Dr Ram Kulkarni, assistant professor at the School of Biological Sciences, Symbiosis International University (SIU), India, has recently been announced as the recipient of a US$72,000 grant awarded by Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India.

Dr Kulkarni received this grant in the Early Career Researcher (ECR) category by the Science and Engineering Research Board for his innovative research proposal on using bacterial enzymes for improving the flavour of mango products.

India is the top producer of mangoes in the world, and this research will make a significant contribution to the R&D of food processing industries, which can result in improved flavour of mango-based food products. In addition, the projects findings can lead to extracting bioactive chemicals from mango peel waste, which can have applications in food, cosmetic and allied industries.

The objective of the Early Career Research award scheme is to provide quick research support to young researchers who are in their early career for pursuing exciting and innovative research in frontier areas of science and engineering. As one of the eminent private universities in India, SIU faculty conducts research in stem cell biology, cancer biology, computational neurobiology, virology, nutrition and dietetics, geoinformatics, and also offers higher research degree programmes in science and technology related areas.