Odisha’s Purnati Khuntia bags Rowland Fellowship from Harvard University

Khuntia, a resident of Hyderabad, shared about her research domain. “As a postdoctoral researcher in Tamal’s laboratory, I am exploring the dynamics of hair follicle morphogenesis in mouse embryonic skin.”

Apart from the Rowland Fellowship, she also applied for the Human Frontier Science Program Long Term Fellowship (HFSP-LTF) and was awarded the same for another postdoctoral project on molecular mechanisms and tissue mechanics driving Spinal Cord regeneration.

In an interview with indianexpress.com, the 30-year-old woman from Odisha shares her research experience and journey so far.

Khuntia got interested in research while pursuing her undergraduate microbiology program at Delhi University. Recalling a memory that incited her research skill she said, “My earliest memory of this fascination is observing Hibiscus pollen germinating in a glucose solution. What appeared as dust to the naked eye came to life and grew under the microscope. During my BSc in Microbiology, this curiosity deepened as I discovered how organisms invisible to the naked eye exhibit so many intriguing behaviours.”

However, her interest in biology was discovered during her school days by her teacher. “After school, I found inspiration in cell biology textbooks, as well as from teachers and researchers at South Campus, Delhi University. I feel fortunate to have been surrounded by individuals who cultivated a deep interest in me to understand life under the microscope.”

Female Participation in STEM amid marriage pressure

When asked about female participation in STEM, the research scholar said as women moves to higher education, their participation dips. “After school, each educational advance I have made, BSc, MSc, and even during my PhD, there were always more women than men. I have always experienced more female participation in biology. However, the women participation goes down after PhD, in faculty positions, conference participation, or research grants recipients,” she said.

Khuntia considers herself lucky as her parents like her enthusiasm for science and encourage her pursuit of it. “My siblings are probably subjected to more family pressure than me. Other relatives keep asking me about marriage plans, I just tell them I have better things to do, to keep them off my back. And I keep hearing the more you educate your daughters, the more difficult it will be to find a suitable partner,” she said.

Indian students prefer foreign countries for research

According to the Ministry of External Affairs 2022 data, 1.50 lakh Indian students went abroad for higher education to pursue a PhD. When we asked what could be the reason, she said, “It takes considerably less time to complete PhD in European countries. There are also many external grants available for researchers abroad. Indian PhD students have limited funding options and poor industry collaborations along with irregular fellowship. In addition, PhD students abroad get better exposure to career options outside academia. The lifestyle and the work-life balance in foreign countries also appeal a lot to students.”

Process, documents to apply for the Rowland Fellowship

A person who is interested in applying for the Rowland Fellowship should be in the process of completing his or her PhD or should have received it after May 2023. The research for the PhD should be focused on any field of science or engineering, including but not limited to physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, and neuroscience. Students have to submit a 250-word elevator pitch describing research goals for a general audience, a three-page statement of research, a curriculum vitae (CV), and a one-page vision statement outlining their plan to establish a productive and supportive lab culture, incorporating personal values and academic experiences and letter of recommendations, read the website.