Backing the Women
Behind Discovery
WISE New Faculty Fellowship
The WISE New Faculty Fellowship, established by Anjali Joshi, supports exceptional women faculty as they begin building laboratories, research programmes and academic careers.
Backing the first years of discovery
Established by distinguished alumna and global technology leader Anjali Joshi, the WISE New Faculty Fellowship helps IIT Kanpur support exceptional women researchers at a defining stage in their careers—giving new faculty recognition, encouragement and the freedom to begin building consequential research.
The years when a research career takes shape
The first years of an academic career are decisive. A newly appointed faculty member must establish a laboratory, recruit students, develop courses, build collaborations, compete for grants and translate an independent research vision into credible results.
For an institution, attracting excellent faculty is only the beginning. The deeper responsibility is to create an environment in which researchers can take intellectual risks and build work of lasting significance.
The WISE New Faculty Fellowship strengthens this transition. Offered to a newly appointed woman faculty member from any discipline, it signals that IIT Kanpur is not only welcoming talent—it is prepared to invest in its potential from the beginning.
A gift shaped by lived experience
The fellowship was instituted by Anjali Joshi, an IIT Kanpur alumna from the 1981 graduating class in Electrical Engineering.
When she entered IIT Kanpur in 1976, Anjali was one of only six women in her B.Tech. cohort. She went on to build a global career in engineering, technology and product leadership, including serving as Vice President of Product Management at Google. IIT Kanpur recognised her with its Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2017.
Through WISE, her journey becomes an enabling platform for women choosing careers in research and academia today.
Recognition before achievement is complete
Senior researchers are often recognised after years of accomplishment. A New Faculty Fellowship serves a different purpose: it expresses institutional confidence before a career has fully unfolded.
Open across disciplines, the fellowship allows IIT Kanpur to support outstanding women researchers wherever emerging potential appears. Each recipient can go on to build laboratories, mentor scholars, create new knowledge and influence generations of students.
Research across disciplines
The fellowship’s first occupant, Prof. Pragathi Priyadharsini Balasubramani, held it from March 2022 to February 2025. In IIT Kanpur’s Department of Cognitive Science, her work explores brain-machine interfaces and real-time neurocognitive states, with potential relevance to neurological disorders.
In September 2025, Prof. Namrata Singh of the Department of Chemistry became its current occupant for a three-year term. Her research focuses on biologically active nanomaterials for antimicrobial therapy, cancer treatment, immune modulation and early disease detection.
Their work demonstrates the fellowship’s breadth. It is not tied to one department or one definition of innovation.
When one journey makes room for another
Through WISE, Anjali Joshi’s contribution creates a recurring cycle of confidence. One faculty member receives support during the formative years of her career, builds research and mentors younger scholars. When the fellowship passes to its next occupant, that enabling effect begins again.
The fellowship does not presume what discoveries will follow. It creates the conditions from which discovery can begin—recognition, institutional confidence and space for an emerging academic vision to take root.
