Arvind Kumar new KTH Life Science deputy platform director
In October, 2021, Arvind Kumar was appointed as new KTH Life Science deputy platform director. Arvind Kumar is an Associate Professor of Computational Neuroscience at the Division of Computational Science and Technology, EECS and SciLife Lab.
Hi there, Arvind Kumar, why did you accept the position as new deputy director for the Life Science Platform?
"The footprint of KTH is expanding in the domain of life sciences and this is not just because of the research done in the CBH school. However, I think that the network of life-science researchers at KTH is still too small and should be expanded. And I think the Life Science Platform has an important role to play in that. So, this position brings a great opportunity to influence the research landscape at KTH," Arvind Kumar says.
What do you look forward to in working with the platform?
"I am very much looking forward to making KTH’s life science research more visible. It might come as a surprise that despite being a technical university, our most high impact research papers are in the domain of biology. Besides, I am also excited to contribute to the organization of networking events and the KTH Life Science Day."
What are the challenges?
"I must say that I am not sure of the challenges specific to our platform as I am just starting. But there are challenges at the scientific level which may reduce cross-disciplinary activities in the domain of life sciences. For example, data coming of biological systems is often small and highly noisy and therefore standard analysis/modellign approaches may not work. Or that the data sharing is not easy because of data privacy clauses. And, it takes time to appreciate that biology is different from other physical complex system. We have several activities planned which I hope will facilitate cross-disciplinary collaborative projects in the domain of life sciences."
What can the KTH Life Science platform offer KTH researchers?
"The life science platform offers 8-10 small collaborative grants per year to initiate new projects and to organize scientific workshops and networking events. Importantly, these grants are also available to younger researchers (PhD students and postdocs). Besides, we send out regular newsletter with news and research funding opportunities in the domain of life sciences. In the coming year, we are also planning to initiate data analysis and modelling challenges which can then form the basis of more concrete joint projects."