As the institute completed its 9th year, the THSTI fraternity was joined by the Secretary, DBT, Dr. Renu Swaroop, Prof. Anil K. Gupta, Founder of Honey Bee Network and a renowned advocate of grassroot innovations along with dignitaries from DBT and other institutes to commemorate the Foundation Day. Prof. Gagandeep Kang, the current Executive Director ushered in the celebrations by briefing the audience about the institute’s strengths, the proposed reorganization of THSTI into its original cabinet-approved structure, achievements in the past one year and where we see our self at different time points over the next 10 years while also emphasizing on nurturing partnerships within and beyond the cluster to accomplish our goals. The Foundation Day Address by Prof. Gupta educated the audience about ‘a new grammar for translational research’ to let context guide the content of our research, significance of collaborations and involvement of end-users of research in its design. Secretary, DBT in her Presidential Address congratulated the institute on its efforts of knowledge generation through basic research and moving towards product development, high-quality students output, remarkable national and international partnerships and emphasized on induction of entrepreneurial ventures and importance of collaborations to take the institute forward. She endorsed THSTI’s efforts in putting in place a governance mechanism and modifying its policy to solidify and continue academia-industry collaborations. A Panel chaired by Prof. Gupta discoursed on translational research: who should do it, what can be defined translational and what equips an institute to carry out translational research. The first half was concluded with a prize distribution ceremony for competitions organized for students and staff. The second half of the day was dedicated to cultural events which saw students and staff showing equal enthusiasm in participation.