Smriti Haricharan

Post-Doctoral Associate
School of Humanities

Room No.: A 01
Tel: 080-2218 5051
Fax: 080-2218 5028
Email:  smriti.march.forth@gmail.com

Joined NIAS on 1st October 2009

Dr. Smriti Haricharans main research interest is in the area of megalithic Iron Age burials of Tamilnadu, with specific interest in using geoarchaeological techniques. Her doctoral dissertation work focused on understanding the spatial and temporal patterns of megalithic burials, specifically at Siruthavoor, Tamilnadu. She has been working as a Post Doctoral Associate at NIAS since May 2010 during which time she has had the opportunity to be an integral part of a large-scale ‘pioneering metallurgy’ project funded by the UK India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), the lead investigators for which are Dr. Sharada Srinivasan, Associate Professor, NIAS, Indian Institute of Science Campus, Bangalore, Dr. Gill Juleff, Senior Lecturer, Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, and Prof. Ranganathan S, Professor, NIAS, Indian Institute of Science Campus, Bangalore. This project is aimed at understanding the history of iron production, in northern Andhra Pradesh, India.

Another interest that she has been developing recently is with respect to the issues around removal of antiquities from archaeological sites and the need for increase in public outreach of Indian archaeology. In a collaborative effort with Exeter University, UK, she has drafted a proposal to work on documentation and in situ collection of information from antiques found in an archaeological context. In connection to this proposal she has been awarded the UK visiting fellowship, Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum, to research the viability of adapting the UK model of Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) to the Indian context. Her Master’s degree was in Experimental Archaeology at Exeter University, wherein the coursework included understanding the role of public archaeology to communicate with a wider, nonacademic audience. While she has been focusing on academic research, it is her strong conviction that there is a need to reach out to the public.

Ritajyoti Bandyopadhyay

Research Associate
School of Social Sciences

Room No.: A 05
Tel: 080-2218 5055
Fax: 080-2218 5028
Email:  ritajyoti@nias.iisc.ernet.in

Joined NIAS on 2nd November 2010

Ritajyoti Bandyopadhyay has navigated a diverse ideoscape comprising Marxist History, Subaltern Studies, history of the present and urban geography to arrive at his current abode in Urban Research and Policy Progrmme at NIAS, Bangalore. Before joining NIAS, he studied history, sociology and urban theory in Jadavpur University, India, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, India, El Colegio de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico and University of California, Berkeley, USA. He has widely published papers on urban space, governance and activism in journals like Dialectical Anthropology, Estudios de Asia y Africa, Sociological Research Online, Economic and Political Weekly and Journal of Indian Anthropology. His PhD project received a number of prestigious grants including the Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Fellowship (2009-10). His approach to theory and experience reveals a productive tension between disciplines and intellectual traditions. He studies issues of urban change, poverty, work, class and gender within the context of postcolonial India. However, it is the problematic rather than the region or the discipline that drives his scholarship.

Binoy V. V.

CSI Post-Doctoral Fellow
School of Natural Sciences and Engineering

Room No.: N 03
Tel: 080-2218 5106, 07829496778, 09846294078
Email:  vvbinoy@gmail.com

Joined NIAS on 2nd September 2010

Binoy is a Cognitive Science Research Initiative Postdoctoral Fellow (Department of Science and Technology) interested in the behavioural ecology and cognitive psychology of fishes. Currently he is exploring ‘Conspecific recognition, numerical competence and capacity for transitive inference in a freshwater fish, the climbing perch( Anabas testudineus)', with Profs. Anindya Sinha and Rajesh Kasturirangan.

For further details see http://vvbinoy.googlepages.com/

Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan

Post-Doctoral Fellow
School of Natural Sciences and Engineering

Room No.: A 02
Tel: 91-9481121296
Email:  hsknathan@nias.iisc.ernet.in

Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan is an Engineer-turned Development Researcher with an M Tech in Thermal Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, and PhD in Development Studies from Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai. Prior to his PhD, he worked as a software professional at Infosys Limited, Bangalore and Geometric Global, Mumbai. As a part of Civil Society Interventions through Peoples Foundation for Scientific Socio Economic Development (PeFSSED, www.pefssed.org), he has been involved in education, health, and livelihood issues in urban slums and remote villages of Maharashtra, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh.

Dr. Nathan’s research interests include economic measurement, energy, human development, disarmament, world peace, socio-political reform, and sustainable use of resources. Some of his recent works have been published in the journals Energy Policy, Renewable Energy, Int. J. of Sustainable Development, Int. J. of Economic Policies in Emerging Economies, and Int. J. Multicriteria Decision Making. He has presented his works in different forums and have four ‘best research paper awards’ to his credit—SCODER-2007 (IGIDR, Mumbai), COSMAR-2007 and COSMAR-2008 (IISc, Bangalore), and Doctoral Colloquim-2010 (IIM, Ahmedabad). He has coauthored the Chapter “Emerging Energy insecurity—the Indian Dimension” in India Development Report-2011 and contributed to the book Human Development: Dimensions and Strategies (New Century Publications, 2009).

For further details see – http://works.bepress.com/hippu

Nabeel A. Mancheri

Post-Doctoral Associate
International Strategic & Security Studies Programme

Room No.: Auditorium II Floor No.A3
Tel: 080-2218 5053
Fax: 080-2218 5028
Email:  nabeelmnc@gmail.com

Joined NIAS on 15th November 2010

Nabeel A. Mancheri is an economist by training with specialization in international trade, international finance and banking, environmental economics and India’s economic relations with East Asia and Australia. Dr. Mancheri’s research interests are in international political economy, economic and trade policies, energy and natural resource management, Chinese and Japanese economies. He obtained his PhD and MPhil from the School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi. Prior to joining NIAS, he has been a consultant to OECD Paris, ICRIER New Delhi and CUTS International on research related to trade issues.

He has been awarded the ICCR- Okita fellowship in Japanese Studies for the year 2006-07. He was a recipient of the Australia-India Council (AIC) Fellowship of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia for the year 2007-08 and been hosted by Australian National University. He was a visiting researcher at Graduate School of International Development and Cooperation (IDEC), Hiroshima University, Japan in 2008-09.