Let’s talk about making an approachable academic portfolio website with Owlstown. This is part of our series featuring winners of the Best Personal Academic Websites Contest. Today’s episode of The Social Academic features Dr. Akshata Naik.
I loved this episode, and Akshata’s website because it shows there’s many ways to create space for your research and science communication online. You can be creative for your academic web page without having to rely on graphic design. Dr. Akshata Naik’s website as a medical educator is a great example of a writing-focused website that still makes an impact.
This episode of The Social Academic Podcast was recorded on Thursday, May 14, 2026. A full text transcript will be added to this post once it’s been fully reviewed by a human. Thank you!
Quotes
Her Faculty Profile Wasn’t Enough
“We do have a page from our university, but it’s kind of locked-in in terms of design and what goes on up there. I am a very creative person; I try to put in my creativity as much as possible in whatever I design, and that was the inspiration for me to start my own website.”
Choosing Owlstown
“I just want something that would replicate my CV, but not in a wordy technical way. I want it to be more like people can click around—a friendlier way to present my CV—and Owlstown provides me with that.”
On Having a Blog
“I feel like we have these false deadlines for ourselves and create that pressure…it’s okay to be free as long as you enjoy doing it.”
Check out more from our series featuring winners of the 2025 contest. Here’s the winners announcement from last year!
The 2026 Best Personal Academic Websites Contest opens in mid-June 2026. Yay! Subscribe for updates:
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Here’s what Akshata said about creating her website
“I thrive on creativity! Science communication, teaching and new research ideas keep me going. So I wanted to create an online space to portray my work for networking with folks similar to my interests, and importantly serving the broader community via outreach. And being an academician is a good enough reason for building a digital presence as it strategically aligns with my tenure and promotion goals by amplifying the impact of my work beyond traditional boundaries.”
—Dr. Akshata Naik
Here’s what the judges said about Akshata’s website
Bio
Dr. Akshata Naik is a medical educator primarily involved in physiology education and curriculum building for medical students. She researches best practices on innovative teaching of physiology in addition to identifying psycho-physiological parameters of learners in various educational settings and has led workshops based on her research. A budding academician, Dr. Naik is passionate about scientific communication and is enthusiastic about sharing her professional experiences with STEM Graduates.
