2 Indians selected for Indira Gandhi Scholarship at Oxford
Both Apoorva Kulkarni and Divya Choudhary will undergo doctoral study (DPhil) in zoology and biochemistry respectively while being based at the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development (OICSD)
Kulkarni will learn the addition of traditional ecological knowledge besides scientific ecological knowledge for conserving endemic and endangered bird species in the tropical forests of central Western Ghats, aiming to add towards mainstreaming original communities and livelihoods in biodiversity preservation.
Apoorva Kulkarni said: “The scholarship has helped my envisioned research come to reality by reducing my burden of funding for the next three years of my doctoral study and by lending me the opportunity to focus on making a positive impact on the conservation paradigm in India.”
Divya Choudhary, who freshly graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, majoring in Chemical Engineering, will focus on understanding the evolution of bacteria under antibiotic stress, addressing the challenge of increasing antibiotic resistance in micro-organisms across the globe.
“Being a part of the OICSD community will provide me a platform to understand the interdisciplinary links between scientific research advancements and better healthcare, thus touching people’s lives,” she said.
The center was established by Somerville College in 2013 with a £3 million grant from India Indira Gandhi, an alumna of the college, studied Modern History there in 1937.
