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Life History

​I was born on 24th January 1984 in the beautiful city of Chandigarh in India. By the time I was 20, I'd had the luxury of living in about 18 different cities in India and France due to dad's job in the Indian Air Force. This brownian life has continued and I have lived in breathtaking beautiful places like Brighton, Trieste, Berlin, Edinburgh and Durham over the past 10 years.

 

My earliest career choice (at the age of 10) was Archaeology - but I (irreversibly) fell in love with Physics at the age of 14 and ended up doing "the Archaeology of the Universe"!

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Work History        & awards

2017              : NWO VIDI grant laureate (ODIN; 800K Euros)

2017              : Young scientist medal awarded by the International Union of Pure &

                         Applied Physics

2016              : ERC Starting grant laureate (DELPHI; 1.5m Euros)

2016 -            : Rosalind Franklin fellow & Assistant Professor, Kapteyn Institute, Groningen

​2015 - 2016   : Addison Wheeler Fellow, Institute of computational Cosmology

                         (ICC), Durham University, U.K.

2011 - 2015    : Postdoctoral Fellow, Insitute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, U.K.

2010 - 2011    : Postdoctoral Fellow, Leibniz Insitute for Astrophysics, Potsdam, Germany

2010               : Marie Curie visiting researcher, ICC, Durham University, U.K.

2006 - 2010    : PhD student, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste, Italy

2005 - 2006    : INLAKS & Chancellor's fellow in MS, University of Sussex, Brighton, U.K.

 
Supervision

​I have had the pleasure and privilege of supervising a number of bright young researchers:

                                                  PhD students

2018 - 2022: Mr. Laurent Legrand at the Kapteyn Institute (primary supervisor)

2018 - 2022: Mr. Ruslan Brilenkov at the Kapteyn Institute (primary supervisor)

2017 - 2021: Mr. Jonas Bremer at the Kapteyn Institute (primary supervisor)

2017 - 2021: Mr. Olmo Piana at the Kapteyn Institute (primary supervisor)

2017 - 2021: Mr. Smaran Deshmukh at the Kapteyn Institute (secondary supervisor)

2016 - 2020: Ms. Punyakoti Veena at the Kapteyn Institute (secondary supervisor)

2011 - 2015: Dr. Anne Hutter at the Leibniz Institute of Astrophysics, Potsdam

2010 - 2014: Dr. Livia Vallini at the Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy

 

                                              Masters students

2018: Ms. Nikki Arendse, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Groningen, Netherlands

2018: Ms. Marenthe Hopma, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Groningen, Netherlands

2018: Mr. Jonas Bremer, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Groningen, Netherlands

2018: Mr. Folkert Nobels, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Groningen, Netherlands

                                                    

                                      Undergraduate students

2016: Ms. Roza Wadowska from the University of Warsaw, Poland

2014: Ms. Helene Robinson from Edinburgh University, U.K.

2013: Ms. Susan Wright from Cambridge University, U.K.

Teaching

2016-18: "Galaxy formation and Evolution" core Master's course, University of

                 Groningen

2016-18: "Quantum Universe seminar" core Master's course, University of Groningen

​2015     : Ran first year undergraduate Physics "discovery" laboratories at Durham

               University

2014     : Core-team member for a new course on "Introduction to Astrophysics" at

          Edinburgh University

 

I have also helped formulate a COURSERA MOOC (Massive Online Open Course) called "AstroTech" - this course is running again in 2015!

Talks

​Since 2008, I have had the pleasure of delivering a total of 104 talks (63 invited, 41 contributed) all over the globe! Some conference reviews/invited talks are listed below.

26. Computational astrophysics for next generation super-computers, Kobe (Japan), 12              October, 2018 (workshop talk)

25. LSS2LSS workshop, Institut d'astrophysics Spatiale (Orsay), 19 July, 2018  (review)

24. Information Universe conference, Groningen, The Netherlands,  5 July, 2018         

      (conference talk)

23. EWASS2018 symposium on galaxy symposium, 4 April, 2018 (mini review)

22. Next generation cosmology with next generation radio telescopes, Sesto, Italy, 7 March

      2018 (meeting talk)

21. Netherlands Euclid Day, Groningen, The Netherlands, 9 Feb 2018 (workshop talk)

20. 29th Texas symposium, Cape Town, South Africa, 8 December 2017 (plenary prize talk)

