Archives: Meet Our India Fulbrighters

Rajes Ghosh

After finishing his PhD in June 2024 from the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Gujarat, Dr. Rajes Ghosh is currently pursuing a one-year postdoctoral position at the Department of Astrophysical Relativity in the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru. He earned his BSc in 2017 from Burdwan Raj College, affiliated with Burdwan University, and completed his MSc in 2019 at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Dr. Ghosh was a Prime Minister Research Fellow (PMRF) during his PhD and a recipient of the Inspire fellowship during his BSc and MSc. The national PMRF website showcased his scholarly works as commendable research. During his MSc, he received the award for Outstanding Research Performance along with the President’s, Director’s, and Institute gold medals from the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar.

Dr. Ghosh’s primary research interests include probing gravity in strong field regimes, gravitational wave signatures of modified gravity, physics of ultra-compact objects, and quantum aspects of gravity. He has published 14 research articles in several reputed international journals, including Letters and Rapid Communications in Physical Review D.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research fellow at Krieger School of Arts and Science, Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Ghosh is exploring the gravitational properties of ultra-compact objects, both with and without horizons, such as black holes and compact stars. By studying their gravitational wave and shadow signatures, he aims to explore and constrain potential new physics beyond general relativity.

Monika Saini

Dr. Monika Saini is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre CAS, Czech Republic. She pursued her bachelor’s in biomedical sciences from University of Delhi in the year 2012 and later completed her master’s in biotechnology from All India Institute of Sciences, New Delhi in 2014.

Dr. Saini joined Prof. Shailja Singh and Dr. Soumya Pati at Shiv Nadar University, Delhi-NCR for her PhD in Plasmodium falciparum where she evaluated functional roles of Prohibitin proteins in mitochondrial biology. During this period, she was also awarded the DAAD Sandwich Programme fellowship where she worked with her German collaborators on the PhD project. She is a recipient of various national and international travel awards to present her work at conferences. She has published several research articles in recognized international journals during her PhD.

Dr. Saini’s primary research focus is parasitology and studying organellar biology with special emphasis on their functional importance in parasite growth and development. As a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the California State University, Chico, Dr. Saini is evaluating Maurer’s clefts establishment and function. More than a century after their discovery, the genesis and exact functions of Maurer’s clefts remain a mystery. Dr. Saini, therefore, wants to investigate the fundamental biological processes associated with these organelles’ establishment and function in Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells which will be a significant step towards malaria elimination.

Mohit Gupta

Dr. Mohit Gupta is an assistant professor at Gujarat Maritime University, Gujarat, India. He earned his BA LLB(Hons.) degree in 2016 from Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow and completed his LLM in international law in 2018 from South Asian University, Delhi. In 2023, he was awarded a PhD from the Gujarat National Law University, Koba, Gujarat. Dr. Gupta has received prestigious fellowships from the Korea Maritime Institute and the University of the Faroe Islands to attend the Yeosu Academy on the Law of the Sea and the Academy on the Continental Shelf. He has been a fellow at the United Nations Regional Course in International Law.

Dr. Gupta’s research interests lie in international law and the law of the sea, with a focus on international fisheries governance. He has published research articles in international journals, including Ocean Development and International Law (Taylor and Francis), International Journal on Minority and Group Rights (Brill), and the Indian Journal of International Law (Springer). His performance at the Yeosu Academy on the law of the sea earned him a diploma with magna cum laude.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the U.S. Naval War College, Dr. Gupta is conducting a comparative analysis of fisheries bycatch regulations in India and the United States. The issue of bycatch is posing a substantial challenge to sustainable fisheries management. Dr. Gupta aims to develop and present policy recommendations to address the challenges associated with bycatch.

Mamatha Gandham

Dr. Mamatha Gandham is an independent researcher whose work delves into the intersection of labor, gender, and social movements. She holds an MA in History from the University of Hyderabad and earned her PhD in Women’s and Gender Studies from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi in December 2023. Her doctoral research was supported by the ICSSR Institutional Doctoral Fellowship (2017–2019).

Dr. Gandham’s research focuses on the organization of women workers within labor movements, examining how the interconnected realms of production and social reproduction shape women’s participation in these movements. Her work sheds light on the structural challenges and opportunities for women’s labor mobilization in India.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Dr. Gandham is investigating the experiences of women workers in the gig economy. Her research delves into their working conditions, and their efforts to collectivize and build bargaining power. In an era where the gig economy is reshaping employment patterns, Dr. Gandham’s work critically explores its gendered dimensions and the potential for labor mobilization within this sector. Through this fellowship, she aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the pathways for collective action among women gig workers in India.

Karen L Donoghue

Dr. Karen L. Donoghue is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at North-Eastern Hill University in Shillong, Meghalaya. She obtained her BA from St. Anthony’s College, Shillong, which is affiliated with North-Eastern Hill University, in 2007 and completed her MA at Sikkim Manipal University in 2010. In July 2021, she was awarded a PhD by North-Eastern Hill University in Shillong, Meghalaya.

Dr. Donoghue’s research interests primarily lie in the fields of media representation, gender, and oral history, focusing on the intersection of media and self-representation, with oral history as a central method. She has published several research articles in reputable national and international journals. She was awarded a gold medal by North-Eastern Hill University for achieving first rank in her BA program.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Baylor University, Texas, Dr. Donoghue is focusing on the experiences, values, and practices of the Mizo diaspora in the United States through their oral histories. During her fellowship, she will examine migration patterns, community formation, and socio-political integration through lenses such as community collectives known as ‘pawls’ and the Mizo song tradition, as well as the role of technology and social media in preserving the cultural identity of the Mizo in the United States. Given the Mizo community’s predominantly Christian faith and the sizeable Christian population in the U.S., this project offers a unique perspective on transnational identity and solidarity.

