Invited Speaker
Ajazul H Wani
University of Kashmir
AICBC-2026
The 49th All India Cell Biology Conference and Symposium is the annual meeting of the Indian Society of Cell Biology, co-hosted this year by IISER Pune and BRIC-NCCS Pune, 9–12 December 2026.
With a theme centred on “Architecture of Life”, the conference explores how cellular life is organised across space and time — from molecules and biomolecular condensates to organelles, cells, tissues, and the dynamics of development and ageing. It asks a single question across every scale: what design principles keep a living system organised, robust, and alive?
The programme is organised around broad areas of cell biology — Organelles and Trafficking, Host–Pathogen Interactions, The Nucleus, The Cytoskeleton, and Lipids and Metabolism — together with named endowment lectures, special seminars, and short talks by students and post-docs. It opens with pre-conference workshops at both host institutes on 9 December and closes at BRIC-NCCS Pune on 12 December.
Organelles and TraffickingHost–Pathogen InteractionsThe NucleusThe CytoskeletonLipids and MetabolismPoster SessionsPre-conference Workshops
About the Indian Society of Cell Biology (ISCB)
Founded in 1976, the ISCB promotes research and education in cell biology across India — running conferences, workshops and training programmes, and supporting young scientists. Membership is open to researchers and students: see iscb.co.in.
Endowment awards and travel grants are open to ISCB members only. If you intend to be considered for either, join the Society before you submit your abstract.
About IISER Pune
The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, established in 2006, integrates research and education in the basic sciences and is recognised as an Institution of National Importance.
Its cell and molecular biology community works across genome organisation, biophysics, microbiology, development and ageing, supported by extensive imaging and microscopy facilities on the Pashan campus.
About BRIC-NCCS Pune
The BRIC-National Centre for Cell Science (BRIC-NCCS), established in 1986, is an institute of the Department of Biotechnology’s Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council (BRIC), Government of India, and one of the country’s principal centres for research in cell biology. It is located on the Savitribai Phule Pune University campus.
It hosts the National Cell Repository, among India’s largest collections of authenticated cell lines, and its research spans chromatin biology, immunology and infection, cancer biology, stem cells and regenerative medicine, and microbial diversity.
Register for AICBC 2026
Registration and payment are a single step through SBI Collect. Early-bird registration runs 20 August – 20 September 2026, with a lower rate if you are not taking campus accommodation.
Fee Structure
| Category | Accommodation | Early bird 20 Aug – 20 Sep | Regular 21 Sep – 20 Nov |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student | Hostel, shared | ₹5,900 | ₹7,080 |
| None | ₹4,425 | ₹5,310 | |
| Post-doctoral | Guest House, shared | ₹8,260 | ₹9,440 |
| None | ₹6,608 | ₹7,552 | |
| Faculty | Guest House, single | ₹11,800 | ₹14,160 |
| None | ₹9,440 | ₹11,328 | |
| Industry | Guest House, single | ₹16,520 | ₹16,520 |
| None | ₹13,216 | ₹13,216 | |
| International | Guest House, single | US$200 | US$250 |
| None | US$160 | US$200 |
Fees cover all scientific sessions, meals and tea. Rows showing a room type include accommodation on the IISER Pune campus for the nights of the meeting; rows showing None do not. GST is already included in every amount above, so there is nothing further to add at the payment screen.
ISCB membership is encouraged for non-members, and is required for endowment awards and student travel grants — join via iscb.co.in.
Venue
Days 0–2 — IISER Pune
Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pashan, Pune 411008
Day 3 — NCCS Pune
SPPU Campus, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411007
✈ Pune International Airport (PNQ) — ~17 km · 🚉 Pune Junction — ~9 km
Campus accommodation is optional and, if taken, is included in the fee. A shuttle will transfer delegates to BRIC-NCCS on the morning of 12 December.
Pleasant December climate (~12–28 °C).
