Doctor Nilanjan Sarkar
Nationality: India
Year: 2002
Subject Area: Social Sciences
I was awarded a grant from the Foundation for writing up my doctoral dissertation in 2002 (for the period September 2002-July 2003). Anyone who has been a student in London … ought to have felt poor! The award of such largesse as this grant was, gave the assurance of not having to work to survive on the bread line, and it was a lifeline in Year 4 of one’s Ph.D. To a foreigner, it gave a welcome sense of stability in a period of hectic activity, and a certainty amidst an uncertain future.
Having submitted and successfully defended my thesis from the School of Oriental and African Studies, I have returned to New Delhi where I am currently Commissioning Editor with Routledge Books (an imprint of Taylor and Francis), involved in building their social sciences publications list. But I am also able to carry on my own academic work along with my professional duties: presenting papers at conferences, publishing articles, and hoping to turn my dissertation into a book!
I am happy to be able to acknowledge my debt to the Foundation more formally than possible earlier, and wish it all the best!