Concept

International Academia and Research Committee (IARC) was established in September 2020 under the aegis of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences by the BITS Pilani administration. The main purpose of this committee is to enable and facilitate productive long-term as well as short-term academic research collaborations with various international universities, research institutes and think tanks. As part of this mission, IARC is organizing monthly Webinars through inviting academic researchers and scholars of international repute to share their work with our faculty and the student body. IAR committee thus far has conducted international webinars with academic researchers coming from various countries, with a view to proactively engage with the state-of-art international research trends and processes.

Webinar Series

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, BITS Pilani (Pilani Campus) Workshops/Invited Talks organised by the Department

S.No.	Date	Title of Webinar/ Workshop	Proposed by	Name of the Speaker	University/Institutional Affiliation
1	22-10-20	Governance of Complex Agri-environmental Systems and Development Interventions: An Interpretive Approach	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. Severine van Bommel	University of Queensland
2	20-11-20	Multilateralism, Regionalism and Sovereignty	Dr. Veena Ramachandran	Dr Selbi Hanova	UNICEF, Turkmenistan
3	28-01-21	Gender, Sexuality, Race, Intersectionality and Sports Activism in Global South	Dr. Madhurima Das	Dr. Payoshni Mitra	Birkbeck College, University of London
4	23-02-21	International Relations	Prof. Hari Nair	Prof. Harsh Pant	King's College, London and Observer Research Foundation
5	15-03-21	Feminist Studies as an Attempt to Build Complementary Knowledge: The Case of Disease	Dr. Anupam Yadav	Prof. Aleksandra Derra	Institute of Philosophy, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland
6	28-04-21	Agriculture and Climate Change in Nepal: GHG Emissions, Mitigation, Indications of Climate Change, Impact on Agriculture, Adaptation, and Co-benefits	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof.Niraj Prakash Joshi	Hiroshima University, Japan
7	06-05-21	Asking “So What?” about our Scholarship: Why Values Matter when Planning, Doing, and Disseminating Research	Prof. Sangeeta Sharma	Prof. Janice Yoder	Kent State University USA
8	14-08-21	The New Ecotypes	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. James D. Proctor	Lewis & Clark, Oregon, USA
9	28-09-21	Unpacking the Nation in/as the State of Crisis: A Transnational Reflection on the Impact of the Pandemic in Taiwan	Dr. Mohammed Afzal P	Dr. Chih-ming Wang	Academia Sinica, Taiwan
10	25-11-21	Academic Writing for Higher Degree Students	Dr. Maggie Charles	Oxford University	UK
11	30-11-21	Origins and Trajectories of Islam in China.	Dr. Veena Ramachandran	Dr. James D. Frankel	Hong Kong
12	03-12-21	Environmental Studies for the 21st Century	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Dr. Naciba Chassagnon	ESSCA School of Management, Lyon
13	10-12-21	Grow Where You're Planted: Bringing Sustainability to the Campus	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. Walter A. Rosenbaum	Department of Political Science, University of Florida
