A successful academic journey does not always begin with a clearly defined career path. Sometimes, it begins with a simple passion, sustained effort, and the courage to explore new opportunities.
For Gopinath Sadhu, that journey began with a love for mathematics and a childhood dream of becoming a school teacher. His passion for mathematics eventually led him to competitive examinations, research, and an interdisciplinary career in mathematical biology.
Today, Dr Sadhu is a postdoctoral researcher at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, where he works in the fields of Mathematical Biology and Mathematical Oncology. He holds a PhD in Mathematics from IIT Guwahati and qualified for CSIR-UGC NET JRF and GATE in 2019, marking an important milestone in his academic journey.
In an interview with HT Digital, Dr Sadhu talks about his journey from teaching mathematics to pursuing research, his preparation for CSIR-UGC NET and GATE, his doctoral experience at IIT Guwahati, and his current research at IISc. He also discusses his experiences working in interdisciplinary research, his academic achievements, and his aspirations for the future.
You secured a strong rank in the CSIR-UGC NET JRF in 2019 and GATE 2019. Take us through your preparation journey—what worked for you, and what advice would you give to students preparing for the exam today?
My childhood dream was to become a high-school mathematics teacher. I have always enjoyed mathematics, but more importantly, I have always loved teaching and helping students understand difficult concepts. Since my undergraduate years, I have given mathematics tuition to high school students in my village and nearby areas. This not only helped me support my family financially, but also strengthened my own mathematical foundation and developed my interest in teaching. However, I realized that my journey could take a different direction. Life is highly nonlinear, and by the end of my Master’s degree at Burdwan University, I decided to pursue research in mathematics. That decision eventually led me toward preparing for competitive examinations such as CSIR-UGC NET JRF and GATE. For my preparation, I focused mainly on building a strong conceptual understanding rather than simply memorizing formulas. I regularly practiced problems, identified my weak areas, and repeatedly revised the fundamentals. My teaching experience also helped me because explaining concepts to others made my own understanding much clearer. My advice to students preparing today would be to first build a strong foundation, practice consistently, and understand the concepts behind the formulas. I would also encourage them not to be discouraged by difficult problems or temporary setbacks. Consistency over a long period is much more important than studying intensely for a few days.
After qualifying CSIR-UGC NET, you went on to pursue your PhD at IIT Guwahati. What made you choose IIT Guwahati, and what were some of the biggest learning experiences for you there?
Yes. After qualifying for the CSIR-UGC NET and GATE, I applied for PhD admissions at several IITs, and I was fortunate to join IIT Guwahati, which has one of the most beautiful campuses in India. One of the biggest things I learned was how to handle failure. Research does not always give you the results you expect, and there were many occasions when an idea or approach did not work. I learned to accept those setbacks, understand what went wrong, and keep trying with a different perspective.
When you look back at your years at IIT Guwahati, what was student life like beyond academics? Were there any experiences, teachers or moments that played an important role in shaping your career?
IIT Guwahati gave me a wonderful opportunity to grow beyond academics. The campus has a very vibrant environment, where students are encouraged to explore sports, music, arts, and cultural activities. I particularly enjoyed participating in cultural programmes such as Virasat and Alcheringa. During my PhD, I was also fortunate to have several wonderful mentors, from senior lab members to my colleagues. But if I had to mention one person who played an exceptional role in shaping my career, it would be my PhD supervisor, Prof. D. C. Dalal. He encouraged me to explore the field where mathematics meets biology, which ultimately shaped my research direction in mathematical biology and oncology. One thing I particularly appreciated was the freedom he gave me to explore my own ideas. I believe that freedom is extremely important for a PhD student because it helps you develop independence and confidence as a researcher. So, when I look back, IIT Guwahati gave me not only a strong academic foundation but also the freedom, mentorship, and experiences that helped shape me as a researcher and as a person.
You are now working at IISc Bengaluru in Mathematical Biology and Mathematical Oncology. How did your journey move from pure mathematics to applying mathematics to problems related to biology and cancer?
I would say that the foundation for my journey from mathematics to mathematical biology was laid during my PhD at IIT Guwahati. During my PhD, I became fascinated by biological problems, particularly cancer evolution. I realized that these systems are extremely complex and that many of their underlying mechanisms are still not fully understood. At the same time, I saw that mathematical modeling could provide a way to understand these complex biological processes from a different perspective. That is where my interest in applying mathematics to biology really developed. After submitting my PhD thesis, I was fortunate to join the Department of Bioengineering at IISc Bengaluru as a research associate, working with Prof. Mohit Kumar Jolly. He believed in my potential and gave me the opportunity to work closely with biological questions. Since then, I have been learning more biology alongside mathematics. I think that has been very important for my development because the more biology I understand, the better I can formulate biologically meaningful questions and then use mathematics to address them.
For students who are studying mathematics today and are unsure about their career options, what opportunities do you see in emerging areas such as mathematical biology, computational biology and mathematical oncology? What skills should they start building early?
In my opinion, the future of STEM, particularly interdisciplinary research, is very promising. In India, we are already seeing this shift, with several IITs, NITs, IISERs, and research institutes developing interdisciplinary centres where scientists from different backgrounds come together to work on complex problems. I believe areas such as computational biology and mathematical oncology have enormous potential because mathematics and computation can help us address biological questions that are difficult to understand from a single discipline alone. I expect these fields to grow significantly in India in the coming years. For students of mathematics, my advice would be: build a strong foundation in mathematics and understand the concepts deeply. At the same time, keep an open mind and be willing to learn new subjects. For example, when we study a differential equation, we often focus on solving it mathematically. But I think it is equally important to ask: What does each term represent physically or biologically? What phenomenon is this term describing? This way of thinking makes it much easier to apply mathematics to other disciplines. In interdisciplinary research, you have to communicate with people who speak a different scientific language. So, learning the fundamentals of another field and developing the ability to communicate across disciplines are just as important as mathematical skills.
You have already worked across research institutions and participated in several national and international research programmes. Looking ahead, what are your ambitions, and what kind of contribution would you like to make through your research?
I feel very grateful and humbled to have had opportunities to work with researchers and leaders in this field, including collaborations and visits involving institutions such as the University of Oxford and Texas A&M University. Looking ahead, one of my ambitions is to contribute to making India a global hub for interdisciplinary research, particularly at the interface of mathematics, biology, and medicine. I believe India has tremendous talent and potential, and bringing researchers from different disciplines together can help us address some of the most challenging scientific and healthcare problems. At the same time, interdisciplinary research needs sustained support. We need funding not only for research projects, but also to build teams, hire postdoctoral researchers, train young scientists, and create an environment where people from different disciplines can work together. For example, my current postdoctoral research is supported by the Param Hansa Centre for Computational Oncology at IISc, led by Prof. Mohit Kumar Jolly. This kind of support shows how philanthropy can play an important role in advancing emerging areas of research. In the long term, I would like to contribute not only through my own research, but also by building collaborations, mentoring young researchers, and creating a research environment where mathematics, biology, and medicine can come together to solve meaningful problems.