Jyoti Gupta

Dr. Jyoti Gupta is an independent researcher from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. She earned her BSc (physics & mathematics) in 2013 and her MSc (physics) in 2015 from Udai Pratap Autonomous College, affiliated with Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. In June 2024, she was awarded a PhD from the University of Hyderabad, Telangana State. Dr. Gupta was a visiting research fellow at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-BHU), Varanasi from January 2024 to October 2024.

Dr. Gupta’s research interests are primarily in the field of development of earth-abundant electrocatalysts for energy conversion application with a focus of hydrogen evolution reaction application. She has published several research articles in reputed international journals. She was also recognized for one of her publications under the University of Hyderabad’s Incentive of Excellence scheme.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research fellow at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Dr. Gupta is focusing on the development of MoS2/MXene nanocomposite using fluorine-free synthesis method and its utilization as bifunctional electrocatalyst for water electrolyzers. During his fellowship, Dr. Gupta aims to explore cost-effective bifunctional electrocatalysts for electrocatalytic water splitting.

Indranil Chakraborty

Dr. Indranil Chakraborty is currently an institute postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, where he has been working since May 2023. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata, affiliated with University of Calcutta, in 2015. He then completed both his master’s degree in physics (2017) and PhD (2023) at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, West Bengal.

Dr. Chakraborty’s research interests lie in gravitational physics, particularly in the study of gravitational wave memory effects — a subtle and yet-to-be-detected phenomenon predicted by general relativity. Over the years, he has authored several research articles, including a single-author publication in reputed international journals.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, Dr. Chakraborty is investigating how gravitational wave memory effects manifest in cosmological settings. His project also aims to develop a formalism for calculating memory effects in modified theories of gravity. This research is crucial for next-generation gravitational wave detectors, as they are expected to probe potential deviations from general relativity — currently the best-verified theory of gravity.

Chandan Pradhan

Dr. Chandan Pradhan is currently an NBHM postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. He earned his BSc in 2016 from Midnapore College, West Bengal, affiliated with Vidyasagar University, and completed his MSc in 2018 at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati. In July 2023, he was awarded a PhD from IIT Guwahati, Assam, under the supervision of Dr. Arup Chattopadhyay. Dr. Pradhan was an IoE postdoctoral fellow at IISc (October 2023–July 2024).

Dr. Pradhan’s research interests are primarily in the field of operator theory, with a focus on the trace formulas and spectral shift functions. He has published several research articles in reputed international journals. As a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research fellow at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, Dr. Pradhan is working on higher-order spectral shift functions (SSF) using the theory of multiple operator integrals. During his fellowship, Dr. Pradhan aims to study higher-order SSFs for pairs of self-adjoint operators, especially in the realm of differential operators, and their connections to noncommutative geometry. He is primarily focusing on the existence of SSFs.

Atanu Betal

Dr. Atanu Betal is a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. He earned his BSc in 2014 from Garhbeta College, affiliated with Vidyasagar University, West Bengal, and completed his MSc in 2017 at Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. In September 2023, he was awarded a PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur. He was a Senior Research Fellow from January 2024 to March 2024 at IITJ.

Dr. Betal’s research interests are in the field of experimental condensed matter physics, primarily focused on the fabrication of resistive memory, neuromorphic synaptic devices using organic materials, and scanning tunneling microscopy of low-dimensional materials. He has published 34 research articles (eight as the first author and 26 as a co-author) in reputable international journals.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research Fellow at GIT, Georgia, Dr. Betal is focusing on the fabrication of vertical FETs and their application in neuromorphic synaptic devices — an area of growing interest among scientists for advancing artificial intelligence hardware. During his fellowship, Dr. Betal aims to explore different organic semiconducting materials for the FET with sub-nanometer channel length.

Arjun Bindu Sunil

Dr. Arjun Bindu Sunil is the Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Sahas Labs, a product development company developing deep-tech robotics and instrumentation solutions based in Kolhapur district, Maharashtra. He also leads Embedite, another startup working on healthcare and sustainability, as the Chief Executive Officer. He completed his BTech in mechanical engineering at Government Engineering College Barton Hill in Trivandrum. He gained his master’s in research and PhD from the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in June 2024 with the Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship. His research was focused on developing an intraoperative probe that integrates multimodal tissue characterization and soft robotics to enhance brain tumor margin delineation.

Dr. Sunil has made several significant contributions to neural engineering and biomedical engineering with skillsets in microfabrication, robotics and product design. He has 12 publications in peer-reviewed journals and conferences, four granted patents and eight patent applications. He received the BIRAC SITARE-GYTI Award 2021 and Sun Pharma Science Foundation Science Scholar Award 2022, among others, and is the national winner of James Dyson Award 2022. He represented India at the BRICS Young Scientist Forum 2024 as a young innovator.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research fellow under the guidance of Prof. Shriya Srinivasan, Dr. Sunil is aiming to develop a myoelectric prosthesis that can be implanted in the upper limbs through modular surgical techniques. The technology used in the proposed prosthesis seeks to improve upper limb control in patients, providing a more accessible and less invasive alternative to existing solutions.