Saif Ali
(Economics PhD student)
January 2018 – Present

Email: saifa@iiitd.ac.in
Supervisor: Dr. Gaurav Arora

Saif Ali is a transplant to academics from the Silicon Valley where he worked in the 3D graphics industry for 10 years. He studied computer science and engineering at Arizona State University (M.S), and Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi (B.Tech). His current research interests are in computational methods for economics, information design, interactive learning environments and the ethics of computing technology. Saif is currently working on problems relating to optimal groundwater management for the Indo-Gangetic river basin. Saif spends his spare time learning the Arabic language and calligraphy.

Atish Kumar
(Economics PhD student)

Email: atishk@iiitd.ac.in
Supervisor: Dr. Kiriti Kanjilal

Atish holds a master’s degree in Economics and used to work as a Risk Management professional in a leading banking MNC. He is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Economics and aims to apply machine learning techniques in the field of behavioural economics.

Sumedha Shukla
(Economics PhD student)

Email: sumedhas@iiitd.ac.in
Supervisor: Dr. Gaurav Arora

Sumedha has a background in Economics and is interested in questions in the areas of agriculture, environment and economics. In addition to research, she also enjoys teaching and music.

Manta Wangsu
(Sociology PhD student)

Email: mantaw@iiitd.ac.in
Supervisor: Dr. Gayatri Nair

I completed my M.A. Social Work in Livelihoods and Social Entrepreneurship from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) , Guwahati and Bachelors of Social Work(BSW) from Don Bosco College , Maram ,Manipur University . My post graduate dissertation is titled " Climate Variability and Livelihood Vulnerability: An Exploratory Study in a Wancho Village of Arunachal Pradesh". I qualified the UGC - NET and JRF in June ,2019. My broad research interests include: Livelihoods, Climate Change, Informal Economy and Labour , Rural - Urban Migration, Sustainable Development, Ecology and Society, Social Entrepreneurship, Northeastern Studies.

Shivangi Patel
(Sociology PhD student)

Email: shivangip@iiitd.ac.in
Supervisor: Dr. Paro Mishra

Shivangi Patel is a UGC-NET qualified PhD scholar in Social Sciences and Humanities department of IIITD. She is interested in research areas of Gender, Political Participation and Empowerment. Shivangi holds a M.Phil. degree in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University, where she worked on "Conceptions and Measures of Women Empowerment in specific reference to political reservation for women in Panchayati Raj" as her research topic. She is a post graduate from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, in sociology itself and she is graduated from Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University, Uttar Pradesh. She has presented research papers in few National and International seminars and attended various conferences as well. Shivangi has won many titles in national and state level debate competitions. She likes to dance, paint and socialize in her spare time.

Shiva Singh
(Sociology PhD student)

Email: shivas@iiitd.ac.in
Supervisor: Dr. Gayatri Nair

I completed my bachelors in Economics from the Delhi University and then worked in a multinational bank for 1.5 years. Soon disenchanted by the corporate life, I got back to academics and finished a Masters degree in Development Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences. My master’s thesis explored the politics of caste associations in an urban space. My current research interests include gender, informal labour and labour movements, which also forms the subject of my doctoral thesis. Apart from my research interests, I take pleasure in reading, writing poetry and other forms of literature.

Shruthy Harilal
(Sociology PhD student)

Email: shruthyh@iiitd.ac.in
Supervisor: Dr. Smriti Singh

I completed my Bachelors degree in Social Sciences from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad. My Bachelors dissertation explored the possibilities of ‘Sacred grove as a site of ‘Traditional’ culture and ecology’. I did my Masters degree in Development Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad. And the Masters thesis explored the possibilities of Caste, Modernity and the State on the discourses around Theyyam as a ritualistic performance and art in Kerala. I have qualified UGC NET in Women Studies this December. My current research interests include Labour and Ritual Practices, Caste, Gender, Informal Labour, Environment and Gender & Media.

