OICSD Scholars Brochure 2022-23

Scholars

THE OXFORD INDIA CENTRE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The OICSD advances research on the complex challenges and opportunities posed by sustainable development in the Indian subcontinent. The Centre’s work rests on three pillars. First, it aims to bring together different academic disciplines and approaches to address a core set of sustainable development challenges in India. Second, the Centre develops future leaders by providing fully-funded scholarships to talented Indian graduate students researching on the scientific, social, political, economic and legal dimensions of sustainability in the country. Third, it seeks to translate academic research into policy-relevant actions and impacts, and engages with a broad audience in the UK and in India.

OUR SCHOLARS

MEDHA MUKHERJEE

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2022

Studying for a DPhil in Geography & the Environment

Medha’s research examines how the low-income, the marginalised, and the most excluded in rural India, can have reliable access to safe drinking water. She is interested in how inclusive outcomes can be reached through national, state and individual choices that impact, and are impacted by, inequalities. Previously, Medha was awarded the Felix Scholarship for her MSc in Water Science, Policy and Management at the University of Oxford.

Indira Gandhi-Radhakrishnan Scholar 2022

Studying

for an MSc in Modern South Asian Studies

Kankana has always been moved by the gross deprivations meted out to single women, especially widows. Through her stint at Oxford, she intends to sharpen her critical understanding of the heteropatriarchal gender norms in order to address how or whether singlehood affects women’s access to developmental resources in the regime of governmentality, especially in the postcolonial condition. Kankana gained her bachelor’s degree in 2020 from the Department of English, Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

ISHANI MOOKHERJEE

Oxford-Gopal Subramanium Scholar 2022

Studying for an MSc in Economics for Development

Ritheka Sundar holds an undergraduate degree in economics from Stella Maris College in Chennai. She aims to contribute towards building an empathetic society, with reduced poverty, so that people from marginalised social and economic backgrounds have an increased access to better opportunities and subsequently, a better life. She is specifically interested in analysing gender-based income inequalities within the agricultural labour market in India while also considering the effect the current trends in climate change can have on the target population.

Cornelia Sorabji Scholar 2022 BCL

Ishani aims to pursue a career in research and academia, specialising in the field of constitutional law, human rights, and jurisprudence. She graduated with the B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) degree from Jindal Global Law School, India. During the BCL, she wishes to undertake comparative and inter-disciplinary study of human rights and corresponding State obligations, and meaningfully contribute towards the growing scholarship on feminist constitutionalism.

KANKANA CHATTERJEE

RITHEKA SUNDAR

Meghmala graduated from National Law University Odisha, in 2018 with B.B.A., LL.B. (Hons) topping her batch with 7 gold medals. She is reading for the BCL at Somerville College, and hopes to continue her time in Oxford by studying for a DPhil as she intends to frame and simplify the manner in which corporate law is taught in India.

PAYAL AGARWAL

Physics

Snigdha holds an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) and a master’s degree from TU Delft. She was previously a research fellow at National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education (NCPRE), working on perovskite solar cells. Snigdha’s DPhil research is aimed at understanding the fundamental properties of various perovskites which can then be used to improve their performance and make high efficiency devices

A gold medalist in law, Payal has devoted more than six years to public service as a Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate in India. During this period, she presided over both civil and criminal courts. She also presided over a mobile court where she took the court to the doorsteps of the litigants residing in the most interior areas of rural India, thereby making the justice delivery system more cost effective and accessible especially for those who are disadvantaged by reason of any social, economic or other disability.

Karthik’s research interests include soft chemical routes to Lithium-ion battery cathodes and electrolytes. Previously he has worked on projects based on renewable energy for water treatment at Indian Institute of Science, photocatalytic properties of synthesized solids and has performed studies on Bismuth Oxyhalides.

