Each semester, the Mittal Institute offers grants to Harvard students to further their research, language study, or internship opportunities. For summer 2026, 12 students received funding to pursue projects across four countries. Their work spans a wide range of topics, from examining postnatal care in India, to studying food and chronic disease in Nepal, to immersing themselves in the languages of Sanskrit and Tibetan.
Below is an overview of the winners — stay tuned during the fall semester when we hear more about what they learned.
Summer 2026 Grant Winners
Research Grants
Robin Singh Arya
Ph.D in English candidate, Harvard Griffin GSAS, 2029
Laughing in the Dark: Humor in Dalit Literature, Culture and Media (India)
Divya Bhandari
Ph.D in Population Health Sciences candidate, Harvard Griffin GSAS, 2028
Food Fortification and Life-Course Maternal and Chronic Disease Risk in Nepal (Nepal)
Anwesha Bhattacharya
Ph.D in Public Policy candidate, Harvard Griffin GSAS, 2027
Care on Campus: Understanding and Responding to Student Wellbeing in India (India)
Tara Hein
Ph.D in Government candidate, Harvard Griffin GSAS, 2031
Seeing like a Citizen: Fragmented Citizenship in Santiago, Chile and Kerala, India (India)
Deexa T Kachhia
Comparative Study of Religion and Philosophy candidate, Harvard College, 2027
A Model of the Fasting Body (United States)
Neena Kapoor
Ph.D in Population Health Sciences candidate, Harvard Griffin GSAS, 2029
Measuring Provider Quality in Postnatal Care in India: A Standardized Patient Study (India)
Nikhil Kumar
Ph.D in Public Policy candidate, Harvard Griffin GSAS, 2028
The Role of Informal Intermediaries in Urban Job Search and Rural-Urban Migration in India (India)
Saanvi Malkani
Social Studies and Economics candidate, Harvard College, 2027
Conditional Consent and Postcolonial Sovereignty: India’s Central Recovery Operation, 1947-1955 (India)
Rita Maria da Piedade Palácio
Government and Philosophy candidate, Harvard College, 2027
A Universal and Equal Right to Fun: How Bhutan and India Promote Well-Being Through Fun (India)
Poorna Swami
Ph.D in South Asian Studies candidate, Harvard Griffin GSAS, 2028
They Crossed a Line: Aesthetics of Feminist Thought Across the India-Pakistan Border 1958-2001 (Sri Lanka)
Language Grants
Saskia Behrens
Ph.D in Celtic Languages and Literature candidate, Harvard Griffin GSAS, 2031
American Institute of Indian Studies Summer Program in Sanskrit (India)
Madeline Elizabeth Tevonian
Master of Theological Studies candidate, Harvard Divinity School, 2027
Summer Intensive in Intermediate Colloquial Tibetan at Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Kathmandu, Nepal (Nepal)