About iSRL
Interdisciplinary Systems Research LabiSRL is an independent research lab. We are not affiliated with any university. We pick one focus area per year and go deep — producing open, rigorous, publicly useful work on problems that sit at the intersection of systems, infrastructure, and society.
Our 2026 focus is Indian Food Informatics Data (IFID) — building digital public infrastructure for the Indian food ecosystem. The goal is coordination without convergence: stable identifiers that let thousands of regional ingredient expressions interoperate with regulatory, trade, and health systems, without flattening the diversity that makes them meaningful.
We collaborate with subject matter experts and labs from other institutions when the problem calls for it. We don't need institutional cover to do good work — we need the right people, the right question, and enough time to think clearly.
We work asynchronously and fully online. There's no office, no room to commute to, no hours to keep. What we do keep is a deliberate rhythm.
Completely. No check-ins, no updates. That week exists to let ideas settle. Some of the most useful realisations happen when you stop pushing.
After pushing updates in February, the entire month of March is a rest. Momentum is only useful if you have somewhere to take it.
No one is managing your hours. You know what needs to get done. You organise your time around it.
Follow your curiosity. Ask uncomfortable questions. Change your mind when the evidence changes. No one here needs you to be right — we need you to be honest.
The lab operates on a simple premise: your worth as a person has nothing to do with your output, your research record, or anything external. You are not here to impress anyone. You are here to serve the truth as faithfully as you can and represent it as clearly as possible.
We expect high discipline and the ability to learn, communicate, and work independently. In return, you get a genuinely supportive environment to do your best work — and the freedom to follow your curiosity wherever it leads.
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Put yourself first
Before you commit to anything here, ask whether you'll still get at least six hours of sleep and time for yourself. Opportunities will always exist. Your wellbeing is not renewable on demand. We mean this.
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Say no early
A clear no upfront is worth far more to us than a reluctant yes that slowly unravels. We actively encourage saying no. A half-committed presence is harder to work around than an honest absence.
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Full commitment or none
When you do say yes, we expect the real version of that yes. Not perfection — commitment. Showing up, communicating when things aren't working, and doing the unglamorous parts without being asked.
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Serve the truth
Your job is not to defend a position or make the lab look good. It is to find out what is actually true, document it clearly, and be willing to say when the answer is inconvenient. That is the whole job.
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No one to impress
There are no performance reviews, no ranking, no internal politics. There is just the work, and whether it holds up. We are a small team and we work together without hierarchy.
Namasthasyai Namo Namah Salutations to the Goddess who dwells in all beings in the form of intelligence.
I bow to her again and again.
Some honest questions worth sitting with before reaching out:
- Can you get at least six hours of sleep on a working week and still meet your commitments here?
- Are you comfortable working without someone checking in on you?
- Can you communicate clearly — not just when things are going well, but when they aren't?
- Are you able to say "I don't know" and then go find out?
- Is there space in your life right now for something that requires your full attention?
If the honest answer to any of these is no right now, that's fine. The timing has to be right. Reach out when it is.
iSRL is led by Lalitha A R (PI). The current team includes two research assistants working on the IFID 2026 project. We are intentionally small — small enough that every person's presence shapes the work.
We welcome collaboration from subject matter experts and researchers at other institutions. We are not looking for institutional affiliation — we are looking for people who care about the problem and have something real to contribute.
If that is you, the join page has the details.