19. UK National Astronomy Meeting, Hull, U.K., 6 July 2017 (review)

18. Growth of galaxies in the early Universe, Sesto,  20 January, 2017 conference talk)

17. Signals from the deep past, Valletta, Malta, 20 July 2016 (invited review)

16. MIAPP workshop on cosmic reionization, Munich, Germany, 15 April 2016 (invited talk)

15. National Astronomy meeting, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 15 January 2016 (invited talk)

14. Physics of cosmic dawn in SKA era, Sesto, Italy, 19 January 2016 (Invited review)

13. Preparing for 21cm revolution, Irvine, U.S.A, 1 October 2015 (invited review)

12. PACIFIC 2015, Moorea, Tahiti, 14 September 2015 (invited talk)

11. Marcel Grossmann Meeting 2015, Rome, Italy, 16 July 2015 (invited talk)

10. EWASS session on mass-metallicity, Tenerife, Spain, 25 June 2015 (invited review)

9. EWASS session on early galaxies, Tenerife, Spain, 26 June 2015 (invited review)

8. National Astronomy Meeting, St Andrews, U.K., 2013 (invited talk)

7. Cosmic Dawn workshop, Ringberg, Germany, 2013 (invited talk)

6. Star formation through cosmic times, Sesto, Italy, 2013 (invited talk)

5. European Astronomy Week, Rome, Italy, 2012 (invited review)

4. Metals in Tuscany, Spineto, Italy, 18 June 2012 (invited talk)

3. CLUES meeting, Sussex University, U.K., 2011 (invited talk)

2. ComsoFirstObjects workshop, Marseille, France, 2011 (invited talk)

1. CLUES meeting, Madrid, Spain, 2010 (invited talk) 

 

In addition, I have been invited to deliver departmental seminars/colloquia at :

2018: ASTRON, Portsmouth, Tokyo tech, IPMU, ZARM (Bremen), Observatory of Marseille,

          Observatory of Strasbourg, Leibniz Institute (Potsdam), Scuola Normale (Pisa)

2017: Leiden observatory, University of Hull, Universities of western Cape, Cape Town &

          Witwatersrand

2016: Universities of Manchester, Amsterdam, Utrecht & Nijmegen, SRON

2015: Universities of Warwick & Leicester, Kapteyn Institute

2014: Geneva Observatory, Bristol university, Kapteyn Institute, IAP (Paris)

2013: Universities of Nottingham, Cambridge & Portsmouth, Imperial college, Trieste

          observatory

Pre2013: Albanova (Stockholm), Sussex, Rome observatory, University of Central Lancashire, National Astronomical Observatory at Mitaka (Japan) and Center for Astronomy at Johannesburg (South Africa)

Outreach

​Disseminating science to the wider audience is an integral part of being a professional astronomer. Some of my most memorable moments have been discussing science with children who's list of "whys" never end! Some outreach events include:

 

12. Lecture to FMF student association, Groningen (2018)                                                11. Lecturer for National Stargazing day, Groningen (2018)                                                10. Talk on Dark Matter at  the DOT, Groningen (2018)                                                      9. Founding member and chair outreach committee, Young Academy of Groningen 

8. Volunteer for "national stargazing day" at the University of Groningen (2016)

7. Volunteer at IoP "Year of light" exhibit, Durham University (2015)

6. Lecture as part of Project Shona pilot weekend (2015)

5. Public lecture to the Sunderland Astronomical Society (2015)

4. STFC roadshow ``Seeing the Universe in all its light", Edinburgh 2014

3. Lecturer for Winter Outreach Series at the Royal Observatory of Edinburgh (2013,

    2014)

2. Open day organiser at the Institute for Astronomy in Edinburgh (U.K.; 2011 & 2012),        at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (Germany; 2010 & 2011) and at the      Trieste Science festivals (Italy; 2007-2010)

1. Represented the Institute for Computational Cosmology (Durham University) at the        Royal Society Summer Exhibit (2010)

 

Affiliations

​- I am co-leading the SKA Epoch of Reionization synergy focus group

I have been an affiliate researcher at the Institute for Space Sciences and Astronomy,

   University of Malta since 2016

- I am a founding member of the Young Academy at Groningen, set up to promote

   interdisciplinary research

- I am an associate researcher at the exciting 4C research group at the Scuola

  Normale Superiore. 

- I am a member of the DAVID (Dark Ages VIrtual Department) collaboration composed

  of an exceptional group of researchers who meet in the wonderfully lovely city of Pisa     every year to push the frontiers of Science!

 

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