Important Dates
Early-bird registration opens 20 August
Early-bird registrationAug 20 – Sep 20
Regular registrationSep 21 – Nov 20
Abstracts — talk selectionSep 30, 2026
Abstracts — postersNov 20, 2026
Workshop applications closeOct 31, 2026°
Superresolution workshopDec 7–9, 2026
Other pre-conference workshopsDec 9, 2026
ConferenceDec 9–12, 2026
Organisers
Contact Us
Department of Biology
IISER Pune, Pashan
Pune 411008, Maharashtra
IISER Pune, Pashan
Pune 411008, Maharashtra
Registration
Register here
Registration & payment in one step
SBI Collect takes your details as you pay, so completing the payment completes your registration. Keep the receipt and transaction number — you will be asked for them at the registration desk.
Register & Pay →
Scan to pay & register
Fees are listed in full under Fee Structure, near the top of this page.
Conference Venues
The meeting runs across two campuses. The first three days are held at IISER Pune, with all talks in Raman Hall, Lecture Hall Complex, and poster sessions and meals in the Dining Hall Complex. The final day (12 December) moves to NCCS Pune for Sessions 5 and 6, the endowment lecture and the award ceremony.
IISER Pune on Google Maps → · NCCS Pune on Google Maps →
Pre-conference workshops run at both IISER Pune and NCCS Pune. The Superresolution Microscopy workshop runs 7–9 December and is applied for separately; other workshops run on 9 December. Places are limited.
Accommodation
Campus accommodation is optional. If you take it, it is bundled into your fee and allocated on the IISER Pune campus — students in shared hostel rooms, post-docs in shared guest-house rooms, faculty, industry and international delegates in single rooms. No separate booking is needed.
Making your own arrangements? Register at the lower rate for your category.
Childcare & Daycare
The IISER Pune campus daycare facility can be made available to delegates on request. Places are limited and must be arranged in advance — write to daycare@iiserpune.ac.in with the dates you need and the age of the child, and copy aicbc2026@acads.iiserpune.ac.in so the organisers can follow up.
Getting between the campuses
A shuttle will be provided to transfer delegates from IISER Pune to BRIC-NCCS Pune on the morning of 12 December.
The organisers do not arrange transport to or from the airport, railway station or bus terminals. App-based taxis (Uber, Ola, Rapido) are readily available at all of these and reach the IISER Pune campus in about 30–45 minutes.
How to Reach IISER Pune
By Air
Pune is well connected by air through Pune International Airport (PNQ), located approximately 17 km from the IISER Pune campus (~45 minutes by road, depending on traffic). It receives direct flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata.
By Train
Pune Junction Railway Station (PUNE) is well connected to major cities across India through frequent express and superfast trains. It is about 9 km from the campus (~30 minutes by road). The Pune Metro Aqua Line reaches Vanaz, the nearest station to campus, from where a taxi is a short ride.
By Road
Pune is well connected by several major national highways and expressways. The Mumbai–Pune Expressway links Pune to Mumbai in approximately 3 hours. Long-distance buses run from Mumbai, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad), Hyderabad and Bengaluru, via MSRTC and private operators. The campus is reached from anywhere in Pune via Pashan Road.
Weather Advisory for December in Pune
December in Pune is dry and sunny, roughly 28 °C by day and 12 °C at night. Bring a light jacket for the early-morning and evening sessions.
Programme & Abstract Book
The Programme and Abstract Book will be published here before the meeting.
QR code
coming soon
coming soon
Published with the abstract book
49th AICBC · Symposium
Architecture
of Life
of Life
Indian Society of Cell Biology (ISCB)
Available closer to the meeting
Platform and Poster Presentation Schedule
Platform speakers, poster timings, board numbers and a printable schedule will follow closer to the meeting.
Poster size — 3 ft wide × 4 ft high, portrait. That is approximately 91 cm × 122 cm. Boards will not take a wider or taller poster, and landscape posters cannot be accommodated. Please bring your poster printed; mounting material is provided at the venue.
Abstracts
There are two deadlines, and only the first is a hard cut-off:
30 September 2026 — to be considered for a short talk. Talks are selected from the abstracts received by this date, so a late abstract cannot be considered for the podium.
