Scientific utopias: Evading the long VISA wait times via the Institute of LIFE

Subhajit
5 min readJan 21, 2024

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Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

[25–02–2123]

It was one of those nights when the sound of flying airplanes above my rooftop, somehow seemed louder than usual. I checked my clock; it was way past midnight. I told myself, let’s check for another hour if some visa slots open up. The dream of traveling to the first international conference was challenged by getting an on-time visa appointment. But I was determined not to leave my computer screen at this hour; some of my friends have suggested that indeed in this late-night hour, there is a finite chance for my luck to shine.

The balcony door outside made a scratchy sound — some cat was making its way through? I was taken aback when a person half my height entered in.

“Don’t fear me, don’t fear me…” it said. It is Dobby — my favourite character from Harry Potter, so fear was out of the question.

“Dobby?”, I enquired in a whispering voice.

“Come with me, my friend, you don’t require the visa document.”

Dobby called a cab and in 15 minutes, we came in front of the entrance of an institute.

While entering, I could read — “The institute of LIFE”..

“Where are we Dobby?”

“At the reception desk in just a minute my friend.”

I produced my identity cards and gave my fingerprints hesitantly on request. Then something unexpected happened. The person at the reception desk produced me a visitor identity card for their institute. The validity is six long months.

“Dobby.. what is it?”

“My friend, holding the ID card of my institute makes international travel free of paperwork.”

“Are you crazy? I will be punished at the airport for such an attempt.”

“Test it…”

I wanted to attend the conference anyhow. “Go ahead with the ID card, test it”, said my inner voice..

[25–03–2123]

I am at the conference presenting my work. I received valuable feedback from professors and peers. It only seems a matter of some effective industrial investments and collaborations to scale up the idea. I can’t explain in words how magical things have been, ever since I received the ID card. I just realized I still have five months for the card to expire. I am desperate to learn more about LIFE. I boarded my return flight; no immigration work, just like my onward journey — after all, knowledge knows no boundaries. Rabindranath Tagore’s poem buzzed my ears.. “Within this limited abode, our mind is limitless.”

[26–03–2123]

Dobby receives me at the airport, laughing.

“This is magical.. I want to visit LIFE one more time.”

Now in broad daylight, LIFE Institute did not actually seem anything strikingly special. Talking to a few researchers there, the magic unfolded. Apart from government funding support, the industrial support that they receive is beyond imaginable. Interestingly, each research scholar performs projects that can be broadly divided into two categories — a) Long-term fundamental research that is required to develop, for example, a disruptive technology. b) Short-term projects that help in solving small-scale day-to-day problems. Being supported by industries, most of the short-term projects do not need much time to see the broad daylight of the market and in fact, generate revenue for long-term projects. The research output spans from big to small things — from making effective high-energy detectors to efficient high-drain cleaning machines (so that cleaners do not lose their lives in manholes). Somehow the MNCs benefit so much from the research output that they have made conference travel funds readily available and for free for the students. Besides, the ID card also allows up to three travels a year to any lab — this way the students benefit by learning and handling lots of complementary scientific instruments. I also learned that each of their research datasets and lab recipes was available on the open platform, Zenodo. No data is perfect, but the researchers put a great deal of effort into trying to quantify the ‘imperfectness’ by theoretical models to understand the ‘imperfect’ data better. As a result of all these, somehow sometimes unique findings come through effective collaborations — the reception mats, through the friction of steps, produce electricity to drive the elevators.

LIFE instills not only scientific and objective standards of research but also ascertains the role of humanities and the value of having ethical standards. The amalgamation and coexistence of science and humanities together provide a multi-lateral direction that results in inclusive and holistic development. As I moved through the institute, I observed something eccentric. The architecture was remarkably tied all together in loops within loops, such that every person has to witness mundane to specialized aspects of human life. I could hear both the clinging of kitchen utensils and test tubes as I walked through the garden. It reminds me of the Shantineketan school model. As I moved along, I felt more connected with nature and the people around me. Suddenly my eyes fell upon a wise owl who was teaching and his words were forming letters in the air. Mutual “Trust,” “Faith”, “Love”, “Respect”, and “Happiness” among individuals made the air smell aromatic. I felt the universe beating inside like a rumbling stone of a riverbed. The beauty of LIFE was in front of me standing with all warmth and love. I recalled how futile the intrinsic nature of human beings is — to make things fall in a hierarchy or in grades. But just a step outside of this can be so fulfilling.

While exiting, my eyes caught upon the tagline of the institute behind the reception desk.. ”Where research makes our LIFE in harmony with nature.” I understood the beauty of the concept.

[25–02–2023]

Birds are chirping, my laptop battery has died down, and I am slowly waking up from my dream. It took me some time to recollect things. I just saw glimpses of a regular, yet special, institute.

As I logged in to my laptop, I got a surprising email. Yes! I got a 75% student discount for subscribing to a few impactful journals! Being a final-year student, this is immensely helpful for my thesis. I am the happiest!

Acknowledgements:

  1. Special thanks to Esha Dey for providing helpful feedback, especially on the humanities paragraph.
  2. The essay was written as part of the EU-Life essay writing event last year. The three selected essays can be found in the same link and were published in Nature (references are copied below):

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Subhajit
Subhajit

Written by Subhajit

A researcher and experimentalist in Physical Sciences

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