Doctoral Programmes

Karshita Bharati joined NIAS in 2022. Her research will primarily be on Pig tailed macaque disease ecology in Assam, India.  Earlier, she completed her Masters in Science in Zoology from the Central University of Sikkim in 2021. Her master thesis titled “Assessment of LULC change dynamics using geospatial techniques in the East and South Districts of Sikkim Himalaya” under Dr. Basundhara Chettri, Sikkim University.
She has been provisionally qualified for the INSPIRE Fellowship 2021. She has also qualified the GATE-2022 Ecology and Evolution with an AIR 77 and GATE-2022 Life science. She completed her Bachelors in Zoology from B. Borooah College, Gauhati University, Assam, in 2018.

Anjali Bharati is studying the impact of citizen science engagement on participants’ scientific knowledge, scientific sensemaking and trust in science. Citizen Science projects where scientists and non-expert citizens involve in joint knowledge production - are increasingly becoming popular globally as a means to collect and analyse large amounts of data as well as a sustainable mechanism to promote the inclusion of the general public in scientific research. Understanding various dimensions of learning happening in such citizen-scientist partnerships is the focus of her research.  

Meera is a conservation architect.

She did her Masters degree in Architectural Conservation from School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi and Bachelors degree in Architecture from TKM College of Engineering, Kollam, Kerala. Before joining NIAS, she had worked as a faculty at various institutions such as the National Institute of Technology - Calicut, KS School of Architecture - Bengaluru, RV College of Architecture - Bengaluru and Mangalam School of Architecture and Planning - Kottayam.

Her research interests include Indian temple architecture, Vernacular architecture and Pedagogy of History of Indian architecture

Varun is a first year Ph.D. scholar at NIAS, his research interests lie in Security Studies, Maritime Security, Small Island States, Indian Ocean, and Indo-Pacific.

Thesis Title: One UN, Umpteen Climate Securities: Conceptualizing and Assessing the Climate Security Discourse of the United Nations Organizations.

Educational background: B.A. with majors in History from Loyola College, Chennai.

M.A. in Political Science from University of Hyderabad

David Jangminlien is a PhD Scholar at NIAS. Before inducting as a doctoral student at the institute, he completed Master of Arts in Political Science at Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Madhya Pradesh and a Bachelor of Arts at Don Bosco College Maram, Manipur. He was listed in the Prime Minister Box 2020 as Prime Minister’s Guest to witness the Republic Day Parade 2020 at Rajpath, New Delhi. 

Jangminlien is working with Dr. Anshuman Behera on the research enterprise entitled: Ethnic Conflicts in Manipur: A Study of Kuki and Naga Conflict. He has a keen interest in conflict management in a multi-ethnic society.  

His areas of research interest include Ethnic Conflicts in India, Myanmar and Bangladesh, Border Security, Counter-Insurgency, Human Rights, and Indigenous Studies of India’s Northeast.  

Ankita Ranjan is a Ph.D. scholar at the School of Natural Sciences and Engineering.

She is working with Dr. Tejal Kanitkar. Her broad research interest lies in energy, development and climate change. Her Ph.D. thesis, titled “Exploring the Various Axes of Equity in Climate Change” is focussed upon designing a quantitative methodology for climate change mitigation while addressing the social and economic challenges of developing countries.

Before inducting as a NIAS fellow, Ankita has completed her Master’s in Ecology, Environment and Sustainable Development from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati in 2016. She holds a Bachelor’s in Chemistry from Miranda House, University of Delhi. Professionally, she has been a content writer and research associate for multiple organizations and projects.

Vishal George is a first year PhD Scholar with the School of Social Sciences at NIAS. His primary research interests lie in Sports Sociology, Urban Studies, Culture Studies, as well as Media Studies. 

Educational Background: 
BA in English Literature, St. Xaviers College (Autonomous), Mumbai
MA in Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi

Thesis Title: 
Youth, Sports, and Urban Spaces: An Ethnography of Youth Sporting Culture in Urban India

Tirthankar is a Doctoral scholar in the education programme at the School of Social Sciences, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru. His doctoral thesis, "The “Self in Classrooms”: Exploring Identities through Narratives from Teaching of Social Sciences," focuses on the intersection of education, identity, and social location. This research involves auto-ethnography, critical pedagogy, and narrative analysis.

Before joining the PhD program at NIAS,  Tirthankar had gained valuable experience for more than six years in the education sector as a teacher, researcher, curriculum developer, and program design leader in Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka. He has worked with government functionaries, educational technology and early-stage social entrepreneurs, contributing to developing innovative educational initiatives.

Surachita Lal is PhD Scholar at NIAS. She is working with Prof. Anitha Kurup. Her research interests lie in Caste, Class and Gender intersectionality, Social exclusion, Sociology of Education. Her current proposed thesis title is “Travelling through the Portal of Engineering Colleges: Experience of Dalit Girls in India (A Study of Uttar Pradesh)

Before inducting as PhD student at NIAS, she has completed her M.Phil. in Women Studies from Tata Instituted of Social Science in 2021. She qualified for NFSC scholarship under UGC net in Sociology, 2020 November. She did her Master of Arts in Sociology from Uttar Pradesh Rajarshi Tondon Open University in 2015 and as well as master in Gender Studies from Ambedkar University Delhi in 2018. She did her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from University of Delhi.