The

Subramanium Scholar 2021

Studying for a DPhil in Law

Swapnil’s research focuses on judicial review exercised by the Supreme Court of India. He holds a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) degree from the University of Oxford, with a focus on Comparative Equality Law, Constitutional Theory, Comparative Constitutional Law and Children, Families and State. Prior to Oxford, Swapnil completed an undergraduate degree in law from National Law University (Jodhpur) India.

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2020 Studying for a DPhil in Zoology

Apoorva’s doctoral research explores the inclusion of traditional ecological knowledge alongside scientific ecological knowledge for conserving endemic and threatened avian fauna in the tropical forests of central Western Ghats and its associated coastal landscape. Her research focuses on two indigenous tribal communities- the Siddis and Halakki Vokkaligas to understand their ethnoornithological knowledge and its application in conservation planning, policy and management.

APOORVA KULKARNI

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2021 Studying for a DPhil in Condensed Matter

SNIGDHA LAL

Gopal

SWAPNIL TRIPATHI

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2021 Studying for a DPhil in Inorganic Chemistry

KARTHIK GANESH

Ratanshaw Bomanji Zaiwalla Scholar 2022

HSA Advocates Scholar 2022 BCL

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2020

Studying for a DPhil in Biochemistry

Divya works on understanding the evolution of bacteria under antibiotic stress. She strives to answer questions related to single-cell heterogeneity in stress adaptations which enables bacteria to develop antibiotic resistance by exploring the importance of stochastic noise and fluctuations in these processes. Divya holds an undergraduate degree, majoring in Chemical Engineering, from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi (2016-2020).

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2019

Studying for a DPhil in Geography and the Environment

Gaurav is researching on the politics and political economy of transition to electric mobility in India. He is an urban and transport planner with over 8 years of experience of working on urban mobility issues in India in a variety of roles ranging from consulting to research and advocacy. Prior to starting his DPhil, he was leading the programme on sustainable mobility for Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi.

Mary

Zouche Graduate Scholar 2019

Studying for a DPhil in Zoology

Aavika is evaluating the effects of climate change and land-use change on forest birds of eastern Indian Himalaya with a specific focus to Arunachal Pradesh. Earlier she worked as a Junior Project Researcher at Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Bangalore and completed her MSc in Environment Science and Technology from Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Environment Education and Research, Pune.

Previously: Cornelia Sorabji Scholar 2017

Studying for a DPhil

in Law

Aradhana is a DPhil Candidate in Law, specialising in laws related to sex offences. Prior to the DPhil, she completed the BCL (Distinction) and MPhil in Law at Oxford and BA LLB from NLU Delhi. She is a Stipendiary Lecturer and Organising tutor in Law at Pembroke college and a Retaining Fee Lecturer in Constitutional Law at Somerville college. She is the Managing Editor of Oxford Human Rights hub Blog. She was awarded the Modern Law Review Scholarship in 2021 and 2022.

Rakesh & Ritu Kapoor Somerville Scholar in Hygiene and Health 2019

Studying for a DPhil in Public Policy

Gauri is interested in the application of insights from behavioural economics to policy-making. Her research focuses on biases in information processing and belief updating in the context of the spread of health-related misinformation in India. Previously, Gauri obtained her master’s degree in Management and Strategy at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences.

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2019

Studying

for a DPhil in Geography and the Environment

Trisha looks at the potential of forest restoration for climate change mitigation and other benefits in India. Trisha holds a Masters in Environmental Management, with a focus on Ecosystem Science and Conservation from Duke University. She also worked in the Global Climate Change program at The Nature Conservancy in Washington D.C.

DIVYA CHOUDHARY

The Gopal Subramanium Scholar 2019

ARADHANA

GAURAV DUBEY

De

AAVIKA DHANDA

TRISHA GOPALAKRISHNA

GAURI CHANDRA

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2018

Studying for a DPhil in Economics

Sanghamitra has a Masters from the Delhi School of Economics and another in Public Policy from UC Berkeley, and has also worked at Goldman Sachs. She received a Global Development Fellowship from USAID to research the Enterprise Development Programme run by SaveAct in South Africa. Keen to research the intersectionality of sustainable development and finance, she works on applied econometrics and development economics.

