ABOUT US
The Research Development Office (RDO) was created to facilitate research and training via enabling research funding and facilitating collaborations. Work at the RDO is made possible by a well-knit group of dynamic and professional individuals, entrepreneurial in spirit and firmly committed to offering several key services to the campus at the boundaries of science, management and outreach. With a vibrant team, emerging opportunities on the campus and new connections on the outside, we look forward to a rewarding journey further ahead.
TEAM RDO
Malini S. Pillai, PhD
Head, RDO
Email: malinisp@ncbs.res.in
Dr. Malini S. Pillai is a trained scientist in the area of Cell and Molecular Biology and an accomplished Research Management professional. She currently heads the Research Development Office (RDO) at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS-TIFR).
Dr. Pillai leads strategic efforts to secure external funding from various sources, build institutional research capacity, and foster cross-disciplinary and multi-institutional collaborations. She provides oversight across the research funding lifecycle, including concept development, proposal support, compliance, and reporting. Working closely with researchers on campus, she helps navigate complex funding landscapes. She enables data-driven planning, monitors funding trends, and supports initiatives that enhance the institute’s long-term research sustainability and scientific impact.
Suman Pahal, PhD
Grant Manager
Email: sumanp@ncbs.res.in
Dr. Suman Pahal is an accomplished biomedical researcher with experience working across premier research institutions, including the University of Connecticut, inStem and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). Over the years, she has successfully led and coordinated numerous interdisciplinary research projects, securing competitive funding from national agencies such as DST, SERB, and BIRAC. Currently serving as the Grants Manager at the Research Development Office (RDO), National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Dr. Pahal provides strategic advice and end-to-end pre-award support to researchers, including proposal development, budgeting, and monitoring compliance. Dr. Pahal will also contribute to mobilizing philanthropic and private sector funding, managing grant contracts, and supporting strategic initiatives that bridge academia and industry. She will also be responsible for tracking the success rates of grant applications, analysing funding trends, and identifying patterns and insights to enhance future submissions, contributing to the institute’s research excellence and long-term funding sustainability.
Yousuf Khan
Grants Officer (Development)
Email: yousufkhan@ncbs.res.in
As Grants Officer (Development), Mr. Yousuf Khan will contribute to the efforts in fundraising across philanthropic, private, and CSR sources, as well as managing private/endowment grants on campus.
His role involves identifying and track evolving funding landscapes; support the development of proposals; building relationships with funding partners and donor engagement. He will also contribute to strategic communication supporting resource mobilization for emerging and interdisciplinary research at NCBS, as well as support various RDO outreach activities.
Yousuf Khan holds an MSc in Chemical Biology from the University of Geneva/EPFL, Switzerland and a BSc (Honours) in Chemistry from the University of Delhi. Previously, he worked in science communication as Communications Coordinator at BRIC-inStem and as a Science Writing Fellow at Current Science/Indian Academy of Sciences. He was also associated with IndiaBioscience as an intern for the YIM 2025. His prior experience in outreach and public engagement has shaped his interest at the interface of science, policy and society, and continues to inform his current work.
Chaithanya S. Tegalapalli
Grants Officer (Post-Award)
Email: chaithanyat@ncbs.res.in
Chaithanya S. Tegalapalli is a Grants Officer (Post-award) at NCBS, supporting post-award grant management and ensuring the effective implementation of funded research projects. Her work focuses on financial compliance, grant reporting, liaison with funding agencies and working closely with principal investigators, finance teams, and funding agencies to facilitate timely reporting and maintaining institutional grant management systems.
Prior to joining NCBS, she served as Administrative Officer, R&D, overseeing 180+ sponsored projects across major national funding agencies. She has contributed to institutional research analytics aligned with NAAC, NBA, and NIRF frameworks, and has been actively involved in intellectual property awareness and research support initiatives. She is currently pursuing doctoral research in Proteomics at VIT, Vellore, focusing on computational and experimental analysis of biologically active peptides.
M. C. Aruna
Grants Administrator
Email: arunamc@ncbs.res.in
Ms. Aruna MC is the Grants Administrator at the RDO. She is responsible for Post-Award management of grants from the campus, funded by national and international sources. This includes Grant activation, Grant reporting, Grant extension, Grant closure, Grant transfer. She ensures that the post-award management of the campus grants are done in compliance with the institutional and agencies requirements by working with both internal and external stakeholders, as required, for submission of relevant documents to the funding agencies, within the stipulated deadline. She is also involved in data analysis and information management as well as outreach to funding agencies.
Deepika R.
Secretarial Trainee
Email: deepikar@ncbs.res.in
Ms. Deepika is a Secretarial Trainee at RDO. Her responsibilities include handling office documents, assisting in office routines, scanning and collating documents, dispatching the hardcopy of the grant related documents and agreements, maintaining the dispatch register and stationery stocks needed for the office. She is also involved in archiving agreements, pre-award and post-award documents.
As a B.Com. graduate, this is a continuation of her professional journey, allowing her to develop essential skills in administration, documentation, and data management. Her prior experience as an accountant has strengthened her analytical and organizational abilities, while her achievements as a sportsperson highlight her discipline, teamwork, and resilience. Her dedication and attention to detail contribute to the smooth functioning of the RDO's operations.
FORMER MEMBERS
Dr. Savita Ayyar, Former Head, RDO
Dr. Vineetha Raghavan, Former Head, RDO - Grants and Research Collaboration
Ms. Swathi BS, Dr. Vijaylakshmi Babu, Ms. Baishali Goswami, Dr. Siji Anil, Dr. Anusha Krishnan, Ms. Archana Shetty, Mr. Hardik Panchal, Dr. Priyankana Mukherjee, Dr. Pankaj Gupta, Dr. Athulya Aravind, Dr. Dhruba Sharma, Dr. Jinu Mathew Valayil, Dr. Roshan Kumar, Dr. Arkamitra Vishnu, Mr. Darshan Shanthaveerappa Tuppad,
Ms. Bhagya Lakshmi S.
Interns - Dr. Saumya Prasad, Dr. Jyotsna Begani
About the Logo
The logo is an abstract representation of the role of RDO as a central liaison for nurturing critical partnerships across various stakeholders. The dots are a representation of different sources of funding, internal and external stakeholders, funding agencies as well as collaborators. The projections represent the different ways by which the RDO encompasses and interacts across all the "dots" to facilitate research funding and collaboration.
