Experience
Academic Mobility, Fellowships, Scholarships & Research Schools
My academic and research journey has been shaped through fellowships, scholarships, doctoral workshops, and summer schools across India and Europe. These experiences have expanded my engagement with spatial justice, urban political economy, sustainability transitions, complexity science, institutional transformation, and future-making.
Interactive map of academic mobility and research training experiences (click numbered markers for details).
Academic Mobility and Intellectual Development
Futuring for Sustainability, Urban Futures Studio, Utrecht University (2026)
The Futuring for Sustainability Summer School explored how societies imagine, negotiate, and construct environmental futures. The programme connected sustainability transitions with broader political questions concerning democratic decline, ideological contestation, and social transformation. Using futuring methodologies developed by the Urban Futures Studio, participants engaged with innovative approaches to future-making and transformative research. The school significantly expanded my understanding of futures thinking as both a research method and a tool for addressing contemporary sustainability challenges.
Reworlding Spring School, Hasselt University (2026)
The Reworlding Spring School examined the role of institutions in socio-environmental transitions through themes of power, institutional change, embodied governance, and more-than-human relations. Through keynote lectures, workshops, and collaborative discussions, participants explored how institutions can be reimagined and reshaped in response to ongoing ecological and social crises. The programme deepened my interest in governance and institutional transformation while introducing alternative perspectives on environmental change and collective action.
Amsterdam Complexity School on Climate Change (2026)
The Amsterdam Complexity School on Climate Change brought together early-career researchers, policymakers, NGOs, activists, and other stakeholders to address climate challenges using complexity science as a guiding framework. Through lectures, tutorials, collaborative projects, and interdisciplinary teamwork, participants explored systems thinking, network dynamics, and collective problem-solving approaches to climate governance. The programme expanded my methodological perspective and highlighted the value of complexity-based approaches for understanding socio-environmental systems.
Urban Space in Tension Between Financialisation and the Right to the City, Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences (2025)
Organised by the PhD Club Critical Approaches to Policy and Governance, this international doctoral workshop engaged with contemporary debates on urban financialisation, housing, urban citizenship, and the Right to the City. Discussions explored how contemporary urban development is increasingly shaped by financial markets, speculative investment, and changing governance arrangements. The workshop strengthened my engagement with critical urban theory and urban political economy while providing a platform for dialogue with doctoral researchers working on urban justice issues across different contexts.
IGCS Fellowship – Regenerative Urban Futures, RWTH Aachen University (2024)
The International Graduate Campus Scholarship (IGCS) fellowship exposed me to interdisciplinary perspectives on regenerative urban futures and sustainability transformations. The programme encouraged critical reflection on how cities can move beyond conventional sustainability approaches towards regenerative frameworks that integrate ecological restoration, resilience, and long-term socio-environmental well-being. It strengthened my understanding of urban transformation processes and broadened my engagement with international sustainability scholarship.
Planning and Design for the Just City, TU Delft (2024)
This intensive summer school explored the intersection of spatial planning, urban design, governance, and spatial justice. Working with researchers, policymakers, civil society organisations, and practitioners, participants examined how justice-oriented planning approaches can address sustainability transitions in complex urban environments. The programme provided an opportunity to apply theoretical debates on spatial justice to practical planning challenges in The Hague and significantly enriched the conceptual foundations of my doctoral research.
Urban Fellowship, Indian Institute for Human Settlements (2018–2019)
The Urban Fellowship at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) provided my first formal interdisciplinary training in urban studies. Through classroom instruction, field immersion, and applied project work, the programme introduced me to urban governance, infrastructure systems, ecology, planning, housing, and development practice. The fellowship played a foundational role in shaping my interest in cities and continues to influence my efforts to connect academic research with real-world policy and planning challenges.
Summary of Fellowships, Scholarships and Research Schools
| Fellowship / Programme | Institution | Year |
|---|---|---|
| UFS Futuring for Sustainability Summer School (EUR 2,000) | Utrecht University, Netherlands | 2026 |
| Reworlding Spring School | Hasselt University, Belgium | 2026 |
| Amsterdam Complexity School on Climate Change – Travel Grant (EUR 800) | UvA Institute for Advanced Study, Amsterdam | 2026 |
| Austrian Student Union Travel Grant (EUR 800) | Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences, Austria | 2025 |
| IGCS Fellowship – Regenerative Urban Futures (EUR 2,000) | RWTH Aachen University, Germany | 2024 |
| Planning and Design for the Just City Summer School Scholarship (EUR 500) | TU Delft, Netherlands | 2024 |
| UGC Senior Research Fellowship | Government of India | 2021–Present |
| Urban Fellowship Award | Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bangalore | 2018–2019 |
Collectively, these experiences have expanded the conceptual foundations of my doctoral research beyond questions of environmental distribution and green infrastructure provision. They have enabled me to engage with broader debates on spatial justice, urban political economy, sustainability transitions, institutional transformation, complexity science, and future-making. Together, these programmes have strengthened my ability to connect geospatial analysis with critical urban theory and policy-relevant research on just and sustainable urban futures.
Service
Rapporteur, International Conference on Sustainable and Inclusive Urban Development in the Global South, New Delhi (August 2023)
Rapporteur, UN-GGIM Pre-event, CSRD-JNU, New Delhi (January 2022)
Student Representative, Board of Studies, Centre for Geography and Geology, Central University of Punjab (2017–2018)