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2015

Studying for an DPhil in International Development

Deepa’s DPhil research focusses on the political economy of social protection programmes in India. It interrogates whether social sector schemes can ‘transform’ the social relations of production in village societies, and probes the determinants of such transformation. Prior to her studies at Oxford, Deepa worked for over seven years as a journalist with a leading national newspaper, The Hindu, in Bangalore.

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2015

Studying for a DPhil Plant Sciences

Shivani aims to understand the evolution of mechanism of extracellular perception of diseases in the Solanaceae plant family, including important crops such as tomato, aubergine, chili and potato. Since plant diseases pose a huge challenge to crop production, enhanced understanding of how plant diseases are achieved will open novel avenues for plant protection.

DEEPA KURUP

SHIVANI MALIK

SANGHAMITRA MUKHERJEE

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2019 DPhil in Law

Vanshaj’s research interests pertain to public international law and climate change. He studied the impact of rising sea levels on international maritime boundaries and entitlements, to better understand how the law on this subject may be developed to accommodate such change. He is currently a Pupil Barrister at Brick Court Chambers, London.

OUR ALUMNI

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2018

DPhil in Law

Navya’s research focussed on law, climate change and clean energy infrastructure in India. Through her doctoral research, Navya explored the role of lower courts and tribunals in India’s transition to renewable energy. She now works as an International and Environmental Law Consultant at World Bank in Washington DC.

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2017 DPhil in Geography & the Environment

Safa’s research seeks to understand the possibilities for effective governance and management in urban rivers while navigating trade-offs for policy, civil society and enterprise. She holds a Master’s in Water Resource Management from UNESCO-IHE, and an MSc in Ecology and Environmental Science, Pondicherry University, India. Safa is currently a Research Fellow at the Water Justice Hub, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University.

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2015

DPhil in Biomedical Imaging

Vaanathi’s DPhil research focussed on detecting structural anomalies occurring in the brain white matter, thus assisting in the diagnosis of various neurodegenerative diseases. She then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford and at the Massachusetts General Hospital, USA.

She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Computational and Data Sciences (CDS), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, India. She is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences (NDCN), University of Oxford, United Kingdom.

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2014

DPhil

in Water Science, Policy & Management

Ranu works as an Irrigation and Drainage Specialist at the World Bank, Washington DC. Ranu’s DPhil research examined the impact of a tenyear World Bank Funded irrigation infrastructure project in Madhya Pradesh. She conducted a 1000-person household survey in districts that received investments, collected crop yield data for critical staple crops and carried out sub-basin hydro-climatic analysis to better understand the relationship between changes in monsoon patterns and crop yields and their impact on poverty for Indian Farmers.

DR VAANATHI SUNDARESAN

DR RANU SINHA

DR NAVYA JANNU

DR VANSHAJ JAIN

DR SAFA FANAIAN

Indira Gandhi-Radhakrishnan Scholar 2021

Modern South Asian Studies

Mrinalini is passionate about art history, visual culture, and urban architecture. During her time at Oxford, she studied the role of Mughal gardens as landscapes and settings in miniature paintings. More specifically, she examined Mughal gardens as places of production and storing wealth and not merely aesthetic environments.

Advocates Scholar 2021 BCL

Avani completed the B.A.LL.B. (Hons) Course at NALSAR University of Law in 2021. During the BCL, she studied private international law with an emphasis on dispute resolution. Avani is particularly interested in exploring the intersection of this field with public policy.

Cornelia Sorabji Scholar 2021 BCL

Shubrojyoti graduated with the B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) degree from the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, India. His interests lie in the fields of corporate law and public law. During the BCL, Shubrojyoti wishes to further investigate the fields of corporate governance, regulation, and public law, focusing on issues that raise (or will raise) issues prone to litigation and adjudication.

