A recent publication by Professor Shanti Pappu, Visiting Professor of Archaeology and History, SIAS in collaboration with various other researchers is one of the pilot projects to explore skill acquisition and pedagogy in the context of the forgotten craft of making stone tools. The paper titled Flakes, Feelings, and Finesse: Experiential Studies of Skill Acquisition in Novice Knappers deals with the stone tool technologies used from around 2.6 Ma to around 300 ka (Lower Palaeolithic).
Dr Srajana Kaikini, Assistant Professor, Philosophy, SIAS was invited as a resource person to address over 250 registered participants from various university across the country for the Faculty Development Programme themed around “Critical Humanities and the Futures We Imagine” organised by the Centre for Theory and Criticism, Central University of Kerala and the UGC Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Centre. Dr Kaikini’s session was titled ‘The Curatorial Turn in Education: Notes from Relational Arts Practices’ where she shared insights from the field of curatorial studies and its possibilities within education and pedagogy based on her work around embodiment and learning.
Dr Shikha Rajpurohit, Assistant Professor, Philosophy, SIAS has been awarded the Tagore National Scholarship, given for a period of two years by the Ministry of Culture, GOI. Dr Rajpurohit will be working under the aegis of Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune to critically edit the Nidarśana commentary of Rājānaka Ānanda on Kāvyaprakāśa. The commentary was written in the 17th century of which eight manuscripts are known to exist till date. The edition will be useful for researchers working in the fields of Sanskrit poetics and Indian philosophy.
Dr Anannya Dasgupta. Director, Centre for Writing & Pedagogy (CWP) and Associate Professor of Literature, SIAS was a discussant on a panel on, “Trends in Literary Studies and English Departments in India” at the national conference on Trends in Literary Studies and English Departments in India organised by Manipal Centre for Humanities on 24 January, 2025.
Sayantan Datta, Assistant Professor of Practice, Centre for Writing and Pedagogy recently penned an article in The Hindu titled, In breakthrough, scientists find pressure sensor in fat tissue.
The article discusses PIEZO mechanosensitive channel – a class of proteins that helps us sense pressure. PIEZO channels have been implicated in our ability to sense touch and pain, to understand how our bodies are positioned in space (proprioception), to perceive our body’s internal state (interoception), and to respire, urinate, form blood vessels, regulate bone density, and heal skin wounds. Two new studies have now expanded the ambit of PIEZO channels’ functions.
Dr Chirag Dhara, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies, SIAS was recently invited to The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and IIT Bombay to deliver research talks. Dr Dhara delivered a talk on, ‘The role of historic global inequality in avoided climate destabilisation’ at TISS and two talks titled, ‘What levels of development can humanity sustainably aspire to?’ and ‘An interpretational lens to understand climate performance indices’ at IIT Bombay.
Dr Chirag Dhara at IIT Bombay
Kaustav Mehta, Teaching Fellow, Dats Science, SIAS recently presented a poster at NetsciX 2025, IIT Indore. This work stems from Kaustav’s third year undergraduate capstone project at Krea University, conducted under the supervision of Dr Shyam Kumar Sudhakar, Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, SIAS. Their research, titled Exploring Comorbidity Networks in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Subjects through Graph Theory: A Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Study, has been developed into a journal paper and poster. The paper is currently under editorial review.
Abstract:
Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are characterised by myriad comorbidities that affect the functioning of the affected individuals. The comorbidities that TBI subjects experience span a wide range, ranging from psychiatric diseases to those that affect the various systems of the body. This is compounded by the fact that the problems that TBI subjects face could span over an extended period post-primary injury.
Further, no drug exists to prevent the spread of secondary injuries after a primary impact. In this study, the researchers employed graph theory to understand the patterns of comorbidities after mild TBIs. Upon application of network analysis and a novel clustering algorithm, they discovered interesting associations between comorbidities in young and old subjects with the condition. Specifically, bipolar disorder was seen as related to cardiovascular comorbidities, a pattern that was observed only in the young subjects. Similar associations between obsessive-compulsive disorder and rheumatoid arthritis were observed in young subjects. Psychiatric comorbidities exhibited differential associations with non-psychiatric comorbidities depending on the age of the cohort. The study results might have implications for effective surveillance and the management of comorbidities post-mild TBIs.
Sibling, a mental health and wellness start-up founded by SIAS students Mitansh Aggarwal, Adwitiya Roy, and Viney Jain, was among 400 start-ups nationwide selected to present at Udyamotsav 2025. Held on 16 January 2025 (National Start-up Day) at BMS College of Engineering in Bangalore, the event is an initiative by the MoE-AICTE Investor Network and serves as a prominent fundraising platform for early-stage startups. Organised as part of the National Startup Day celebrations, Udyamotsav highlights innovation and entrepreneurship across India.
The start-up also received a grant of Rs 1.5 lakh from the Centre For Entrepreneurship (CFE) at Krea University last year. The team was mentored by Professor Anil Srinivasan, Visiting Professor of Practice, Literature and the Arts, SIAS whose guidance strengthens their mission to make mental health support accessible to students nationwide. Through their transformative vision, Sibling is paving the way for meaningful change in mental health care.
A research article by Dr Randhir Rai, Visiting Faculty, Chemistry, SIAS titled, Catalytic application of second cycle copper-based laboratory waste for synthesis of beta-keto-1,2,3-triazole: A micro circular economy approach has been published in the Elsevier journal.
This study follows the circular economy principle to explore the catalytic potential of second-cycle cuprous oxide laboratory waste. Undergraduate students generated cuprous oxide as a second cycle waste during a practicalsession, where they used an aqueous solution of recycled copper sulfate pentahydrate as a Fehling’s reagent A.
The cuprous oxide waste was isolated by a simple filtration method and characterized using infrared spectros-copy, powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electron microscopic techniques. The isolated material was used as an active click catalyst to synthesize beta-keto-1,2,3-triazole in an aqueous medium via a one-pot, three-component click reaction. The catalytic activity of the second-cycled cuprous oxide waste was compared with first-cycled cuprous oxide waste and commercial cuprous oxide. They observed that the catalyst was recycled and reused for up to two cycles without significant yield loss. Also, the synthesized beta- keto-1,2,3-triazole was found to show chelating properties towards copper.
Dr Chirag Dhara, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies, SIAS has co-led a study published in Frontiers in Climate which was invited by the World Climate Research Program (WCRP). This collaborative effort involved researchers from leading institutions across Asia and lays out a roadmap for future climate research in the continent. Notably, the findings from this work are expected to inform the next Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.
The study focuses on “compound weather and climate extremes” and identifies three critical types impacting Asia:
Compound Flooding: Highlighted by the devastating 2022 Pakistan floods, driven by monsoon rains, glacier melt, and climate variability.
Heatwave-Drought Events: Examining their severe impacts on agriculture and water resources in South and East Asia.
Marine Extremes: Addressing risks from ocean warming, tropical cyclones, and rising sea levels in the Indian Ocean.
The paper also underscores knowledge gaps and recommends improving early warning systems, forecasting capabilities, and data sharing to mitigate rising risks.