Short talks are open to students and post-doctoral researchers only. Abstracts from faculty, industry and other delegates are welcome for poster presentation. Note that this deadline is later than the early-bird registration cut-off of 20 September — register by 20 September for the lower rate, even if your abstract follows.
20 November 2026 — for a poster. Poster abstracts are accepted right up to the registration deadline.
Submission instructions will be published here; until then, prepare your abstract in the template below and email it to aicbc2026@acads.iiserpune.ac.in.
Download the abstract template Word (.docx) · one pageName the file Surname_FirstName_AICBC2026.docx and keep the abstract body to 300 words. Mark the presenting author with an asterisk.
Pre-conference workshop · Indian Society of Cell Biology
Superresolution MicroscopyFrom Principles to Practice
7–9 December 2026 · IISER Pune & BRIC-NCCS Pune
Hands-on with STED and Lattice SIM · limited places, by application
An intensive, advanced-level programme for researchers, imaging scientists and facility professionals who already work with microscopy. It takes imaging past the confocal — through the principles, experimental design, acquisition, optimisation, validation and quantitative analysis of superresolution, with extended hands-on time on STED and Lattice SIM.
The workshop is deliberately small and highly interactive: twelve participants work in two batches of six that rotate between the STED system at the BRIC-NCCS Imaging Facility and the Lattice SIM system at IISER Pune, with expert discussion, practical problem-solving and the possibility of imaging their own prepared samples. Full-time participation throughout the workshop is mandatory.
Lattice SIM vs STED
Both systems break the diffraction limit, and they break it differently. Choosing well is most of the skill — which is why every participant works on both.
Confocal~230 nm
Lattice SIM~115 nm
STED~50 nm
Two point sources 120 nm apart, with the intensity profile measured along the dashed line. That dip between the peaks is the resolution criterion itself. Scale bar 200 nm. Simulation.
Lattice SIM
STED
Frame 15102040
Lattice SIMSTEDsignal remaining · dashed line = 50%
The same structure over a time-lapse, at identical display scaling on every frame — so the dimming and the rising noise are real, not a contrast trick. Simulation.
SIM buys a factor of two almost for free; STED buys four or five and pays for it in photons. STED is visibly the sharper at frame 1 — but by frame 20 there is little left to image. A live, multicolour, whole-cell experiment usually wants SIM; a fixed sample where two structures sit 60 nm apart wants STED. Neither is the better instrument.
Applications
Apply for a place
Places are limited and allotted by selection, not first-come-first-served. Eleven questions, three of them written answers — about fifteen minutes. Answer them from your own bench practice.
Applications opening shortly Poster A3 · PDFWorkshop applications are separate from conference registration. Selected participants must also be registered for AICBC 2026.
Dates7–9 Dec 2026
VenuesIISER Pune & BRIC-NCCS
Participants12 · two batches of six
Applications close31 Oct 2026
Decisions by15 Nov 2026
Fee₹5,000 students & post-docs
₹10,000 faculty & professionals
₹10,000 faculty & professionals
IncludedAll meals · two nights’ shared accommodation
Eligibility — please read before applying
This workshop is intended for participants who already have a foundation in microscopy and practical experience with image acquisition and analysis. Prior hands-on experience is mandatory.
Applicants working in research laboratories or imaging core facilities where light microscopy is central to the research — and who provide access to, maintain, or deliver training in light microscopy for their institution or the wider community — are particularly encouraged to apply.
Applicants without prior hands-on experience in microscopy and image analysis may not be considered for selection.
Why attend
Go beyond conventional microscopy. Develop the knowledge and practical skill to decide when, why and how to use superresolution — and how to turn high-resolution images into meaningful quantitative biology.
Take your imaging from resolution to understanding.
What is covered
Fundamentals of superresolutionAcquisition & hands-on optimisationExperimental designSample preparationQuantitative image analysisSTEDLattice SIMExpert discussionsBiological & biomedical applications
Workshop schedule Three days · 7–9 December · separate from the conference programme
Select a day. Timings follow the convenor’s working schedule and may shift by a few minutes on the day.
