Pathway to Independence - an interview with Nikhil Mishra.

Nikhil Mishra is a 2026 fellow in Development's Pathway to Independence programme, which supports developmental biologists to secure their first faculty position. Nikhil's postdoctoral work with Carl-Philipp Heisenberg at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria integrated developmental biology and physical approaches to show that developmental processes are patterned by early embryonic geometry. He is now looking to continue this interdisciplinary work in his own independent research group. We met with Nikhil online to discuss the evolution of his research interests from sub-cellular beginnings to whole-organism questions, and the pedagogical importance of scientific security for students and trainees.