TIARA SCIENCES PO GRANT
The Tiara Sciences Po partnership awards two annual grants of up to US$ 5,000 for Sciences Po Masters' students.
The following candidates are the recipients of the Tiara Sciences Po Grant.
Recipients
2020-21
Maithreyi Kamalanathan
Maithreyi completed her undergraduate studies in journalism and communication from the School of Communication at Manipal University. In the final semester of her Bachelors, she was awarded the DAAD scholarship from the German Government to pursue an exchange semester at Hochschule Bremen University of Applied Sciences. After her graduation, as a part of India Fellow, a social leadership program,she went on to work in the development sector specifically in Communication for Social Change (C4SC) and Media Rights. Following the fellowship, she worked with Project Koshika - an initiative of India Fellow, in Panna, Madhya Pradesh, where she helped set up a blog called Bundelkhand Post. The blog documented the social and political struggles of the local adivasi communities in the region. Her final stint was at DataBaaz, India’s first video-led data journalism initiative. As a lead researcher and reporter, she covered a multiple ground reports on health
and environment, particularly from rural India.
She strongly believes that her brief work experience with grassroots organisations before switching to data journalism informed her stand as a journalist. It taught her the power of people centric policies; the outcomes of people taking ownership of issues that affect them; the power of hyper local elements at play and how problems cannot be solved in isolation.
An Emile Boutmy and Charpak BCS scholar, Maithreyi is currently pursuing a Joint Masters in Journalism and International Development at Sciences Po, Paris. In the future, she hopes to create a solutions driven media venture - a model that will thrive to create valuable discussions on solutions available for complex problems, more accessible to the masses.
2019-20
Chetna Hareesh Kumar
While completing her undergraduate degree in Economics honours from Lady Shri Ram College, Chetna developed a keen interest in international economics and politics, with a particular focus on China’s role in the contemporary global economy. She is currently pursuing this interest through a Master’s in International Economic Policy at Sciences Po, where her specialisations are China and East Asia as well as International Energy.
An Emile-Boutmy, K.C. Mahindra and Charpak Travel scholar, Chetna aspires to work as a policy researcher and consultant at international organisations in the future.
Apoorva Shivakumar
To shape the destiny of the world is Apoorva’s dream. This she plans to do by being a key player in global economic policymaking. She graduated top of her class from CHRIST (Deemed to be University) with a triple-major in Psychology, Sociology, and Economics. This programme drove home for her how vital an interdisciplinary perspective is when trying to solve multidimensional global problems.
Apoorva has held numerous leadership positions in her life, having served as overall head of the Student Welfare Office and on the Student Council at her university, as well as school captain and cultural secretary in her school. Apart from this, she has also volunteered with several NGOs working in varied fields.
Her interactions have helped her develop empathy and hope in the power of youthful energy and commitment. She hopes that the lessons in teamwork, shared goals, and a clear vision that she has picked up over these endeavours will aid her in her future career. Her two research internships, one of which was at the Chennai Behavioural Economics Lab affiliated to J-PAL South Asia and IFMR-LEAD, have helped her recognise the importance of research-based policy in the current scenario while staying firmly rooted in the ground realities of life of the peoples of the world. A recipient of the Emile Boutmy scholarship, Apoorva is currently enrolled in the Master in International Economic Policy at Sciences Po on the march towards her goals.
2018-19
Shruti Slaria
An Emile Boutmy and Charpak BCS scholar, she is currently studying for her Master’s in Public Policy at Sciences Po, Paris. Specialising in the ‘politics and public policy’ stream, she wants to pursue a career in academia and research, especially focusing on the representation of women in political spaces. Shruti also holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University.
Nikhil M. Varghese
Nikhil completed his under graduate studies in Economics and Political Science from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. He was President of the Students Union, and as head of Social Service League he experienced the real world of policy making and sustainable development at the grass root level. He was awarded the prestigious Bank of Tokyo Scholarship for superlative academic and extracurricular performance.
Working in Quality Council of India, he got the opportunity to analyse Central Government projects like Swachh Bharat Mission, Indian Development Fund of Overseas Indians and Open Defecation Free Programme among others. Being awarded the Eiffel Excellence Scholarship by the French Government, he is currently pursuing his Masters in International Public Management at Sciences Po. He aspires to become one of those people who will use their learning to fight inefficiency and build a better tomorrow. At Sciences Po he seeks the opportunity to ‘study to understand, understand to know and know to act upon his knowledge.
