Monash University welcomes Indian Maitri Scholars to advance global food security and sustainable manufacturing
Swagatam Das and Deepali Singh
Monash University has welcomed two outstanding Indian researchers under the prestigious Maitri Scholarships program to collaborate on urgent global challenges: climate-resilient agriculture and green manufacturing.
Recruited from the highly selective Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal, Maitri Scholar Swagatam Das has joined Monash University to work on crop resilience.
Working under the supervision of Professor Sureshkumar Balasubramanian from Monash’s School of Biological Sciences, Mr Das will use predictive AI models and advanced CRISPR gene-editing technologies to develop plants that can withstand rising global temperatures.
The methodologies and outcomes from this work are likely to be of significant interest to the agribiotech sector.
"Climate change has huge impacts on food security, and by combining these two advanced technologies I hope to protect crop yields and deliver practical solutions for the agricultural sectors in both countries,” said Mr Das.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity and I’m grateful to the funders for enabling this research.”
Early-career researcher Deepali Singh, a master’s graduate from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and former Project Associate at the CSIR–Indian Institute of Petroleum, will start her research at Monash. She is supervised by Dr Chandan Kundu and Professor Sankar Bhattacharya, both from Monash’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
The Maitri grants program, Sanskrit for “friendship”, supports economic, cultural and research projects that deepen the Australia-India bilateral relationship and is administered by the Centre for Australia-India Relations.
Now in its fifth year, the program reflects Australia’s commitment to strengthening its relationship with India. This includes meaningful collaboration across priority sectors that are vital to both nations’ future, including clean energy, education, advanced tech, and agriculture.
A total of 41 projects fostering Australia-India collaboration have received funding this year, including 15 Maitri scholarships and four Maitri fellowships.
The Centre for Australia-India Relations is a national platform established by the Australian Government in 2023 to facilitate greater collaboration and engagement with India. The Centre works across all levels of government, industry, academia and civil society to build greater understanding of the relationship and the opportunities flowing from our burgeoning connections.
Further information
Silvia Dropulich
Marketing, Media & Communications Manager, Monash Science
T: +61 3 9902 4513 M: +61 435 138 743
Email: silvia.dropulich@monash.edu