OICSD Scholars Brochure 2021-22

Scholars

OUR SCHOLARS

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.

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2021

Studying for a DPhil in Inorganic Chemistry

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.

Indira Gandhi-Radhakrishnan Scholar 2021

Studying for an MSc in Modern South Asian Studies

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

Ratanshaw Bomanji Zaiwalla Scholar 2021

Studying for an MSc in Law and Finance

Savy is reading for the MSc in Law and Finance offered jointly by the Faculty of Law and the Saïd Business School. He graduated from the National Law University, Delhi in 2015 and previously worked with an international law firm in London. Savy is admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales and as an advocate in India.

Cornelia

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.

KARTHIK GANESH MRINALINI MITRA

SARVATRAJIT SINGH JAJMANN SHUBROJYOTI MOOKHERJEE

Sorabji

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2021

Studying for a DPhil in Condensed Matter 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

2021

Studying for an 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.

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.

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.

The Gopal Subramanium Scholar 2019

Previously: Cornelia Sorabji Scholar

Studying

2017

for a DPhil in Law

Aradhana graduated from National Law University, Delhi in 2017, and completed her BCL at Oxford in 2018. She is continuing her research on rape legislation in India over a DPhil in law, and currently co-chairs the Oxford Pro-Bono projects.

BCL

Avani completed the B.A.LL.B. (Hons) Course at NALSAR

University of Law in 2021. During the BCL, she will study private international law with an emphasis on dispute resolution. Avani is particularly interested in exploring the intersection of this field with public policy.

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.

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).

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.

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.

2019 Studying for a DPhil in Geography and the Environment

Indira

Gaurav’s research area is at the intersection of electric mobility, climate policy and neoliberalism. 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.

Studying for a DPhil in Law

Vanshaj’s research interests pertain to public international law and climate change. He seeks to study the impact of rising sea levels on international maritime boundaries and maritime entitlements, to better understand how the law on this subject may be developed to accommodate such change.

Indira Gandhi-Radhakrishnan Scholar

SUMEDHA CHAKRAVARTHY

APOORVA KULKARNI

DIVYA CHOUDHARY

ARADHANA VADEKKETHIL

Gandhi Scholar

GAURAV DUBEY

SNIGDHA LAL

The Gopal Subramanium Scholar 2021

SWAPNIL TRIPATHI

Mary De Zouche Graduate Scholar 2019

AAVIKA DHANDA

HSA Advocates Scholar 2021

AVANI AGARWAL

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2019

TRISHA GOPALAKRISHNA

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2019

VANSHAJ JAIN

Rakesh & Ritu Kapoor Somerville Scholar in Hygiene

GAURI CHANDRA

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2018

Studying for a DPhil in Law

Navya’s research focuses on law, climate change and clean energy infrastructure in India. Through her doctoral research, Navya explores the role of lower courts and tribunals in India’s transition to renewable energy. She hopes to become a practitioner and legal academic in India in the area of public, energy and environmental law.

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 2017

Studying for DPhil in Geography & the

Environment

Safa’s research seeks to understand the possibilities for effective governance and management in Transboundary Rivers while navigating trade-offs for policy, civil society and enterprise. She holds a Master’s in Water Resource Management from UNESCOIHE, and an MSc in Ecology and Environmental Science, Pondicherry University, India.

ALUMNI PATHWAYS BACK TO INDIA

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2015

DPhil in Biomedical Imaging

Vaanathi did her Master’s at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in Electrical Engineering. Her D.Phil research focussed on detecting structural anomalies occurring in the brain white matter, thus assisting in the diagnosis of various neurodegenerative diseases. She is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford.

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2014

DPhil in Water Science, Policy & Management

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.

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2015

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.

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.

BCL

Pranahita

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.

NAVYA JANNU

SANGHAMITRA MUKHERJEE

SAFA FANAIAN

DEEPA KURUP

SHIVANI MALIK

DR VAANATHI SUNDARESAN

DR RANU SINHA

RAHUL MOHANTY

Ratanshaw Bomanji Zaiwalla Scholar 2020

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.

PRANAHITA SRINIVAS

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.

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.

Mary De Zouche Scholar 2019 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.

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.

BCL

Priya’s interests lie in understanding businesses and their behaviour. She aims to analyse the most ideal manner in which businesses could be regulated by commercial corporate law, especially in the Indian context.

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.

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.

VARUN MALLIK

Ratanshaw Bomanji Zaiwalla Law Scholar 2019

PRIYA GARG

Cornelia Sorabji Scholar 2018

AISHWARYA AMAR

GAYATHREE DEVI KALLIYAT THAZHATUVEETIL

DEVAANG SAVLA

VANDITA KHANNA

ASMITA SINGHVI

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.

Cornelia Sorabji Scholar 2016 BCL

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

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.

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

After finished her masters degree, Tanvi worked at the Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction programmes unit of the United Nations World Food Programme. She currently works at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment. As a part of the Water, Land and Society programme, she is researching climate vulnerability and coping strategies among farmers in semi-arid southern India.

Indira Gandhi Scholar 2014

Studying

for 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 Geography and the Environment

Shriman currently works with GIZ on institutionalising Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Indian cities and states working closely with Niti Aayog, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India. He further leads partnerships with other bi-and multilateral agencies (UN, World Bank, ADB etc.) in India.

TANVI AGRAWAL

GARIMA SINGH

DIVYA SHARMA

S. SHRIMAN NARAYAN

SHREYA PRAKASH

Ratanshaw Bomanji Zaiwalla Scholar 2017

GABRIELLA D’CRUZ

NARENDRA KILLADA

THE OICSD TEAM

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.

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.

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.

VINITA GOVINDARAJAN

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.

PROF RADHIKA KHOSLA

DR. SIDDHARTH ARORA

SUMANAS KOULAGI

SHAHANA MUNAZIR

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.

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.

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.

Research Associate

DR. MAAN BARUA

DR. VIKRANTH H. NAGARAJA

DR ANANT JANI