IIT Gandhinagar PhD alumnus bags Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research Fellowship

NEW DELHI: Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) alumnus Rahul Kumar, who did his PhD in Mathematics from IITGN in 2021 won the Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research Fellowship 2022-23. Under the fellowship, Kumar will get to spend two years at the Penn State University, USA, to advance his research.

Kumar is currently working as a postdoc fellow at the IBS Center for Geometry and Physics, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) in South Korea. He completed his PhD at IIT Gandhinagar under the supervision of professor Atul Dixit. His research at IITGN was based on analytic number theory and special functions. Rahul is entitled to J-1 visa support, round-trip air travel, a monthly stipend, a professional allowance, and accident and sickness support as per the US government guidelines, under the fellowship.

According to a statement from IIT Gandhinagar, there are only two other fellows with the Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in the area of Mathematics in the USA, among which, one is an early career fellow from IITGN. The Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research Fellowship is offered by the United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) and Fulbright Commission in India. The fellowship programme aims to provide opportunities to the talented early-career Indian faculty and researchers and help them further their research, strengthen their research capacities and enable them to access the best resources in their field.

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“I am delighted to know that I have been selected for this prestigious fellowship. I sincerely thank USIEF for selecting me for this fellowship. I also thank Prof Bruce Berndt, my PhD guide Prof Atul Dixit, Prof Balasubramanian, and Prof Akshaa Vatwani for writing recommendation letters for me. I express my gratitude to Prof Winnie Li from Penn State University for supporting my application as a host. I am excited to visit and work with the faculty there. This two-year fellowship will provide me a golden opportunity to broaden my research area and build new academic collaborations there, which will help me throughout my career. Apart from academic benefits, this visit will also allow me to gain insights into American society and its culture, which is also one of the aims of this fellowship,” said Kumar.

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