222 get degrees at IISER

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 21

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As many as 222 students were given degrees during the convocation ceremony held at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Mohali today.

In all, 47 students were awarded with PhD degrees, 161 bachelor of science-master of science (BS-MS) degrees and 14 students were given master of science degrees.

The PhDs were awarded in several fields, including physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, Earth and environmental sciences and humanities and social sciences.

The chief guest for this occasion was Padma Shri awardee Prof Ajay Kumar Sood, president of the Indian National Science Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society, London.

Prof Sood graduated from the PU and went on to hold key positions in IGCAR, Kalpakkam, and the Department of Physics at IISc, Bangalore. Reiterating the vision of IISER, Mohali, Prof Sood said: “The world today is looking at India with admiration and expectations that we will contribute to solving global issues and IISER Mohali is well positioned to “emerge as a global center of learning, academic excellence and an intellectually vibrant environment.”

Graduating BS-MS student Jorawar Singh was awarded the President’s Gold Medal for the best academic performance. J Ashwin Kumar was awarded the Professor SN Kaul Medal for the best all-round performance. Archi Sharma, Ramandeep Singh Arora, Jorawar Singh and Rishabh Gupta received certificates of merit for best performance in their respective disciplines.

20 women receive PhDs 

Of 47 students who received their PhDs, 20 were women. One such PhD holder is Dalia Bhattacharjee who wrote her thesis on ‘Wombs for rent: The emotional geographies of reproductive laborers in India’. 

Mother of one-year-old gets degree

Sudha Devi (32) received a PhD in chemistry. Throughout the ceremony, Devi was spotted taking care of her one-year old child. According to Devi, she had finished a significant portion of her research before her pregnancy, but wrote down her thesis during her pregnancy. 

All-rounder set to go to Oxford 

Ashwin Kumar  Jainarayanan was awarded the  Professor SN Kaul Medal for the best all-round performance. Kumar has  been accepted at Oxford University for pursuing a PhD in interdisciplinary bioscience.