`In pursuit of excellence’: Kashmiri scientist breaks glass ceiling; becomes first woman in Kashmir to earn SERB-POWER fellowship

Srinagar: A Kashmiri woman scientist has broken the glass ceiling in the male-dominated STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) field by earning a prestigious Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB-POWER) fellowship in Life Sciences.

Dr. Nasheeman Ashraf is the first woman from Kashmir to earn the SERB-POWER fellowship 2022. It is an initiative for empowering Indian women researchers in Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI).

Earlier she has been awarded a CSIR Raman research fellowship to work as a visiting scientist at the University of Kentucky, USA, and an EMBO short-term fellowship to work in Spain.

“This absorbed fear that you are not good enough needs to go. Females need to believe in themselves and push their own boundaries,” Dr. Nasheeman said, who is presently working as Senior Scientist in Plant Biotechnology Division of CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM), Branch, Srinagar. 

Her research work primarily focuses on the improvement of saffron, the prized cash crops of the valley. “Our aim is to offer solutions towards good quality saffron by boosting saffron cultivation and production. This will benefit saffron growers and the farmer community to a great extent,” she said.

Born and brought up in the old city of Srinagar, Dr. Nasheeman developed a knack for trying different things right from her childhood.

“I always tried to share whatever knowledge I acquired with others. Besides, this affinity for trying different things introduced me to the concepts of science and research eventually,” she said.

After pursuing her master’s in biochemistry from GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, she obtained her Ph.D. from the National Institute of Plant Genome Research, JNU. In 2010, she returned to Srinagar with the dream of giving back to her community through her scientific expertise. 

But her journey towards doing good science was not a smooth sail. This is due to the fact that the number of women in senior positions is skewed in the valley because the number of women opting for careers in STEM is low.

This problem is aggravated by unconscious bias and a lack of proactive measures by institutes to improve the number of women in the workforce. However, Dr. Nasheeman continued living her dream despite all the odds.

 “I remember; I was given just an empty space when I came to Srinagar. Like it was a mammoth task to convert the whole thing into a standard molecular biology lab.  While I had a lot of support when needed and I could navigate the male-dominated world with the support, there was a need and requirement to prove again and again that we can do it too,” she said. 

She believes that the life of a researcher can be stressful but all the stress vanishes when suddenly you understand one grain of the truth of nature, which nobody else has yet grasped.  “This feeling of having contributed to the pool of knowledge of humankind is really very strong. These ‘euphoric’ moments are what one lives for! This is what keeps all researchers motivated,” Dr. Nasheeman said.

Asked what parting advice she would give to women in STEM, she said, “Things may appear difficult but it is not impossible. Take on big problems head-on, explore every aspect thoroughly by yourself or in collaboration, and do not give up.”