“The grace factor was evident from the start. Amrita Bioquest was an international scientific festival and the largest conference in the history of Amrita,” remarked Dr. Venkat Rangan, Vice-Chancellor, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.

“The conference was very well organized and a tremendous success. Even though the sessions lasted 8-9 hours every day, one did not feel any fatigue. I feel energized at the end of the five days. I am amazed at the depth and quality of various topics discussed in the conference,” underlined M. D. Nair, Former Vice-President of SPIC Pharmaceuticals.

As Amrita Bio Quest 2013 came to a successful close, and scientists prepared to return to their respective homes in India, USA, Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Germany, Turkey, Russia, UK or Australia, it was time for thanks-giving and stock-taking.

Dr. Bipin Nair, Dean, Amrita School of Biotechnology stated, “This was our dream come true, and the result of 15 months of thorough preparation. All the inspiration was derived from Chancellor Amma. We are thrilled, ecstatic and gratified beyond words. We have raised the bar on conferences at Amrita and are happy to have made this happen.”

Seven different tracks – Genomics and Translational Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, Neurobiology and Computational Neuroscience, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Bio-prospecting and Bioengineering, Bio-analytical Techniques and Biotechnology in India from a Global Perspective.

Over 270 paper presentations, 90 invited talks and about 200 poster presentations in these seven parallel tracks.

Bio-View, leveraging Amrita’s award-winning e-learning platform, A-View was launched, creating a unique forum for ongoing collaborations and discussions.

An additional highlight was Pitchfest organized by Amrita’s Technology Business Incubator to find and fund promising start-ups in the field of biotech. Seed investment of up to 20 lakhs was available for the most promising business idea.

Ten Talks was a PhD symposium featuring 10 novel papers by doctoral students who could obtain feedback on their research topics from leading scientists. Research students from the Amrita Center for Nanosciences and Molecular Medicine also participated.

“It was a wonderful experience and I will look forward to coming back here soon,” exclaimed Megha Ghosh from Tata Consultancy Services.

“Attending this conference was a great experience. It indeed lived up to its tagline – Inspire, Innovate and Integrate. All invited talks were very inspiring and thought provoking at the same time,” added Monica Thukkaram from SSN College of Engineering, Chennai.

September 12, 2013
School of Biotechnology, Amritapuri

SEE ALSO

Biotechnology for Innovative Applications
Invited Speakers Meet Chancellor Amma
How Can I Become A Successful Scientist?
BioQuest 2013 Showcases Amrita Research
Biotechnology in India and Abroad