IIT Gandhinagar PhD scholar wins Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellowship 2022-23

NEW DELHI: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar ’s PhD scholar, Rishiraj Adhikary has been awarded the prestigious Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellowship 2022-23. He’s working under the supervision of Professor Nipun Batra in the discipline of Computer Science and Engineering. The esteemed fellowship, instituted by the United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF), Fulbright Commission in India, is awarded only to a few candidates every year after a strict application and interview process.

The fellowship enables the awardees to cross-fertilise ideas, tackle challenging research problems, and develop deployable impactful solutions.

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Rishiraj, whose PhD research at IITGN focuses on Human-Computer Interaction and Ubiquitous Computing, will be going to the Carnegie Mellon University in the USA for nine months from August 2022, to work with Professor Mayank Goel at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute. This opportunity will provide him with significant exposure to state-of-the-art research facilities and a global outlook at CMU. He will be working on technologies that can develop a preventive, continual healthcare system to reduce death caused due to respiratory illnesses, according to a statement from IIT Gandhinagar.

As a recipient of this fellowship, Rishiraj will receive J-1 visa support and round-trip air travel, a monthly stipend, and accident and sickness support as per the US government guidelines. He will also have opportunities to audit non-degree courses, conduct research, and gain practical work experience, the IITGN statement said.

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Expressing his thoughts on this accomplishment and plans to advance his research at CMU, Rishiraj said, “I am delighted to be one of the Fulbright fellows, thanks to IIT Gandhinagar, the Sustainability Lab and my supervisor, Professor Nipun. Besides working on my research objective, I will also play my role as a cultural ambassador of India in the US. My research in the US will explore technologies that can develop a preventive, continual healthcare system to reduce death caused due to respiratory illness. In particular, I will strengthen my research on monitoring lung health and create systems for non-contact monitoring of physiological indices.” Rishiraj is also a Prime Minister’s Research Fellow (PMRF) from the May 2021 cycle.

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Sharing his thoughts Prof Nipun Batra, Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering at IITGN and PhD supervisor of Rishiraj, said, “I am very glad that Rishiraj will be visiting Carnegie Mellon University (a top-ranked US university for the Computer Science programmes) through the Fullbright-Nehru Doctoral fellowship. The experience will be enriching for him in various ways and help him grow as a researcher and an individual.”