Indira

2021 MSc in Modern South Asian Studies

Sumedha holds a bachelor’s degree in English from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and a master’s in Comparative Literature from SOAS, where she was a Commonwealth Scholar. Since her MA, she has worked as an urban and media studies researcher in Delhi. At Oxford, she hopes to further her training and research in urban anthropology and history. She seeks to study how diverse communities experience, navigate, and shape contemporary urban landscapes in South Asia.

Ratanshaw Bomanji Zaiwalla Scholar 2021 MSc in Law and Finance

Savy’s interests lie at the intersection of law and finance, specifically, the economic interests underpinning corporate decision-making, the financial tools used to evaluate corporate success and the balancing of legal relations of the corporation with its stakeholders. Having completed the MSc in Law and Finance degree, Savy works at an investment bank in London. Savy is admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales and as an advocate in India.

SARVATRAJIT SINGH JAJMANN

SHUBROJYOTI MOOKHERJEE

MRINALINI MITRA

Gandhi-Radhakrishnan Scholar

SUMEDHA CHAKRAVARTHY

HSA

AVANI AGARWAL

Ratanshaw Bomanji Zaiwalla Scholar 2020 BCL

Pranahita is a graduate from NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. She previously worked as corporate associate in the banking and finance team of a leading Indian law firm.

HSA Advocates Scholar 2020 BCL

Rahul completed his B.A.LL.B.(Hons.) from NALSAR University of Law, graduating as top of his batch. He read for the BCL program at the University of Oxford to pursue his passion for International Law and engage in scholarly research.

Cornelia Sorabji Scholar 2020 Previously: Indira Gandhi Scholar 2018

Studying for an MPhil in Law

Vandita completed the MPhil in Law, studying legal reasoning on indirect discrimination in India. She previously read for the BCL degree in Oxford on the Indira Gandhi scholarship and graduated as a gold medalist from Jindal Global Law School in 2018.

HSA Advocates Scholar 2019

Ratanshaw Bomanji Zaiwalla Scholar 2018 MPhil in Law

Having completed her MPhil as an OICSD Scholar, Gayathree is now pursuing a DPhil in Law at Brasenose College, University of Oxford. She is working on the question of how non-state actors can be held responsible under international law for their human rights violations. Gayathree is also simultaneously working as Co-Convenor of the Oxford Transitional Justice Research Group, CoChair of Oxford Pro Bono Publico, Graduate Mooting Coordinator at the Oxford Law Faculty, and Events Assistant at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights.

Cornelia Sorabji Scholar 2019 BCL

Devaang is an alumnus of Symbiosis International University, Pune, in the year 2014. During his university education, he also won the Ontario-Maharashtra Government Scholarship in 2012 to Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Canada after a rigorous selection procedure, where he expertized his majors in IPR laws and its international pursuit.

VANDITA KHANNA

RAHUL MOHANTY

PRANAHITA SRINIVAS

DEVAANG SAVLA

GAYATHREE DEVI KALLIYAT THAZHATUVEETIL

Ratanshaw Bomanji Zaiwalla Law Scholar 2019

BCL

Priya Garg is a faculty member at OP Jindal Global University, with over 2 years of teaching experience there. She has worked as a research associate at the Supreme Court of India and the National Company Law Tribunal.

Indira Gandhi-Radhakrishnan Graduate Scholar 2019

MSc Modern South Asian Studies

Varun’s area of research is Indian anti-colonial politics and global imperial history. Prior to pursuing the MSc Modern South Asian Studies at Oxford, he completed his undergraduate studies in History and International Relations from Ashoka University.

ROY

AISHWARYA AMAR

Cornelia Sorabji Scholar 2018

BCL

Aishwarya graduated as a gold medalist from Symbiosis Law School, Pune, in 2018. She has chosen to specialise in Public Law, specifically Comparative and Global Environmental Law and Human Rights Law. She hopes to pursue advocacy in these fields upon returning to India.