IISER Pune · foundations of superresolution
13:30 – 14:35
Registration, welcome & workshop overview
Introductions and the learning objectives for the three days.
14:35 – 16:00
From conventional fluorescence to superresolution · fundamentals of STED
Where the diffraction limit comes from, and standardising the system for STED. Tea at 16:00.
16:30 – 17:15
Fundamentals of Lattice SIM
Principles, and standardising the system for Lattice SIM.
17:15 – 19:00
Image analysis
20:00 – 21:00
Dinner
Guest House, IISER Pune.
IISER Pune & BRIC-NCCS · hands-on, in two batches
07:30 – 08:30
Breakfast
IISER Pune guest house. The first batch leaves for BRIC-NCCS at 08:30.
09:00 – 13:00
Hands-on demonstrations — parallel sessions
Batch 1 · BRIC-NCCS — confocal to STED: imaging parameters, fluorophores, labelling and controls.
Batch 2 · IISER Pune — point scanning to Lattice SIM: optimisation and experimental design. Tea at 11:00.
Batch 2 · IISER Pune — point scanning to Lattice SIM: optimisation and experimental design. Tea at 11:00.
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch · transport between campuses
15:00 – 19:00
Hands-on demonstrations — batches exchange
Batch 2 takes the STED programme at BRIC-NCCS; batch 1 takes Lattice SIM at IISER Pune. Tea at 17:00.
IISER Pune · analysis and your own samples
09:30 – 13:00
Image analysis
Hands-on analysis using Aivia, and analysis of SIM superresolution data.
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 17:00
Imaging your own prepared samples
On any one system. Arranged with selected participants in advance.
17:30 – 18:00
Discussion, key takeaways & valedictory
The workshop closes in time for the conference’s opening evening the same day.
° Marked figures are provisional and awaiting confirmation by the organisers.
Instrument partners
Questions about the workshop: aicbc2026.workshop@gmail.com
Anything about the conference itself: aicbc2026@acads.iiserpune.ac.in
Awards & Endowment Prizes
Students and post-doctoral researchers presenting posters or platform talks are eligible for the Society’s endowment awards — a certificate and a cash prize each. A limited number of travel grants may be available to student members.
Eligibility rules, prize values and the travel-grant application route will be published here. Enquiries: aicbc2026@acads.iiserpune.ac.in.
Dr C.M.S. Dass PrizeDr S.R.V. Rao PrizeDr V.C. Shah PrizeDr A.S. Mukherjee Memorial PrizeDr A.N. Bhisey PrizeBest Poster AwardsTravel Grants
Invited Speakers
Leaders across the spectrum of cell biology — from chromatin and organelles to host–pathogen interactions and ageing.
18 speakers
Invited Speaker
Amitabha Majumdar
BRIC-NCCS, Pune
Invited Speaker
Bama Charan Mondol
JNU, New Delhi
Invited Speaker
Bidisha Sinha
IISER Kolkata
Invited Speaker
Chandrima Das
SINP, Kolkata
Invited Speaker
Mainak Bose
IIT Kharagpur
Invited Speaker
Minhaj Sirajuddin
InStem, Bangalore
Invited Speaker
Mohammed Saleem
NISER, Bhubaneswar
Invited Speaker
Richa Rikhy
IISER Pune
Invited Speaker
Saikat Chowdhury
CCMB, Hyderabad
Invited Speaker
Sandhya Ganesan
IISER Thiruvananthapuram
Invited Speaker
Satish Khurana
IISER Thiruvananthapuram
Invited Speaker
Sheetal Gandotra
IGIB, New Delhi
Invited Speaker
Shirisha Nagotu
IIT Guwahati
Invited Speaker
Sona Rajakumari
IISc, Bangalore
Invited Speaker
Sourav Datta
IISER Bhopal
Invited Speaker
Sudha Kumari
IISc, Bangalore
Invited Speaker
Varadharajan Sundaramurthy
NCBS, Bangalore
Programme at a Glance
Four days across two campuses: Days 0–2 at IISER Pune, the final day at NCCS Pune. Select a day to view its schedule.