14	7-2-22	From Archive to Page : Academic Writing and Research in the 21st Century	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. James Mulholland	North Carolina State University
15	21-3-22	Forest Governance : Hydra or Chloris	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. Dr. Bas Arts	Wageningen University
16	26-11-22	Digital Anlaytics and Applications : An Industry Perspective	Prof. Sangeeta Sharma	Arpan Bumb	London Business School
17	28-09-2024	Workshop On Conducting a Systematic Literature Review	Prof. Pushp Lata Prof. Prateek	Prof. Shamila Janakiraman	Assistant Professor, Learning Design & Technology, College of Education, University of Hawaii, USA,
18	23-11-2024	Workshop on Enhancing Scholarly Research: Sage Journals Awareness & Sage Research Methods Product Demonstration	Prof. Pushp Lata	Mr. Kirt Raj Phagna,	Deputy Manager for North India, Sage Publishers
19	25-11-2024	Panel Discussion on India’s Foreign Policy Post-G20: Exploring New Discourses and Trajectories	Prof. Veena Ramchandran	Hitesh J. Rajpal I.F.S., Director ICWA	Indian Council of World Affairs
20	13-02-2025	Parliamentary Debates for Effective Public Speaking : Special Focus on Asian Parliament Debate	Prof. Pushp Lata	Dr. Suman Luhach	Associate Professor of English School of Law, Bennett University, Greater Noida, India
21	18-02-2025	Demystifying Gaps between Industry and Higher Education	Prof. Tanu Shukla	Prof. Chetan Basavraj Singai	Dean School of Law, Governance, and Public Policy, Chanakya University
22	27-02-2025	“Review of the Literature: Constructing Credible Argument in ELT Research”	Prof. C Vijayakumar	Prof. C Vijayakumar	BITS Pilani
23	27-02-2025	Computational Tools for Humanities and Social Sciences	Prof. Veena Ramachandran	Prof. Veena Ramachandran	BITS Pilani
24	10-03-2025	Interorganisational Knowledge Collaboration	Dr Prateek	Dr Ardalan H Talab	Nyenrode Business University, Netherlands
25	12-03-25	How to Design Effective CV and LinkedIn Profile	Prof. Sangeeta Sharma	Arpan Bumb	Senior Product Analyst for Wise, London
26	19-03-2025	Job Interviews: Strategies for Success	Prof. Sangeeta Sharma	Dr. Binod Mishra	IIT Roorkee
27	17-26 March 2025	Capacity Building of Researchers in Advance Academic Writing Skills: Navigating the Path to Quality Publication	Prof. Pushp Lata	Prof. Pradeep Trikha	Director, IQAC, JRN Vidyapeeth University Udaipur Former Director, International Students' Affairs at Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur
28	10 13 2025	3 Day Workshop on Digital Customer Acquisition	Prof. Sangeeta Sharma	Arpan Bumb	London Business School
29	10 14 2025	AI and the Future of Work	Prof. Sangeeta Sharma	Arpan Bumb	Senior Product Analyst, WISE
30	11 14 2025	Development Theory and Climate Change: An Abridgment	Prof. Pushp Lata	Prof. Dr. Mohamed Salih	International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University
31	11 21 2025	Data Collection Tools and Analysis of Mixed-Method Research Design	Prof. Pushp Lata	Dr. Prodhan Mahbub Ibna Seraj	American International University–Bangladesh (AIUB)
32	11 25 2025	Exploring Brazilian Culture: Everyday Life, Communication, and Perspectives	Prof. Pushp Lata	Yago V.S. Santos	Oklahoma State University, United States and Monique Maianne, Biologist, PhD Scholar, University of São, Paulo, Brazil

