Ritvic Parekh, Cohort of 2025, SIAS, Krea University, has cleared the semi-finals of the Climate Olympiad 2024. The Olympiad is designed to encourage students to develop solutions to climate and environmental challenges. Ritvic now awaits the results to see if he will be among the top 100 semi-finalists advancing to the finals.
Dr Tanmoy Chakraborty, Assistant Professor of Physics, SIAS, Krea University, has co-authored a research paper titled 31P NMR Studies of the 1/3-Depleted Two-Dimensional Anisotropic Kagomé Lattice System BaCu₂(PO₄)₂(H₂O), published in Physical Review B.
About the paper: The word “Kagomé” has a Japanese origin meaning basket with eyes referring to the pattern of corner-shared triangles in a woven basket. In the research field of “strongly correlated spin systems” it is one of the canonical examples of geometrically frustrated spins. In this work, the authors have synthesized one single crystalline material where the spin network is 1/3-depleted Cu 2+ kagomé layers. The authors have used magic angle spinning (MAS) – nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and theoretical (DFT+U) electronic structure calculations to validify their model spin network. Their work is published in Physical Review B involving six different research groups across three different countries.
Dr Soumya Dey is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at SIAS, Krea University. Along with other researchers and academics in the field, Dr Dey co-organised World of GroupCraft IV. This was a short, international conference. It ran for 24 hours straight on 9 September, 2024.
Sibhi Aravindan and Dheer Panjwani, second-year students at SIAS, Krea University, participated in an online debate competition conducted by IIM Ranchi and secured 1st place, winning a cash prize of ₹20,000.
Dr Shyam Kumar Sudhakar, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, SIAS, Krea University penned a story for IndiaBioscience on his journey as a young investigator and teaching at a Liberal Arts institution.
Sayantan Datta, Assistant Professor of Practice, Krea-CWP (Centre for Writing and Pedagogy), has authored an article titled Vinesh Phogat versus the perplexing biochemistry of losing weight for The Hindu. In their latest report, Sayantan writes about how losing or gaining weight is much more than an arithmetic calculation with energy intake and energy loss, involving hormones, water retention, metabolism, and uncertainty.
Professor Chiranjib Sur, Visiting Professor of Computer Science, SIAS, Krea University participated in InsightX: AI-Powered Innovations and Transformation in Digital R&D by Prescience Insilico Pvt Ltd on 3 September, 2024. He delivered a talk on AI: Journey from Artificial to Advanced Intelligence.
The Consulate General of the United States in association with the British Council conducted a panel discussion titled Her Frames: Women Shaping The Future of Film today at the British Council, Chennai. Dr Swarnamalya Ganesh, Assistant Professor of Practice & Discipline Coordinator for Arts, SIAS, Krea University moderated the session. The panel comprised film producer Caroline Libresco, film entrepreneur Archana Kalpathi, journalist Geeta Ilangovan and filmmaker Nandhini JS.
Dr Joya John, Assistant Professor of Literature, SIAS, Krea University presented a paper titled Heritage Carbon: Fossil Fuels in the Indian Museum at a 4-day conference organised by the University of Liverpool, Jadavpur University and Ahmedabad University. The conference theme was Redefining Tangible and Intangible Heritage. Dr Joya John’s paper asked how with India entering into a global mandate on the mitigation of carbon emissions, can the Science and Technology museum undertake a historical reappraisal of modern energy systems archived in it?
A student collective organised a series of educational and awareness-raising events centered on some of the world’s most pressing humanitarian and political crises. As part of this initiative, on 24 August, 2024 they hosted an exhibition dedicated to highlighting the situations in Palestine, Congo, and Sudan on the Sri City campus.
The exhibition was thoughtfully designed, with three rooms dedicated to exploring the many facets of these three crises, including their impact on human life, education, the environment, and more. Each room offered perspective through art (music, visual art, poetry, etc), photography and facts on one crisis (Sudan, Congo and Palestine), encouraging visitors to delve deeper into the complexities of these issues.
As someone who interacted with the exhibit, I was deeply moved. The exhibition forced me to question how we prioritise certain global issues over others, and what drives those decisions. It was a powerful reminder of the importance of staying connected to the world beyond our immediate surroundings, as we often live in a bubble that can obscure our understanding of global realities. Staying in a bubble makes it all the more crucial to stay informed and engaged with the world around us.
The exhibit did an exceptional job of breaking through that bubble, sparking conversations that were both meaningful and necessary. The student collective hopes that the student body continues to engage with humanitarian crises both in our country and globally, and hopes that students keep having discussions and find ways to help
Here are some links that they would like the student body to engage with regarding these three particular crises.
(Reported by Pranvi Khare, Cohort of 2027, SIAS)