Mary De Zouche Scholar 2019

Admitted

to MSc in Water Science, Policy and Management

Sayan aims to understand the process and means through which scientific knowledge finds its way into decision making, specifically with respect to water and sustainability. Previously, he completed a master’s in Environmental Studies and Resource Management from TERI School of Advanced Studies in New Delhi.

ASMITA SINGHVI

HSA Advocates Award Scholar 2018 BCL

Asmita has begun working at a law firm in London. She graduated from Jindal Global Law School in 2018 with a Bronze medal and an award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Mooting’. She believes that studying the design of constitutional and corporate entities in India could answer questions about rights and jurisprudence.

SAYAN

VARUN VIVIAN MALLIK

PRIYA GARG

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2018 MSc in Modern South Asian Studies

Neha received her B.A. from the University of Delhi, and her M.A. from Jawaharlal Nehru University. In her time at Oxford, she worked on Hindu Nationalism through an analysis of the contours of everyday life in Northern India. Her research was an attempt to find answers to what makes Hindu Nationalism gain traction in North Indian society despite its non-emancipatory outlook. She is now continuing this research in her PhD in History at Cambridge.

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2017 MSC in Biodiversity and Conservation

Since graduating, Gabriella has started a social enterprise called SeaStrong which works with women seaweed farmers in Tamil Nadu to create nutritious seaweed seasonings from locally harvested seaweed. The project’s aims to improve the income of the women seaweed harvesters as well as encourage the growth of native seaweed species, benefitting both the local marine environment and the community reliant on it. Gabriella has now returned to India where she will continue working on the project.

Bomanji Zaiwalla Scholar 2017 BCL

Shreya completed the BCL at Oxford with a focus on the law and philosophy of corporate and financial laws. On graduating, Shreya worked in a legal and policy advisory role, and advised the Government of India on insolvency law reform and social enterprise law. She is currently working with the Restructuring & Insolvency practice at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. at New Delhi.

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2016 MSC in Environmental Change and Management

Tanvi is now doctoral candidate in Wageningen University. Her thesis focusses on the Cauvery delta in Southern India, unpacking how the interactions among water, technology and society in the delta are translated through its multi-layered geography. After her master’s degree at the University of Oxford, she worked at the Climate and Disaster Risk Reduction Unit of the UN World Food Programme and the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment.

Cornelia

Scholar 2016 BCL

NEHA CHAUDHARY

Sorabji

Divya has resumed practising as a transactional lawyer in New Delhi.

DIVYA SHARMA

TANVI AGRAWAL

SHREYA PRAKASH

Ratanshaw

GABRIELLA D’CRUZ

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2014 MSc in Environmental Change and Management

Garima is a Senior Manager with US-India Strategic Partnership Forum. She helps lead the Forum’s work in energy and environment policy advocacy and facilitating the relationship between businesses and governments between US and India.

NARENDRA KILLADA

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2014 Admitted to DPhil in Geography and the Environment

Narendra’s focus is the politics of environment and development. He is from Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. After an undergraduate degree at Birla institute of Science and Technology in Pillani, Narendra studied for a Masters in Water Science Policy and Management at Oxford. He worked at think tanks and NGOs between courses. His research looks at the mining controversies in the Eastern Ghats of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2013 MPhil Social Anthropology

Shahana has recently begun a PhD in Anthropology at UW Madison. Her thesis critically examines how education of Muslim girls in Islamic schools and their status as learned Islamic scholars have transformed the ways in which young Muslim girls understand social, economic, and political precarity in their lives within the majoritarian politics of India as well as the uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

SUMANAS KOULAGI

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2013 MPhil Geography and the Environment

Shriman is an Urban and Regional Development Advisor at GIZ who focusses on enabling digital transformation in Indian smart cities and the process of data-driven decision making with Indian public institutions. He is on the board of negotiators for the Government of Germany in its partnership with India, and leads partnerships with other multilateral organisations (UN, World bank, ADB etc.). He is also a part of the Executive Committee and the Scholarship Committee of the Oxford and Cambridge Society of India.