International Academia and Research Committee (IARC) Webinars Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, BITS Pilani (Pilani Campus)

S.No.	Webinar Month/Date	Proposed by	Name of the Speaker	University/Institutional Affiliation	Country of Work	MOU with BITS	Research area/Title of the Webinar
1	10/3/2025	Dr Prateek	Dr Ardalan H Talab	Nyenrode Business University, Netherlands	India	NA	Interorganisational Knowledge Collaboration
2	27-02-2025	Prof. C Vijayakumar	Prof. C Vijayakumar	BITS Pilani	India	NA	“Review of the Literature: Constructing Credible Argument in ELT Research”
3	28/09/2024	Prof. Pushp Lata Prof. Prateek	Prof. Shamila Janakiraman	Assistant Professor, Learning Design & Technology, College of Education, University of Hawaii,	USA,	NA	Workshop On Conducting a Systematic Literature Review
4	26-11-22	Prof. Sangeeta Sharma	Arpan Bumb	London Business School	Holland & Barrett	NA	Digital Anlaytics and Applications : An Industry Perspective
5	21-3-22	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. Dr. Bas Arts	Wageningen University	Netherlands	NA	Forest Governance : Hydra or Chloris
6	7-2-22	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. James Mulholland	North Carolina State University	USA	NA	From Archive to Page : Academic Writing and Research in the 21st Century
7	10-12-21	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. Walter A. Rosenbaum	Department of Political Science, University of Florida	Florida, USA	No	Grow Where You're Planted: Bringing Sustainability to the Campus
8	03-12-21	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Dr. Naciba Chassagnon	ESSCA School of Management, Lyon	France	No	Environmental Studies for the 21st Century
9	30-11-21	Dr. Veena Ramachandran	Dr. James D. Frankel		Hong Kong	No	Origins and Trajectories of Islam in China.
10	25-11-21	Dr. Chintalapalli Vijayakumar	Dr. Maggie Charles	Oxford University	UK	tbc	Academic Writing for Higher Degree Students
11	28-09-21	Dr. Mohammed Afzal P	Dr. Chihming Wang	Academia Sinica, Taiwan	Currently a Visiting Professor at Harvard Yenching Institute, USA	No	Unpacking the Nation in/as the State of Crisis: A Transnational Reflection on the Impact of the Pandemic in Taiwan
12	14-08-21	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. James D. Proctor	Professor of Environmental Studies and Director of Environmental Studies, Lewis & Clark	Lewis & Clark, Oregon, USA	No	The New Ecotypes
13	28-04-21	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof.Niraj Prakash Joshi	Hiroshima University, Japan	Hiroshima, Japan	Yes	Agriculture and Climate Change in Nepal: GHG Emissions, Mitigation, Indications of Climate Change, Impact on Agriculture, Adaptation, and Co-benefits
14	06-05-21	Prof. Sangeeta Sharma	Prof. Janice Yoder	Kent State University USA	Kent, USA	NA	Asking “So What?” about our Scholarship: Why Values Matter when Planning, Doing, and Disseminating Research
15	15-03-21	Dr. Anupam Yadav	Prof. Aleksandra Derra	Institute of Philosophy, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland	Torun, Poland	NA	Feminist Studies as an Attempt to Build Complementary Knowledge: The Case of Disease
16	23-02-21	Prof. Hari Nair	Prof. Harsh Pant	King's College, London and Observer Research Foundation	England (currently on sabbatical at ORF, Delhi)	No	International Relations
17	28-01-21	Dr. Madhurima Das	Dr. Payoshni Mitra	Birkbeck College, University of London	United Kingdom	NA	Gender, Sexuality, Race, Intersectionality and Sports Activism in Global South
18	20-11-20	Dr. Veena Ramachandran	Dr Selbi Hanova	UNICEF, Turkmenistan	Turkmenistan	NA	Multilateralism, Regionalism and Sovereignty
19	22-10-20	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. Severine van Bommel	University of Queensland	Australia	Yes	Governance of Complex Agrienvironmental Systems and Development Interventions: An Interpretive Approach

HoD : Prof. Sangeeta Sharma

Coordinator - IARC : Prof. Prof. Prateek

Members - IARC :Prof. Madhurima Das, Prof. Anupam Yadav, Prof. Veena R, Prof. Susan Haris

The Academia-Industry Interfacing Committee (AIIC) at Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at BITS-Pilani, Pilani Campus, endeavors to contribute to industry engagement through interaction with experts from industry. The broader agenda of the activities of the includes but not limited to connect the HSS Department, students and faculty, with industry experts, policy makers, practitioners and administrators to foster collaborative learning, curriculum development, skill development, entrepreneurial encouragement. The main activities that the AIIC plans to undertake include webinar series, invited talks and panel discussions.

Academia-Industry Interfacing Committee (AIIC) – Webinar Series

Webinar date

Proposed by

Invited by

Speaker

Affiliation

18-02-2025

Academia-Industry Interfacing

Committee (AIIC)

Prof. Tanu

Shukla

Prof.

Chetan

Basavraj

Singai

Dean

School of

Law,

Governanc e, and Public

Policy,

Chanakya

University

26-3-22

Academia-Industry Interfacing

Committee (AIIC)

Dr. V.S.

Nirban

Sandeep

Sharma

Morgan

Stanley

23-12-21

Academia-Industry Interfacing

Committee (AIIC)

Dr. V.S.

Nirban

Mr.

