Pennsylvania Archives

Rahul Kumar

Dr. Rahul Kumar is currently a postdoctoral F ellow at the Center for Geometry and Physics, Institute for Basic Science, POSTECH, South Korea. He obtained his BSc from B S A C ollege, Mathura, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, and his MSc from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. He then completed his PhD in October 2020 from the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar under the supervision of Prof. Atul Dixit. His research interests are in analytic number theory, special functions, and the theory of partitions. The work of Ramanujan also influences Dr. Kumar’s research. Over the years, he has worked on various topics such as the Lambert series, zeros and special values of certain L-functions, and the theory of zeta and Bessel functions arising from modular relations, etc. He has published several research papers in reputed international journals. He has qualified for IIT-JAM, CSIR-NET, and GATE examinations. Recently, he was selected for the NBHM postdoctoral F ellowship.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research Fellow , Dr. Kumar will be joining the Department of Mathematics, Penn State University, University Park, USA. The study of Selberg L-functions has been of great interest to mathematicians since Selberg introduced them. During his stint, Dr. Kumar will also study the theory of these L-functions apart from developing the theory of generalized Hurwitz zeta and polylogarithm functions. The latter two functions have appeared in his (and others) recent works on modular relations and Herglotz functions.

Bhangya Bhukya

Dr. Bhangya Bhukya is a Professor of History at the University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad. He specializes in Modern Indian History. His research interests include community histories, the effects of power and knowledge, governmentality and dominance, the state and nationalism, intellectual histories of subaltern communities, identity politics by forest and hill people in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He was a Ford Foundation Fellow (2003-06) and a British Council Visiting Fellow (2010).

Dr. Bhukya did his Ph.D. from the University of Warwick, UK, and his thesis has been published as a book, Subjugated Nomads. The Lambadas under the rule of the Nizams in 2010. He published quite influential books, including The Roots of the Periphery. A history of the Deccan Gonds (2017), History of Modern Telangana (2017) and A Cultural History of Telangana (2021). He is also a public historian and activist involved in India’s Adivasi human rights movements.

Dr. Bhukya proposes to study why British colonial protectionism and post-colonial integrationism/assimilationism did not bring tangible changes in Adivasi life, particularly how these development approaches outweighed Adivasi self-rule and self-determinism; and, consequently, also their political rights. The study is theoretical in its nature, and it interrogates the philosophy, assumptions, and approaches of what is termed ‘Adivasi development’ and proposes to re-investigate what development has actually meant to Adivasis.

Divay Gupta

Mr. Divay Gupta is a leading Heritage Conservation and Management expert with more than twenty-five years of professional and academic experience. An Alumni of ICCROM, University of Birmingham, and School of Planning and Architecture, he has been part of several prestigious projects in UK, USA, India, Afghanistan, Nepal and Cambodia. He has led several heritage projects and initiatives at building and urban level at INTACH, New Delhi. His restoration projects in Ladakh have won the South Asian UNESCO awards of Merit and Excellence. He is a member of the UNESCO International Conservation Committee on Preah Vihear, Government of Cambodia and has served as an expert member on National Culture Fund and Advisory committee on World Heritage matters to ASI, Government of India. He was also a visiting faculty and a member on the board of studies of the Department of Architecture Conservation at SPA, New Delhi. He has several publications on conservation and has been invited to keynote lectures at various national and international conferences. Based on his diverse expertise, he provides thought leadership in using cultural lead value-based integrated approach in heritage conservation by developing sustainable models in tourism, urban development and economic regeneration to create cultural assets and vibrant historic cities.

During his Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Gupta is developing his argument of positioning historic cities as ‘smart cities’, looking beyond concepts of ICT, where reviving and harnessing the unique heritage assets of these cities helps in achieving the SDGs, making them vibrant ‘smarter cities’.

Kausik Ghosh

Dr. Kausik Ghosh is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography, Vidyasagar University, West Bengal. He is involved in interdisciplinary research and teaching on river geomorphology, sedimentology, hydrology and river regulations, climate change, transboundary river water-sharing and governance, ecosystem services, and water-energy-food (WEF) nexus. He uses remote sensing and GIS techniques, hydrological modeling, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), and field surveys for conducting geoscience research. He leads the GeoBridge research group which is dedicated to fostering a deeper understanding of the interconnected and complex relationship between geosciences and social sciences.

Dr. Ghosh earned his master’s degree from Banaras Hindu University before pursuing M.Phil. at CSRD, Jawaharlal Nehru University. In 2018, he was a Water Advanced Research Innovation (WARI) visiting scholar at the University of Nebraska, funded by DST, IUSSTF, and DWFI. He also received the DST AWSAR award, Acceleration Award by DTU and Denmark under the Inclusive and Integrated Water Management, Microsoft Innovative Educator Learner Award (MIELA).

During his Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship for Postdoctoral Research at the Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Ghosh is developing a comprehensive framework for adaptive water management in transboundary river basins. The existing water-sharing treaties and governance mechanisms overlook aspects of river ecology, flow-sediment relations, climate variability, socio-economic demands, and the WEF nexus in transboundary basins. This study will simulate disparities in river water demand and supply, analyze synergies and trade-offs within the WEF nexus framework, and assess the role of transboundary institutions in mitigating risks associated with climate change.