Vishwanath Varma

Post-Doctoral Fellow

National Institute of Advanced Studies

About Me

I am a post-doctoral researcher working on Fish Behaviour and Cognition with a Ph.D on the evolution of accurate circadian rhythms. My research interests include individual variation in behavioural traits, social behaviour, behavioural plasticity and daily rhythms. I am currently developing a pipeline for tracking and analyzing the movements of multiple fish in complex and noisy environments using OpenCV, machine learning and tracking algorithms. I am also attempting to model animal behaviour and social interactions using NetLogo.

Interests

Behavioural Variation
Social Cognition
Circadian Rhythms

Education

PhD in Animal Behaviour and Evolution, 2018

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India
MSc in Biotechnology, 2011

St. Joseph's College, Trichy, India
BSc in Advanced Zoology & Biotechnology, 2009

Loyola College, Chennai, India

Skills

Statistical analysis

Computer Vision

Behavioural experimentation

Experience

Post-Doctoral Fellow

National Institute of Advanced Studies

August 2018 – Present Bangalore

Responsibilities include:

Experimentation, analysis and modeling of fish behaviour
Teaching Course on Animal Cognition
Training and mentoring junior researchers

Ph.D. student

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research

August 2011 – April 2018 Bangalore

Thesis title: Evaluating the role of circadian clock and developmental processes in the evolution of accurate eclosion rhythms in fruit flies

Personal CV

First-author interview

Interview accompanying my publication in Biology Open on the evolution of accurate eclosion rhythms in fruit flies

Newspaper article

Article published in a national newspaper ‘The Hindu’ on the persistence of circadian rhythms in acyclic environments

Newspaper article

Projects

Collective exploration and learning

How do pairs of fish with different exploratory traits collectively learn to navigate a spatial maze?

Personality and social behaviour in Mahseer

Studying the links between personality traits and nature of social interactions in the Deccan Mahseer (Tor khudree) .

Accuracy of circadian rhythms

Evolution of accurate rhythms and correlated clock properties

Daily rhythms under semi-natural conditions

How do rhythms of activity and eclosion in natural environments differ from laboratory conditions?

Miscellaneous side-projects

Jetlag under different temperatures, egg-laying rhythms, adaptive significance of circadian rhythms.

Agent Based Modeling and Fish Tracking

Predator-prey models and Temporal Niches

Modeling predator-prey interactions, behavioural variation and temporal niche segregation

Social interactions and collective movements

Modeling movements of agents to mimic animal behaviours like aggression, sociability and navigation

Tracking fish in complex backgrounds using machine learning

Object detection and tracking using Faster-RCNN and SORT algorithm

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Publications

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Vishwanath Varma, Harsh Vasoya, Anushka Jain, VV Binoy (2020). ‘The Bold are the Sociable’: Personality, sociability and lateralized utilization of brain hemisphere in the juveniles of a megafish Deccan Mahseer (Tor khudree) (Pre-print). bioRxiv.

Vishwanath Varma, Shambhavi Krishna, Manishi Srivastava, Vijay Kumar Sharma, Vasu Sheeba (2019). Accuracy of fruit-fly eclosion rhythms evolves by strengthening circadian gating rather than developmental fine-tuning. Biology open.

Manishi Srivastava, Vishwanath Varma, Lakshman Abhilash, Vijay Kumar Sharma, Vasu Sheeba (2019). Circadian clock properties and their relationships as a function of free-running period in Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of biological rhythms.

Vishwanath Varma (2019). First person–Vishwanath Varma. COMPANY BIOLOGISTS LTD BIDDER BUILDING, STATION RD, HISTON, CAMBRIDGE CB24 ….

Vishwanath Varma (2018). Evaluating the role of circadian clock properties and developmental processes in the evolution of accurate eclosion rhythms in Drosophila melanogaster.

Manishi Srivastava, Anjana James, Vishwanath Varma, Vijay Kumar Sharma, Vasu Sheeba (2018). Environmental cycles regulate development time via circadian clock mediated gating of adult emergence. BMC developmental biology.

Radhika Shindey, Vishwanath Varma, KL Nikhil, Vijay Kumar Sharma (2017). Evolution of circadian rhythms in Drosophila melanogaster populations reared in constant light and dark regimes for over 330 generations. Chronobiology international.

Radhika Shindey, Vishwanath Varma, KL Nikhil, Vijay Kumar Sharma (2016). Evolution of robust circadian clocks in Drosophila melanogaster populations reared in constant dark for over 330 generations. The Science of Nature.

Vivek Rohidas Vartak*, Vishwanath Varma*, Vijay Kumar Sharma (2015). Effects of polygamy on the activity/rest rhythm of male fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster. The Science of Nature.

Anuj Menon, Vishwanath Varma, Vijay Kumar Sharma (2014). Rhythmic egg-laying behaviour in virgin females of fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster. Chronobiology international.

Vishwanath Varma, Nisha N Kannan, Vijay Kumar Sharma (2014). Selection for narrow gate of emergence results in correlated sex-specific changes in life history of Drosophila melanogaster. Biology open.

Joydeep De*, Vishwanath Varma*, Soham Saha, Vasu Sheeba, Vijay Kumar Sharma (2013). Significance of activity peaks in fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, under seminatural conditions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Vishwanath Varma, Narendra Mukherjee, Nisha N Kannan, Vijay Kumar Sharma (2013). Strong (type 0) phase resetting of activity-rest rhythm in fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, at low temperature. Journal of biological rhythms.

Joydeep De, Vishwanath Varma, Vijay Kumar Sharma (2012). Adult emergence rhythm of fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster under seminatural conditions. Journal of biological rhythms.

Nisha N Kannan, Vishwanath Varma, Joydeep De, Vijay Kumar Sharma (2012). Stability of adult emergence and activity/rest rhythms in fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster under semi-natural condition. PloS one.

Contact

Animal Behaviour and Cognition Programme, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India 560054