4 Indian Researchers Chosen for Prestigious MOPGA Visiting Fellowship to Study Climate Change in Renowned French Institutions

Following the announcement of the results of the sixth Make Our Planet Great Again (MOPGA) visiting fellowship, 4 Indian researchers have been selected to conduct their research on climate change in reputed french laboratories/institutions in France, starting September 2023.

The MOPGA Visiting fellowship program is funded by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with the French Ministry for Higher Education and Research, and implemented by Campus France. It aims to strengthen scientific contributions to climate change of the COPs (Conference of the Parties) by supporting young researchers working on topics related to earth system sciences, climate change and sustainability sciences, energy transition, societal challenges of environmental issues, & human, animal and ecosystem health as part as a “One Health” approach.
The selected researchers will receive monthly & moving allowance of 2,500 & 500 euros respectively and social security coverage etc, over a period of 12-months.

Meet the 2023 Fellows

Dr. Pradnya GHODERAO is a physicist with expertise in both theoretical and experimental research focused on thermodynamics and the phase behavior of fluids. She hold a Ph.D. in Physics from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India and has been a post-doctorate fellow at Chonnam National University, South Korea. She will conduct her post doctoral research on phase behavior of biopolymers, bioplastics, and CO2-based polymers within supercritical solvents at ENSTA Paris, France.

Dr. Chandan KUMAR holds a Ph.D. degree in Physics from Mangalore University and is currently pursuing his postdoctoral research at Nagoya University, Japan. Over the course of his postdoctoral career, he has cultivated a deep rooted passion for unraveling the intricacies of soft matters at surfaces and interfaces. He has been selected for the fellowship to conduct his postdoctoral research at Université Paris-Saclay.

Dr. Joyce JACOB holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from National Institute of Technology Calicut, where her prime focus was on developing and characterizing biodegradable and advanced insulation material for the energy system, in particular transformers. She will pursue her postdoctoral research in energy transition at the Laboratoire AMPERE, École Centrale de Lyon in France.

Dr. Prabodh Kumar KUSHWAHA completed his Ph.D. in the year 2020 from Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University) where he worked on “Reservoir Characterization using Seismic and Well Log Data”. He will carry out his post-doctoral research in geophysics at Université Paris Cité in France.