How cells move as a team
Investigating the clean-up systems inside cells that let groups of cells travel together through a living body.
THE DIRECTOR'S MANIFESTO
Teaching is My Heritage.
Science is My Craft.
For centuries, the name Karmakar has belonged to the artisan. They were blacksmiths. It was understood that no tool could hold its edge without a foundation of absolute precision. If a thing was to be made, it was to be made to last. I was raised by a different tradition. My parents and grandparents were teachers. I have seen the world being made a better place, one student at a time. I look up to this tradition. It is my heritage. I aspire to forge this name anew. I apply the craftsman's eye to the Science of Learning. I intend to build academic foundations so strong they do not crack. We are artisans of the logical mind, builders of scientific thinking. I want students to receive more than a syllabus. I want them equipped with the logic to master the world.
Dr. Susnata Karmakar
Founder & Academic Director
Founder & Academic Director
THE INSTITUTIONAL PHILOSOPHY
Bridging Global Research with Secondary Mastery.
For over a decade, I navigated the world's most advanced laboratories—from the quiet rigor of IISER to the frontier research of the University of Cambridge. I have seen where true science is born: not in the mass accumulation of facts, but in a logical architecture that withstands the pressure of discovery. Traditional schooling often reduces science to a series of labels to be memorized, treating the mind as a storage unit rather than an active processor. I founded Karmakar Klasses to shift this paradigm. We bridge the gap by bringing the high-fidelity structural logic used in global research back to our local roots. We don't just teach the syllabus; we architect a Researcher's Lens, equipping students with the structural thinking required to master the complexity of life.
The record
A Scientist's Training, Brought to School Science
- 10+ years of university science
- DBT-IPLS Fellow during my Master's, Department of Biotechnology
- PhD Biological Sciences, IISER Kolkata
- ICMR Senior Research Fellow, Indian Council of Medical Research
- Cambridge Postdoctoral Research Associate
The journey
From Haldia to Cambridge, and Back to the Classroom
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The beginning
A family of teachers
Haldia, West Bengal
Two generations of teachers at home: my parents and my grandparents.
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2009 – 2012
BSc in Chemistry, Genetics and Biotechnology
Bangalore University
First Class -
2012 – 2014
MSc in Genomics
Madurai Kamaraj University
First Class DBT-IPLS Fellow -
2014 – 2022
PhD in Biological Sciences
IISER Kolkata · Dr Mohit Prasad's lab
Ran a multi-year research project from design to publication, trained undergraduates in lab work and microscopy, and supervised Master's students.
ICMR Senior Research Fellow -
2022 – 2026
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Cambridge · Prof. Sarah Bray's lab
Led an independent line of research on how genes guide the developing nervous system, presented it at international conferences, and mentored Master's students.
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Today
Founder and Academic Director
Karmakar Klasses
I lead The Collective in building science courses for CBSE Class 9 and 10, and I review every resource for accuracy and clarity.
The science, in plain words
Questions at the Frontier of Biology
The same habits of mind, asking how a thing works and checking the evidence, shape every lesson we build.
How genes build a brain
Studying the genetic master switches that decide how a developing nervous system takes shape.
Peer-reviewed research in
PLOS Genetics
Molecular Biology of the Cell
A teacher at every stage
A Scientist Who Has Always Taught
Training undergraduates
Designed and ran structured training in laboratory technique and microscopy at IISER Kolkata.
Mentoring Master's students
Supervised Master's research projects at IISER Kolkata and the University of Cambridge: setting goals, teaching techniques and giving regular feedback.
Building Karmakar Klasses
Teaching school students online, and leading the team of five to six people who produce every course.
Beyond the lab and the classroom
Things I Have Built and Organised
Founded the student-monitored canteen
A canteen on the IISER Kolkata campus, monitored by students.
Ran the Music Club for years
Helped make it a prominent name in the music scene of Bengal.
Organised Art for a Cause
An online fundraising concert series that fed families and supported schoolchildren in remote villages.
Organised the PDN Symposium 2025
The research symposium of the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience.
What I believe
Three Convictions Behind Every Lesson
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01
If you can picture it, you understand it.
Years at the microscope taught me that a student who can see how a cell or a force works has understood it, and a student who can only label it has memorised it. So we show the structure before we name it.
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02
Ask how we know, not only what we know.
We treat Class 9 science with the care of a research paper. Students learn the evidence behind each idea, so their answers rest on reasoning they can explain.
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03
Students who think for themselves.
Inspired by Sugata Mitra's self-organised learning, we help students move from listening to exploring, until they can ask good questions of their own.
Success is a delayed response to the foundation built today. Let's build it with the rigor of a researcher and the curiosity of an artist.
Dr. Susnata Karmakar
Founder & Academic Director
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