Alum-Funded Grant for Women in STEM Research Awards Two Undergraduate Students

In May, the Ashoka University Women in STEM (AUWS) awarded funding of INR 30,000 to student Anahita Bharathan (UG’26) in its first round of applications for the Redefining STEM Research Grant and Hitee Bhardwaj INR 10,000 (UG’27), in the Redefining STEM Young Researcher Award. The grant offers INR 30,000 each to 5 students, over a series of rounds, for presenting their research at national and international STEM conferences.

Bharathan received the grant for her research on the immune system’s response to the COVID-19 virus in people who have received the COVID vaccine. Bhardwaj received the Young Researcher Award, which was created especially for her interdisciplinary research on neurodegeneration in an ecological context that combined scientific research with philosophy and history.

Founded by Sristi Bafna (ASP’24) and Saloni Mehta (ASP’21) in January 2023—driven by their shared vision of “creating an equitable and encouraging space for women and non-binary students” for scientific opportunities—Ashoka University Women in STEM (AUWS) is a group of non-cis male students and alumni in STEM fields. In 2024, they raised a sum of INR 1.5 lakhs through alumni support to fund the Redefining STEM Research Grant and the Redefining STEM Young Researcher Award, with additional backing from AUWS’s partner, Bridge, a non-profit organization. They introduced the University’s first undergraduate alum-funded grant in March 2025. This grant is next in a list of projects undertaken by the AUWS to promote gender inclusivity and equal opportunity in STEM fields.

Bharathan’s research will be presented at the International Union of Immunological Societies Congress (IUIS) Conference at Vienna this year. “[The] country [where I will present my research] is abroad, so travel is expensive, and this grant does make it a lot easier to attend,” says Bharathan.

Bhardwaj, who is working at the Evolutionary Immunology Laboratory at Ashoka, added that “[while] statistics for women scientists are especially daunting to look at…when something like this happens, it tells me that I'm headed in the right direction,” in an online correspondence with The Edict.

AUWS assists students such as Bharathan by connecting non-cis male STEM students with mentors who assist and advise them on their trajectory during and beyond university. The group has also conducted various projects with the Lodha Genius Programme, ranging from consulting roles to organizing Women in STEM workshops for high schoolers. 

While the number of rounds in this iteration of grant applications is currently undecided, the second round of applications is confirmed to open on 1st August, 2025, and will remain open for a month. Bafna and Mehta aim to make AUWS a pioneer in alum-funded initiatives at Ashoka and other universities through their grant and mentorship program. “We hope for this to happen at Ashoka in different disciplines… and for other universities to replicate it for themselves. Pushing for that will become a priority for us a few years down the line,” says Mehta.

[Edited by Tanisha Pandey and Giya Sood]