People Page

Nitin Rawat is a Ph.D scholar at the school of Conflicts and security studies. His broad research interest lies in non-traditional security threats, human security, conflict transformation etc.

Before joining NIAS, Nitin has completed his M.Phil. in Political science from the Central university of Haryana. He also worked as Subordinate Officer in Sashastra Seema Bal, MHA. He is a recipient of UGC Junior Research Fellowship.

Ms. Aishwarya is currently pursuing her PhD in Heritage Science and Society Programme in School of Humanities at NIAS. She worked as Project Associate – I on Project “Exploring Medieval Coastline using Geospatial Analysis and Historical Records at NIAS. Prior to NIAS, Ms. Aishwarya worked as Researcher for Varaha Tech Labs, Delhi, and Archaeological Survey of India Jodhpur Circle. Ms. Aishwarya’s research interest lies in analysing imprints of Heritage using Geospatial Analysis.

She is also interested in Settlement Archaeology, Environmental Archaeology and Landscape Archaeology. She has participated in Archaeological excavations and explorations. Ms. Aishwarya has completed her M.Phil. from Deccan College, PGRI, Pune on topic “Reassessing Mesolithic Culture of South-eastern Rajasthan with special reference to Bhilwara District.” Her Master’s Degree is in Ancient Indian History Culture and Archaeology from Deccan College, PGRI, Pune.

Virain Mohan is a PhD scholar at the School of Conflict and Security Studies, under the guidance of Dr. Prakash Panneerselvan. Virain’s interest areas lie in maritime policy and area studies. Virain has completed his Master’s in International Studies from Christ University, Bangalore and Bachelor’s from D.A.V. College, Chandigarh.

Joyeeta Dey is currently enrolled as a PhD student in the School of Social Sciences, National Institute of Advanced Studies. She works in the field of sociology of education with special interest in the themes of globalisation, privatisation,  datafication,  digitalisation and automation. She has co-published on some of these themes with Critical Studies in Education, European Education Research Journal, Discourse and Routledge.  She was recently employed on a project on ‘Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous Language Education’ with University College London.

Her previous experience includes working as a research associate for i) the University of Melbourne on a RtE 12 (1) (C)  research project ii) d on a DFID-ESRC funded project titled Researching Accountability in School Education (RAISE) iii) with Deakin University on a research project on an Education-MIS in India iv) and with Pratichi Institute (now Amartya Sen Research Centre). She has Masters degrees in Sociology of Education (University College London) and Education Policies for Global Development (Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Degree). 

Anjali Anil is a first-year Ph.D. Scholar at School of Social Sciences. Her broad areas of research interest lie in understanding and exploring the Gender aspects in Education. 

Anjali holds a Master of Arts from Tata Institute of Social Science in Education (2021) and a Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (2019). She worked as a Project Associate for a brief period after her Master's. She cleared NTA-UGC JRF in Education in 2021. 

Chaithanya is a Ph.D. scholar at the School of Social Sciences.

Her broad research interest lies in Migration and Gender, Gender and Reproductive Health, Cultural studies and Motherhood studies. 

She completed her master's in Gender Studies from Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Chennai in 2020 and she holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from Government Women's College Thiruvananthapuram, University of Kerala.  She cleared NTA-UGC JRF in Women Studies in 2020. 

Hashim Mohammed S is an interdisciplinary researcher currently enrolled as a Doctoral student in the School of Natural Sciences and Engineering, NIAS. His broad research interests lie in Invasion Ecology, Development Economics and Environmental Management.

He has completed his master's in Geography ( Center for the Study of Regional Development) from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and he holds a bachelor's degree in Geography with Geology and Statistics from University of Kerala. He has cleared CSIR NET JRF in Earth Sciences with AIR 93(2016), UGC NET JRF in Geography with AIR 12 (2022), GATE in Geomatics Engineering  (2022) and Ecology and Evolution (2018).

He has done 34 online courses from various online platforms including Coursera, NPTEL, IIRS, GSI, Udemy etc. He is a student member of British Ecological Society and Geological Society of India.

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.

Surabhi Agarwal is a PhD student at the School of Social Sciences. She is interested in exploring how ideas and concepts from Buddhist philosophy can inform research in the social sciences. She has an MPhil in sociology from Hyderabad Central University and an MA in Dalit and Tribal Studies from Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Wardha.

She has also completed a diploma course in Buddhist philosophy from Tibet House, Delhi, and a post-graduate certificate course in Western philosophy from the Open University, UK. She has worked as a social worker and as a transcriptionist.

Dr. Deepti Navaratna is a musician and neuroscientist interested in an alchemy of research and performance. After several years of neuroscience research at Harvard Medical School, USA, her current research interests span neuroscience, arts and humanities; exploring new frontiers of interdisciplinary knowledge such as cognitive hermeneutics, neuropsychology and empirical musicology. She is a Chevening Clore Fellow (2021-23), recognized by the UK Government as one of the most creative artists and dynamic leaders across the globe.

Until, recently she served as the Regional Director, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, Bengaluru, India. She directed the centre’s research, academic and outreach activities at the intersection of science and humanities - with a focus on Indian knowledge systems. Under her leadership the centre was deemed a ‘Centre for Excellence’ under the Bangalore University and initiated a one-of-a-kind Post Graduate Diploma in Manuscriptology and Paleography. She served as the Chairman, Board of Studies, IGNCA Bangalore for curriculum development across music research, manusciptology and paleography. As an arts curator, she has curated over a thousand academic/outreach events
such as seminars, symposiums and public engagements.

While at IGNCA she was instrumental in the scientific documentation of several vanishing art forms such as the Kinhal art, Kerala Mural paintings and Ayyanar Terracota Votive Art. In 2018, she created the Raaga Laboratory, a first-of-its-kind laboratory studying Indian music from neuroscientific and cultural perspectives. The laboratory undertakes interdisciplinary research in Cognitive Musicology, Science of Raagas, Chants and Rhythm, Brain body computer interfaces for special needs and performance and Hermaneutics of Indian Music Cognition – study of texts of Nada Yoga & Natyashastra.

Deepti holds a doctorate degree in Neuroscience and has authored over twenty original scientific research papers, book chapters to her credit.