Sonu Bagri
(Sociology PhD student)

Email: sonub@iiitd.ac.in
Supervisor: Dr. Smriti Singh

Sonu Bagri is a first year Ph.D. Scholar in Humanities and Social Sciences Department in IIIT- Delhi. She qualified UGC-NET JRF in December 2019. Her main Research centers on " Casteism and Dalit Women" . She hold the Master's degree from Dr. Harisingh Gour University, Sagar and investigated a better understanding of "Rural Livelihood Survey of Patharia Jatt ( Sagar M.P.): A Social Geographic Study", and also in the context of "Social-Economic and Land use survey of Village Patqui ( Sagar, M.P.)

Roshni V Kadam
(Sociology PhD student)

Email: roshnik@iiitd.ac.in
Supervisor: Dr. Shireen Mirza

I completed my M.A. from the University of Hyderabad after which I worked for a non-profit which dealt with menstrual awareness for adolescent girls. I graduated from Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts and my B.A. thesis explored nationalist and gendered coding in children's media. I qualified for UGC-NET in December 2019. My current research interests lie in the cross-section of gender, labour, technology and economy.

Aswino Gomango
(Sociology PhD student)

Email: aswinog@iiitd.ac.in
Supervisor: Dr. Shireen Mirza

Aswino Gomango is PhD research Scholar at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIIT Delhi. He completed his master degree in Sociology and Social Anthropology from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati, and Bachelors of Arts from St. Francis De Sale College, Nagpur, Maharashtra. He is qualified for UGC-NET/JRF. His PhD research project is titled, “Religion, Reform, and Ethnicity: Reinventing Traditions and Narratives of Identity” (tentative). The research focuses on the role of oral narratives and the processes of constructing and reconstructing ethnic identity in post conversion period among the Saora tribe of Odisha. It aims to examine the dissonance and intersections of multiple identities of ethnicity and new religion; and thus aims to bring out the socio-religious nuisances of Saora folk life in the pre and post Christian times to understand the change and continuity in their new identity formations. His main research interest lie in the areas of religion, environmental sociology, caste and tribes in India.

Abhijay
(Sociology PhD student)

Email: abhijayi@iiitd.ac.in
Supervisor: Dr. Paro Mishra

I completed my Master and MPhil degrees in the discipline of anthropology from the University of Delhi. I have cleared the examinations of UGC-JRF and ICMR-JRF for research studies. On a professional front, I taught sociology at Dr BR Ambedkar University to undergraduate students. I have also worked as a national consultant with management4health (Germany) in their multicounty project on Gender and Nutrition. I have participated in various sports such as athletics, hockey and have won podium positions. My academic field of interest situates in anthropology of public policy, anthropology of sports, applied anthropology. My doctoral research is on ‘Doping among athletes in India’ from an anthropological perspective with a multi-sited ethnographic approach in practice.

Namrita Mandal
(Sociology PhD student)

Email: namritam@iiitd.ac.in
Supervisor: Dr. Paro Mishra

Namrita Mandal is a first year PhD research scholar in the Social Sciences and Humanities Department at IIIT Delhi. She holds a bachelor degree in Electronics and communication engineering (B. Tech) from Jayoti Vidyapeeth Women’ University, Jaipur. Further, she developed an inclination towards contemporary understanding of the society and holds Masters of Arts(MA) in Sociology from IGNOU, New Delhi. She have qualified the UGC-NET JRF examination, with twice NET in Sociology itself. Her doctoral program research is itself a combination of contemporary relevance with broader social framework areas. Her broad research interest lies in the areas of medical anthropology, digital sociology, sociology of health and illness. She has also participated actively in few state-level competitions and social activities. Apart from academics, she likes quilling, photography and travelling.

Monika Singh
(Sociology PhD student)

Email: monikasi@iiitd.ac.in
Supervisor: Dr. Paro Mishra

I completed bachelors in Anthropology from Hansraj College, Delhi University and post-graduation in Social Anthropology from Miranda house, Delhi University. My master’s thesis explored the “Panchayati Raj as a form of local governance and its role in the development of a village”. I hold a M. Phil degree from Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Delhi where I worked on functioning of agricultural co-operative societies and their association with community development as my dissertation topic. I qualified for the UGC-NET JRF in December 2020. My broad areas of interests include psychological anthropology, gender, development and media anthropology.