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2013

MSc Biodiversity and Conservation

Sumanas has recently completed his PhD in Development studies (Global studies) at the University of Sussex. His work is based on the ideas of M K Gandhi and his associate economist J C Kumarappa. His thesis, ‘Development as Swaraj (self-rule): human prosperity in terms of peace,’ emphasises the need to explore an alternative social development paradigm that has the potential to enhance autonomy of individuals while minimising environmental crisis as well as social inequality for long lasting peace.

SHAHANA MUNAZIR

SHRIMAN NARAYAN SAI RAMAN

GARIMA SINGH

PROF RADHIKA KHOSLA

THE OICSD TEAM

Research Director

Prof Khosla is the Research Director of the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development and Research Fellow at Somerville College; and an Associate Professor at the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment, School of Geography and the Environment, at the University of Oxford. She works on examining the productive tensions between urban transitions, energy services consumption and climate change, with a focus on developing country cities.

Programme Director

Dr Siddharth Arora leads the scholarship programme at the OICSD and works towards building a community of students and researchers. His research is pivotal in investigating the feasibility and potential of smartphones as a diagnostic support tool. He is committed to applying his research to real life, in particular to the use of reliable, simple and inexpensive remote technologies to improve the quality of life for patients all over the world, especially in rural areas. He is investigating the efficacy of this technology on participants with Parkinson’s disease.

SARA KALIM

OICSD Partnerships and Communications Manager

Vinita manages OICSD’s partnerships, strategic communications, research outreach design and relationship building, and is responsible for the Centre’s operations. She works with the Research Director on developing the Centre’s research strategy, global presence and impact.

Development Director

As Director of Development, Sara oversees Somerville’s fundraising strategy and development, is responsible for fundraising campaigns (including for the Margaret Thatcher Scholarship Trust and the Oxford India Centre), and heads up the Development Team. She is also a member of the College’s Management Team.

DR. SIDDHARTH ARORA

VINITA GOVINDARAJAN

OICSD RESEARCH ASSOCIATES

DR ANANT JANI

DR. MAAN BARUA

Research Associate

Anant is a Research Fellow at the Oxford martin School, University of Oxford. He is interested in understanding how we can improve population health through social prescriptions and by addressing social determinants of health. Given the negative impact of severe heat on morbidity and mortality, he sees access to cooling (both passive and active) as a social determinant of health and cooling as a potential healthcare intervention.

VIKRANTH H. NAGARAJA

Research Associate

Vikranth is a postdoctoral researcher with the Natural Interactions Lab, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, working on medical devices. His research focusses primarily on affordable prosthetic arms for low and middle-income settings. His current focus is on the development of a novel bodypowered, low-cost, 3D-printed paediatric prosthetic arm for resource-constrained settings. Vikranth’s research interests are in upper limb prostheses (adult and paediatric versions), motion analysis (markerbased and inertial-sensor-based), musculoskeletal modelling and medical device design, among others.

Research Associate

Maan’s research Focuses on the spatialities, politics and governance of the living and material world. As a cultural and environmental geographer, his most recent work focuses on urban ecologies and how cities are governed by regulating nonhuman life. Wider interests include the politics of biodiversity conservation, and the relation between economy and ecology. He was a British Academy Early Career Fellow at Somerville College (2015- 2017), and is currently a University Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Cambridge.

DR SHOBHANA NAGRAJ

Research Associate

Shobhana (Shobi) Nagraj is a post-doctoral Clinical Researcher, with a professional background in paediatric surgery and primary care, and a research background in Health Services Research and Implementation Science. She is interested in how complex innovations can be designed to facilitate implementation and sustainability within the health system and the communities they serve. She works in the fields of Global surgery and Global Health. She is passionate about delivering highquality, universal health services to women and children, that meet the needs of the communities and end-users.

DR.