Ayantika Saha

The faculty at BU is very welcoming and the PhD. curriculum is intensive yet student friendly. Projects are being done in many areas and it allows you to figure out what it is that you are passionate about and would look forward to learning more about. In addition, Boston is a great city to live in – you can go sailing in the Charles during the summer months and go ice skating in the winter!

The world is amazing, and I love learning about everything. For example, how does the human brain work, how exactly do clouds form, or why does the sky appear blue while a rose is red? These might seem to be trivial questions addressed in different scientific fields of study, however, at the heart, it is always the laws of physics that determine how different things are how they are! These questions are what motivated me to pursue a PhD. in physics. In particular, I am currently learning about bacterial community behavior. It amazes me how these micron-sized globules of carbon and nitrogen perform advanced evolutionary beneficial mechanisms through simple biochemical responses to environmental stimuli. Our lab (Larkin Lab) primarily uses the model bacteria B. subtilis to study how it forms biofilms. I am working on understanding how and why various phenotypes are arranged in the biofilm. This is a question that takes into account cooperative and competitive social interaction between the different phenotypes in the biofilms and can even be extended to model interaction between other organisms! This again fascinates me how the governing principle is the same at different size scales and how the cumulative behavior of the different time and length scales makes the beautiful world we see around us.

I love traveling, exploring new places, interacting with people, and learning about different cultures. When I am not in the lab or classroom, I mostly plan and daydream about my next getaway. I love being outdoors doing sporty things, but unfortunately, if the weather is bad outside, you will find me on my couch with a cup of tea, reading/ watching travel and food blogs/vlogs. Oh! Not to brag, but I think I am a pretty decent chef and I love making new dishes from all over the globe every weekend.