this time, as a mentor and independent researcher. Her story is not just about a career in science but about resilience, identity, and carving out space in a system that often leaves little room for pause.
The spark of science
During her early years in academia, Ujjaini studied botany, chemistry, and zoology at Presidency College, Kolkata, where she was mentored by Arun K. Mukherjee, a teacher she credits with inspiring her curiosity despite limited resources. “We didn’t have much, but our teachers pushed us to do things with what we had,” she said.
This foundation was followed by a rigorous Master’s training in biophysics, molecular biology and genetics at Calcutta University, where she was mentored by Chanchal K Dasgupta, AR Thakur, Utpal Chatterjee, and many others who motivated her to take up a career in research. The department, despite its limitations, fostered a culture of critical thinking. “They were giants,” she recalled. “They taught us genetics and molecular biology and sparked the quest in me.”
The PhD years
Ujjaini continued her academic pursuit at the Department of Plant Molecular Biology, Delhi University South Campus (DUSC) for her PhD, working with Jitendra Khurana.
“Working with him was transformative,” she said. “He taught me how to think with dexterity, how to question, and how to speak clearly.” While she didn’t fully appreciate his pursuit of perfection at the time, the lessons stayed with her.“Years later, when I started my own lab, I would find myself repeating his words to my students.”
“He was a perfectionist and a perfect gentleman, and what I learned from him still shapes me today,” she added. “At the time, I didn’t always appreciate it, but his insistence on rigour, questioning, and meticulousness stayed with me. When I became a PI, I even told him once, ‘Now I understand why you were so particular.” I remember how happy he was when I sent him the first paper my group published as an independent PI, though it was far from plant biology.
Tragically, Khurana passed away after the COVID-19 pandemic. “I had missed the celebrations for his 60th birthday, and I never got to meet him again. The regret that I couldn’t say goodbye still stays with me.”
During the final year of her PhD, Ujjaini also got married.
Life abroad and coming home
Ujjaini’s postdoctoral research took her to the University of Massachusetts. The shift from the close-knit academic culture of DUSC to a more independent and open system abroad was jarring, but ultimately empowering. Challenges were manifold: she transitioned from studying plants to fruit flies; her first supervisor shut down the lab abruptly; and she had to start afresh in another lab.
The birth of her daughter during her postdoctoral tenure gave her cherished memories and taught her lessons in balancing work and home. “I changed my field of research, I learned how to manage projects independently, and how to collaborate across disciplines.” By the end of her post-doctoral tenure, her interest in lipids as signalling molecules had been ignited so strongly that she knew it would stay with her for a lifetime.
“Even though the experience was rewarding and my family stood by me, certain unexpected events during this tenure shook me to the core. When I came back, the dream of setting up my own lab in India was no longer there,” she said with a sigh!
An unexpected pause
In the following years, Ujjaini moved away from academic research. She worked in scientific administration and infrastructure support, first at Labindia Lifesciences Pvt. Ltd. and Delhi University, and later at the Advanced Technology Platform Center at the Regional Centre for Biotechnology, a Department of Biotechnology initiative at the NCR Biocluster, Faridabad.
“I was away from academics for six years. But I never stopped reading and following journals to stay abreast with contemporary literature. Actually, my love for science stayed throughout,” she reflected.
Invigorating scientific discussions with faculty friends rekindled her passion. “A particularly thought-provoking discussion one evening with someone as impressionable as Satyajit Rath sealed my decision! My ever-supportive family, along with the unshakable confidence and mentorship from seniors and friends like Sagar Sengupta, Vinay Nandicoori, and Avinash Bajaj, helped me stick to one of the toughest decisions of my life: to get back to science.”
In retrospect, this quiet persistence, reading, thinking, talking, staying connected, and relying on supportive friends, became the thread that tied her back to a scientific career.
“But that return was not easy! For a while, I didn’t know how to come back,” she admitted.
The struggle behind the return
It wasn’t merely a career break. It was a break without publications, followed by the struggle to return to mainstream science after six years. She had left her comfort zone and was now competing with fresh postdocs with strong publication records.
“I was neither a fresh postdoc nor someone with PI experience, and therefore I wasn’t even shortlisted anywhere I applied,” she said.
Yet she refused to give up. “Luckily, I was constantly reminded, ‘You haven’t given up, you have just paused. You have to keep trying.”
Eventually, she found an opportunity at Amity University Haryana, where Director Rajendra Prasad gave her a second chance. Along with teaching, she began her work as an independent PI, building her lab from scratch and depending largely on extramural grants.
“It was hard, getting grants, equipment, and students, especially since I had once again changed my area of research. My first early career grant was rejected, as were many others, but I kept writing. Finally, after a year, I got two grants back-to-back!” she recalled.
She added, “Naturally, I sometimes compared myself with my peers who became faculty members earlier, ran labs, published papers on time, while I was still trying to beat the odds.But slowly, it came together. The incredible joy of doing the first experiment with the students, running the first gel in the lab, and publishing the first paper after three rejections and rebuttals from the same journal made it all worthwhile!”
What carried her through was the discipline and perspective she had gained over the years. “Having experienced the system from the outside gave me a different kind of empathy,” she said. “I now try to ensure no one in my lab feels isolated, the way I once did.”
Building a lab
Ujjaini believes that a research program becomes successful only when it is interdisciplinary and that it must be built brick by brick. Above all, she emphasises that the real pillars of strength are her multifaceted students and fantastic collaborators who make it all possible.
“There is no shortcut to success,” she insists, adding that mentorship is more than academic guidance. “I’ve had students go through mental health issues and personal crises. I try to be present, not just as a supervisor, but as someone who listens.”
Her lab, she maintains, is a space where respect is non-negotiable: “Everyone has to help and respect each other.” She is particularly committed to supporting women in science. “I didn’t have many role models when I started. If I can be that for someone else now, then that’s a legacy worth leaving.”
After ten years at Amity University, Ujjaini recently moved to the Trivedi School of Biosciences, Ashoka University, where she is once again building her lab from scratch, with the same zeal and excitement.
In pursuit of change
For Ujjaini, PowerBio has been an incredibly special experience. What began as a small group of strong, like-minded individuals sharing personal stories evolved into a supportive collective, one that encouraged reflection, connection, change and the voicing of long-unspoken truths.
We talked about women being simply recognised as individuals, about fairness, inclusivity, bias, the invisible labour women often do in academic spaces, mentorship, and what it means to navigate science while juggling multiple roles. It wasn’t just about venting or voicing opinions. It became a safe space to think constructively about how we could make things better for many of us and those younger than us.”
The experience underscored for her the importance of empathy in leadership. It has made her more intentional in how she mentors, shapes the culture of her lab, and shows up for her students and mentees; not just as a scientist, but as a human being who understands what it means to struggle, to grow and not give up.
Advice for others
To those who have had to pause their careers, her message is clear and urgent:
“Don’t give up. Science is a long road. A few years away doesn’t mean the journey is over. Stay connected, even if passively, and keep your enthusiasm intact. Read, talk, think, reach out, ask for help and work hard.”
Ujjaini’s voice softened when she added, “You’ll be surprised — out of all the roadblocks, there will be people willing to support you if they know you’re serious about coming back.”
And finally, the advice she lives by:
You can’t pause a dream forever. Every day is brand new. At some point, you have to restart and pursue.”
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