IISER Pune & BRIC-NCCS Pune · workshops, registration and the opening seminar
All day
Pre-conference Workshops
Parallel workshops at IISER Pune and NCCS Pune. Separate sign-up; places are limited. The Superresolution Microscopy workshop runs 7–9 December and closes on this day.
17:00 – 19:00
Registration Desk
Lecture Hall Complex foyer, IISER Pune.
18:00 – 19:00
Special Seminar
Raman Hall.
19:00 – 20:00
ISCB Executive Committee Meeting
Board Room, Guest House. Open to EC members only.
20:00 – 22:00
Dinner · Registration Desk
Dining Hall Complex. The desk is open through dinner for anyone arriving late.
IISER Pune · Raman Hall, Lecture Hall Complex
08:00 – 12:00
Registration Desk
Dining Hall Complex.
09:00 – 09:30
Welcome to AICBC
Secretary ISCB, Organising Secretary, and the Director of IISER Pune.
09:30 – 11:00
Session 1 — Organelles and Trafficking
Two invited lectures, followed by tea.
11:00 – 12:00
Prof Rita Mulherkar Award
Award lecture, Raman Hall.
12:00 – 13:00
Short Talks — Students & Post-docs
Six talks selected from abstracts received by 30 September.
14:00 – 16:00
Poster Session · Odd-numbered Boards
Boards stay up across both days. Dining Hall Complex.
16:00 – 18:30
Session 2 — Host–Pathogen Interactions
Three invited lectures, with tea between.
18:30 – 19:30
ISCB General Body Meeting
Raman Hall.
20:00 – 22:00
Poster Session · Even-numbered Boards
With dinner. Dining Hall Complex.
IISER Pune · Raman Hall, Lecture Hall Complex
09:00 – 10:30
Session 3 — The Nucleus
Three invited lectures, followed by tea.
11:00 – 12:00
Special WWGM Seminar
Raman Hall.
12:00 – 13:00
Short Talks — Students & Post-docs
Six talks selected from abstracts received by 30 September.
14:00 – 16:00
Poster Session · Odd-numbered Boards
Second viewing of the same boards. Dining Hall Complex.
16:00 – 17:30
Session 4 — The Cytoskeleton
Three invited lectures, followed by tea.
20:00 – 22:00
Poster Session · Even-numbered Boards
Second viewing, with dinner. Dining Hall Complex.
NCCS Pune · shuttle from IISER Pune at 09:00
09:00 – 09:30
Travel to NCCS Pune
Shuttle from IISER Pune. Breakfast before departure.
09:30 – 10:30
Session 5 — Lipids and Metabolism
Two invited lectures, followed by tea.
11:00 – 12:00
S.P. Ray-Chaudhuri 75th Birthday Endowment Lecture
The Society’s flagship endowment lecture.
12:00 – 13:00
Short Talks — Students & Post-docs
Six talks selected from abstracts received by 30 September.
14:00 – 16:00
Session 6 — Invited Lectures
Four invited lectures, followed by tea.
16:30 – 17:30
Special Seminar
NCCS Pune.
17:30 – 19:00
Award Ceremony & Close
Endowment prizes, best poster awards, and closing remarks.
19:30 – 21:30
Conference Dinner
NCCS Pune.
Poster boards go up on the morning of 10 December and stay up for both full conference days. Odd-numbered presenters attend their board in the afternoon slot and even-numbered presenters in the evening slot, on each of 10 and 11 December.
Timings are confirmed. The remaining session topics and the speaker names will be published as they are allocated.
Sponsors & Exhibitors
Manufacturers of instruments and reagents will exhibit throughout the meeting. Sponsorship and exhibition enquiries are welcome at aicbc2026@acads.iiserpune.ac.in.
Platinum — availableGold — availableExhibition Booths — available