Vaishnavi Pavithran
Working towards turning an ideal world into a growing reality, Vaishnavi is a dreamer intent on finding innovative solutions to age-old problems. This passion was born at the age of twelve when she started volunteering at CREST, an NGO in Mangalore. Since then, she has been actively involved in social work and has served as the President of two NGOs and won the IIT-Kanpur's Young Leaders Initiative for her social change ideas. A national level dancer and voracious debater, she served as the President of the Debating Society at Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University, where she received her bachelor degree in commerce.
She is currently pursuing her Master in International Development at Sciences Po as an Emile Boutmy scholar and is also a recipient of the Embassy of France in India-Sciences Po scholarship. Given her past experiences interning with the Ministries of Law and Justice, and Social Justice and Empowerment, and Government of Karnataka, she realised the need to coordinate the efforts of multiple actors having common goals to better benefit the beneficiaries. Owing to this, she intends to work as a development consultant with governments on improving public-private partnerships for social projects and a more effective utilisation of aid.
2017-18
Mridhula Raghavan
With experience in working at a tech startup for two years, she strongly believes that technology-led policy innovation is necessary to solve problems especially for a country that’s as large as India. Technology brings efficiency, transparency and is key to scaling up. She wants to be a policy maker working with the government to deliver better services using technology and design. This degree will allow her to combine her background in business and technology to build citizen-centric digital services. It will also prepare her to formulate policy and assess its impact.
Maitreyee Shilpa Kishor
Fuelled by the ardent desire to bring about change, she was driven towards the social sciences due to the vast scope and subjectivity of the discipline. Majoring in Political Science from St. Xavier’s Mumbai, she topped her class and secured a scholarship from the college for her higher studies. While in college, she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Political Science Magazine and actively participated in debates and youth parliaments, winning accolades in several of them. An adventurer at heart, her love for travel has played a significant role in shaping her personality and making her the politically opinionated feminist she is today. A certified scuba diver, photographer and wildlife enthusiast, she is currently enrolled in the Paris School of International Affairs for her Masters in International Security and is an Eiffel Excellence Scholar. After completing her education, she wants to pursue research on India’s maritime security issues and popularize foreign policy as a subject of public debate to stimulate inclusive policy making.
Chandni Jain
A French Government Eiffel scholarship holder & a J.N. Tata scholarship recipient, at Sciences Po, she is pursuing her Masters in International Development. She believe that development is not just the prerogative of local governments but a vast network of international actors, organisations and instruments have the potential to influence the course and narrative of development. Specialising in South-Asia, upon graduation, she wants to work in the field of international development co-operation so that she can work towards ensuring that the challenges India faces today can be overcome with unique collaborative solutions. During her under-graduation in Political Science from Miranda House, she was the President of the Debating Society apart from being a part of other student unions and initiating the college's Foreign Policy Cell. She had the opportunity to work on research projects, intern under a parliamentarian, in media houses and think-tanks which to a large extent helped shaped my ideas and perspectives on a wide variety of issues. Having grown up in a musical household in Calcutta, her favourite past time is listening to the songs of RD Burman and the likes or watching a good-old Satyajit Ray film.
2016-17
Akhil N.R.
Ever since he envisaged the future in his childhood, social studies have been one of the pivotal elements in constituting the very fabric of such a vision. Being one of the toppers in Andhra Pradesh with an aggregate of 94% was the first stepping-stone that got him admission in B. A. (Hons.) Political Science at ‘Sri Venkateswara College', University of Delhi and won him the MHRD scholarship for academic excellence awarded by Government of India in 2013. He became one of the founding members of his college’s chapter of a nationwide NGO named Connecting Dreams Foundation and as a part of it we developed a business plan for the women's employment of a village named Swamika. He will be pursuing his Masters in Governing the Large Metropolis Course of Sciences Po. He is also a recipient of Emile Boutmy scholarship. He wishes to work for the Government of India in the future.
Soumyajit Kar
An Eiffel Excellence Scholar, he is currently studying for his Masters in International Economic Policy at Sciences Po, Paris. Having grown up in Calcutta, the city has had a profound impact in moulding him into a connoisseur and practitioner of Indian classical music, literature and the culinary arts as well as an adventure sports enthusiast. He completed his graduation in Economics Honours from St. Stephen's College, Delhi. While in college he was the Vice President of the Economics Society and the Head of Indian Music and was awarded with the prestigious Bank of Tokyo Scholarship for superlative academic and extracurricular performance; and the Mukarji Memorial Award, and the George Memorial Award for maximum overall contribution to the college life. He was also declared the 2010 Student of the Year by Times Of India Calcutta and secured an All India Rank of 2 in the National Science Seminar 2010 while also topping the Reserve Bank of India platinum jubilee students' quiz. He envisages a career in International Trade, working towards promotion of trade as a tool for equitable development.