The Calendar is our annual fundraising ritual. We love to work on it, and we love it so much that you all can’t get enough of it year after year. Hopes and dreams for the same response, we started with an idea we all loved and ran with it. For months, we worked on it, brainstorming, drafting, fact-checking, and, of course, saying YASS as Ayan, the artist, rolled out the illustrations for each month. Et Voila! We give you the 2026 Labhopping Calendar.
We often imagine science as an exercise in precision—clearly labelled diagrams, exact measurements, and classifications that fit neatly into boxes. But anyone who has ever peered closely at the universe knows the truth: the picture of the world we have is neither complete nor fixed, even when viewed from the towering pillars of science. It is complex, approximate, and sometimes unfathomable. “We often forget this blurry, messy trait,” points out Aashima Dogra, co-founder and Editor of Labhopping Science Media forum, an independent science platform that was founded in 2016.
Titled “SCIENCE: Fuzzy, Messy, Awesome!”, the Labhopping 2026 Desktop Calendar embraces this beautiful complexity. It is a one-of-a-kind, boundary-busting, binary-breaking science-art collaboration that invites people to explore the grey zones of the scientific enterprise—those spaces where categories blur, definitions unravel, and curiosity thrives.
What makes a new species?
Is tar a solid or a liquid?
What, after all, is death? Are viruses alive?
What time is it, really?
At the heart of this year’s calendar is the vibrant artwork of Ayan (ayanbythesea.com), a trans artist who has reimagined intricate scientific ideas in wonderfully zany yet deeply thoughtful ways. His illustrations infuse each month with colour, whimsy, and emotional intelligence—transforming abstract, messy scientific notions into layered visual stories that will keep you guessing through the month.
Through this unique science-art collaboration, the calendar encourages viewers to challenge assumptions, get comfortable with ambiguity, and rediscover the wonder in not having all the answers. “Each page on the Labhopping 2026 calendar highlights a scientific question, concept, or phenomenon that is associated with the theme of blurriness,” explains Nandita Jayaraj, also a co-founder and Editor at Labhopping. One side of each month on the calendar presents the month’s layout and artwork, while the reverse side presents a passage that describes the concept in simple, engaging language.
Labhopping’s award-winning team of editors have conceptualised the calendar and developed the text with the help of over a dozen Indian scientists, primarily women and trans, who are experts in various disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), as well as education and sociology. “This exercise has been a very affirming reminder of the bedrock of everything we do: community,” says Sayantan Datta, an editor and core team member of Labhopping. “Over the past few months, many individuals have offered to help us with different aspects of the production process. It is truly taking a village, a heartwarming community of care, to bring it together.”
This calendar is part of an annual tradition that Labhopping kicked off in 2018. This time, the focus has shifted from featuring individuals in the Indian science ecosystem, as the previous calendars have done, to science itself. Past collaborators include the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (Chennai), DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance, and Centre for Advanced Learning (Mangaluru). This year, the calendar is supported by Abhilasha Joshi, a neuroscientist, using her prize funds from the Peter and Patricia Gruber International Research Award.
All proceeds from the 2026 calendar sales will go toward producing new multimedia science content on TheLifeofScience.com in 2026, supporting independent, creative science storytelling for diverse audiences. The logistics and reselling of the calendar are executed by SciRio, a science branding and communication strategy company.
Endorsement for the 2026 Labhopping Calendar
PROCURING THE LABHOPPING 2026 DESKTOP CALENDAR
1. A limited number of individual copies can be bought via https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0G52CJJGY
2. You can buy five or more copies of the calendar at a discount here: https://pages.razorpay.com/labhopping-desktop-calendar
