IUIN

NIDM Doctoral Fellowship Programme F.Y 2024-25
S.No	Name of the research scholar	Institutional affiliation	Topic	NIDM Co-supervisor	Latest Update
1	Ms. M. Haritha	Avinashlingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education (Deemed University)	Nutri-Rich Sheets: Nutritional Optimization for Resilience in Disaster Management	Dr. Sushma Guleria	Fellowship disbursed till 30/09/2025
2	Ms. Swaroopa Mahapatra	Savitribai Phule Pune University	Cyclone Distress Migration and related Policies: A Case Study of Odisha	Dr. Ajinder Walia	Fellowship disbursed till 30/09/2025
3	Mr. Tahir Wani	University of Kashmir	Assessment of Flash Flood Risk in the Kashmir Valley, Western Himalaya	Dr. Arkaprabha Sarkar	Fellowship disbursed till 30/09/2025
4	Mr. Parmesh	GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Uttarakhand	Agricultural drought assessment and prediction in north interior Karnataka	Dr. Prerna Joshi, Assistant Professor	Fellowship disbursed till 30/09/2025
Research Projects/Studies F.Y 2024-25
S.No	Name of the Principal Invesigator	Institutional affiliation	Topic	NIDM Co-Principal Invesigator	Latest Update
1	Dr. Divyesh Varade	IIT Jammu	GLOF Susceptibility Assessment in Zanskar region of Ladakh using modelling and field-based investigations	Dr. Gagandeep Singh	Inception report has been approved and first installment of grant has been disbursed
2	Dr. Manoj Kumar Rana	SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu	Development of a GLOF Warning System through Strong Endurance Drone-based Long-Range (LoRa) Communication for the Upper Catchment of the Tista River	Shri Amarjeet Kumar	Inception report has been approved and first installment of grant has been disbursed
3	Dr. Sanjoy Deb	Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu	Design and Trial of Artificially Intelligent Early Warning System for Tunnel Construction	Dr. Pankaj Kumar	Inception report has been approved and first installment of grant has been disbursed

Best Thesis Ranking F.Y 2024-25
Name & Institute	PhD Thesis Title	Brief of Thesis	Photo
Dr. Sayak Saha Chowdhury, IIT Kharagpur	Synthesis and utilization of novel materials for adsorptive treatment of mercury and lead in aqueous medium	Mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) are two gravely threatening substances wreaking havoc on global ecosystem. They are found predominantly in water bodies due to their exorbitant discharge from various anthropological sources. In that context, adsorption is a simple, cost effective technology that is capable of removing these toxic heavy metals from wastewater and addresses the global concern of freshwater availability and usage. The present research work introduces seven novel materials (nanoparticles or composite), namely, NH2-UiO-66-SH_C, PBS2, APAN5-BS0.75, FE-TA, Fe-LAA1, aHAp-S and C-aHAp-S, which were designed specifically for Hg and Pb adsorptive purposes with tuned sulfur or nitrogen functionalities due to their targeted affinity for these heavy metals. These adsorbents belong to different categories, such as, metal organic frameworks (NH2-UiO-66-SH_C, Fe-TA and Fe-LAA1), chalcogenides (PBS2), hydroxyapatite (aHAp-S), polymeric mixed matrix media (APAN5-BS0.75) and charcoal based composite (C-aHAp-S). The synthesis strategies employed to produce these materials included hydrothermal, solvothermal, co-precipitation, anti-solvent induced polymeric phase inversion methods thereby, creating a diverse, flexible and versatile approach to material design and application studies. Leading edge techniques were used to characterize the physical as well as chemical intricacies of the produced adsorbents. Additionally, their high selectivity (in presence of interfering co-ions and counter ions) and effective reusability emphasized their remarkable performance. NH2-UiO-66-SH_C, PBS2, Fe-TA and APAN5-BS0.75 showed excellent Hg removal capacities of 885 mg/g, 832 mg/g, 1223 mg/g and 130 mg/g, respectively, while Fe-LAA1, aHAp-S and C-aHAp-S reported Pb binding capacities of 508.2 mg/g, 1282 mg/g and 200 mg/g, respectively. The present thesis is an effort to enrich the existing pool of materials in the domain of adsorption with newly developed adsorbents for the removal of inorganic mercury and lead in water. Their superior capacities and selective binding ability emphasize their wide prospect in water treatment applications.