Prannay

Kumar

Head

Media & Communic

ations, Telangana

State

Innovation

Cell

27-Mar-21

Academia-Industry Interfacing

Committee (AIIC)

Dr. Tanu

Shukla

Dr. L N

Venkatara man

Departmen

t of Policy Studies,

TERI-SAS

Dr.

Madhurima Das

Mr.

Masoom

Sachdeo

Rebel

Foods

Dr. V S

Nirban

Mrs. Rekha

Gade

HR Advisor

Dr. Tanu

Shukla

Mr. Salman

Mahmood

Food Corporatio n of India

International Exchange Student Details

Student's Name	ID.No.	PhD Supervisor	Professor/s in-charge	Year & Duration of International Collaboration	Programme, University & Country	Ongoing/ Completed	MoU with BITS
Aayushi Malhotra	2017PHXP0042P	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama (BITS Pilani) & Prof. Niraj Prakash Joshi (Hiroshima University)	2022 (August)	Taoyaka Program Onsite Training 2022	Completed	Yes
Mayuresh Vijay Bhise	2017PHXF0418P	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama (BITS Pilani) & Prof. Niraj Prakash Joshi (Hiroshima University)	2022 (August)	Taoyaka Program Onsite Training 2022	Completed	Yes
Ruchika Sharma	2019PHXP0426P	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama (BITS Pilani) & Prof. Niraj Prakash Joshi (Hiroshima University)	2022 (August)	ILDP programme - Hiroshima University, Japan	Completed	Yes
Shruti Majumdar	2020PHXF0462P	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama (BITS Pilani) & Prof. Niraj Prakash Joshi (Hiroshima University)	2022 (August)	ILDP programme - Hiroshima University, Japan	Completed	Yes
Aayushi Malhotra	2017PHXP0042P	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama (BITS Pilani) & Prof. Niraj Prakash Joshi (Hiroshima University)	2021 (January- September)	ILDP programme - Hiroshima University, Japan	Completed	Yes
Mayuresh Vijay Bhise	2017PHXF0418P	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama (BITS Pilani) & Prof. Niraj Prakash Joshi (Hiroshima University)	2021 (January- September)	ILDP programme - Hiroshima University, Japan	Completed	Yes
Ruchika Sharma	2019PHXP0426P	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama (BITS Pilani) & Prof. Niraj Prakash Joshi (Hiroshima University)	2021 (January- September)	ILDP programme - Hiroshima University, Japan	Completed	Yes
Neetika Mahajan	2020PHXP0111P	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama (BITS Pilani) & Prof. Niraj Prakash Joshi (Hiroshima University)	2021 (January- September)	ILDP programme - Hiroshima University, Japan	Completed	Yes
Anjali Punia	2020PHXP0037P	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama (BITS Pilani) & Prof. Niraj Prakash Joshi (Hiroshima University)	2021 (January- September)	ILDP programme - Hiroshima University, Japan	Completed	Yes
Merylin Das	2020PHXP0033P	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama	Prof. Sailaja Nandigama (BITS Pilani) & Prof. Niraj Prakash Joshi (Hiroshima University)	2021 (January- September)	ILDP programme - Hiroshima University, Japan	Completed	Yes
Punita Raj	2020PHXF0428P	Prof. Devika	Prof. K.S.Sangwan and Prof. Christoph Herrmann (TU Braunschweig)	2021-2022 (Nov-Jan, visited in person 11-19 nov, 2021)	IGCSM- TU Braunschweign	Completed	Yes
Shivangi Priya	2014PHXF007P	Prof. Pushp Lata	Prof. Pushp Lata	from August 2016 to May 2017	Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) in the University of Utah	Completed	No
Vidhi Agarrwal	2013PHXF0431P	Prof. Hari Nair	Prof. GS Chauhan	18-29 August 2018	ILDP programme - Hiroshima University, Japan	Completed	Yes
Shrija Srinivasan	2016PHXF0411P	Prof. Sushila Shekhawat	Prof S.K.Choudhary	18 -25 August 2019	ILDP International On-site Training Advanced	Completed	Yes