Gillian Caldicott
Gillian Caldicott is Counsellor (Cultural Affairs) and Director Operations for the British Council in India,
based in Delhi. She arrived in post last October and has oversight of British Council work in northern
India, as well as for a range of work related to the British Council’ s developing portfolio in English,
Education and the Arts, and in Libraries and Information services.
Prior to arriving in India, Gill was Director British Council Portugal for five years from 2008 to 2013
where she led a team in delivering programmes in the arts, education and English language, and
managed relationship with Government and private sector.
Gill has worked for the British Council for over 25 years in many countries including Hong Kong,
Egypt, Italy, Greece, Kuwait and Syria. She has worked in London where she has held posts with
responsibility for development of teaching, learning and examinations worldwide. In her early career
she was a teacher and trainer and is passionate about all aspects of education, and for the arts.
As well as qualifications in teaching, she has a post graduate degree in applied Linguistics, and an
MBA.
Dr H.B. Singh
Dr HB Singh, Senior Scientist in the Department of Science and Technology, did his MSc Botany from
University of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh and PhD from CSIR lab - Institute of Genomics, New Delhi. Dr
Singh has published 42 research papers in national and international journal of repute. Besides, he
had also published more than 32 technical articles and some State-of-the-art Reports of Government
of India. He is still active in research and his current interest is “rapeseed”, one of the leading oilseed
crop of the country. He has guided 4 PhD scholars. Also for 8 years, Dr Singh had been Editor-inChief of an International Journal, "Brassica" till 2009.
Dr Singh has almost served 25 years in the Department of Science and Technology (DST). He had
handled Program Advisory Committees (PACs) - Plant Sciences and Animal Sciences of erstwhile
SERC (now SERB) in the initial years. Presently, for almost 13 years, he is looking after Women
Scientist Scheme of DST.
Dr Singh is also Officer-in-Charge of Cognitive Science Research Initiative (CSI) of DST from its
inception - 11th Five Year Plan of Government of India. This program has been recognized as 4th
Pillar of Modern Indian Science after Information Technology (IT), Biotechnology (BT), and
Nanotechnology.
He looks after CURIE Program of DST for ensuring state-of-the-art infrastructure in Women
Universities. Besides all these, Dr Singh is also handling 3 major Centres of the Department.
Dr Manju Sharma
Dr Sharma is the former secretary of the Department of Biotechnology of India and current president
and executive director of the Indian Institute of Advanced Research. She is a renowned leader in
promoting bioscience and technology in India and around the world.
Beginning in 1974, she held various positions in the Indian government, including in the Department
of Science and Technology, the Planning Commission, the Office of Scientific Adviser to the Prime
Minister, and the Department of Biotechnology. She has played an important role in promoting
science and technology in general and biosciences in particular.
Her contributions to the field have been honored with numerous awards, among them the Padma
Bhushan, National Senior Woman Bioscientist Award, NASI Platinum Jubilee Gold Medal, and the
Norman E. Borlaug Award. In 2004, she received a lifetime achievement award from BIOSPECTRUM.
Dr Amanda Dickins
Amanda Dickins is head of the Science and Society programme in the UK Government's Department
for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The Science and Society programme works to ensure
society as a whole benefits from advances in science and technology. The programme's core
elements include public engagement with science to inform policy making as well as support for
diversity and developing the STEM workforce.
Amanda previously worked as an academic in the UK and US, researching international policy issues
including the governance of biotechnology and international research collaborations. Since joining the
civil service in 2008, Amanda has worked in a wide range of policy areas including innovation,
learning technologies, employment law, apprenticeships and engineering skills.
Dr Barbara Crossouard
Dr Barbara Crossouard is a Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Sussex, UK and a
member of the Centre for Higher Education and Equity Research at the same university. She is a
sociologist of education who has researched different aspects of doctoral education as well as
postdoctoral careers. She is particularly interested in structures of inequality such as gender and
social class and the ways these contribute to differential opportunities for male and female
researchers.
Prof Rohini Godbole
Prof Godbole is an Indian physicist and an academician. She is a Professor at the Centre for High
Energy Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She is an elected fellow of all the three
academies of Science of India and also the Science Academy of the Developing World (TWAS).
Prof Godbole is part of the International Detector Advisory Group (IDAG) for the International Linear
Collider in the European research lab, CERN. The International Detector Advisory Group monitors the
ILC detector research and development of the Research Directorate and the detector design groups.
She is the Chair of the Panel for Women in Science initiative of the Indian Academy of Sciences.
Mark Sinclair
Mark Sinclair is based in New Delhi where he leads the India team, with particular responsibilities for
the government to government relationship and setting the strategy and direction of Indo-UK science
and innovation collaboration. He has had an extensive career in science and technology across a
number of UK Government departments, having worked in research, programme management,
science policy, and as private secretary to the Defence Chief Scientific Adviser. Prior to arriving in
India Mark led the UK Science & Innovation Network in western Europe and before that the Science &
Innovation Network in north-eastern USA.
Dr Rajeshwari Raina
Rajeswari is a Principal Scientist with the National Institute of Science, Technology and Development
Studies (NISTADS-CSIR), New Delhi. She has a background in the sciences and economics and is a
keen student of the interface between development policy and scientific knowledge.
Her current research and advisory work focuses on (a) the agriculture-environment interface, (b) bioinnovation systems, and (c) poverty relevant and inclusive innovation – focus on China and
India. Drawing upon an institutional economics theoretical framework, she explores the institutions or
norms that govern agricultural as well as environmental knowledge systems, the evolution of specific
branches/disciplines or concepts in scientific knowledge,and the knowledge-policy interactions or
impact of specific policy instruments (such as government schemes).
Dr Sudha Nair
Dr Sudha Nair majored in Botany and was awarded a doctorate in Microbial Biotechnology in the year
1990. She served at the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation for more than 18 years in various
capacities and stepped down in 2011 as a Senior Director. She is currently the CEO of the Golden
Jubilee Biotechnology Park for Women, Society, in Chennai, India - the first Park set up for women
entrepreneurs in the area of Biotechnology. She also is an advisor in the area of S&T and innovation
for Society to various organizations. She is a member for the Gender Advisory Board of the UN
Commission for Science and Technology for Development and an Executive Board member of the
Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World, Asia Pacific Region. She is recognised
at the National and International level for her work in the area of Gender, Science and Technology both at Policy and Program implementation level at the grass root level in rural areas.
Prof Minakshi Bhardwaj
Prof Bhardwaj has a multidisciplinary background with academic training in biological sciences, public
health medicine, and biomedical ethics. She graduated with PhD in Biological Sciences from the
University of Tsukuba, Japan in 2003 as a prestigious Monbukokagakushou scholar. Since then she
have had academic appointments at Lancaster University, UK to lead on Human Genetics Research
Databases project (2003-07), Cardiff University, UK on nutritional genomics project (2007-2013). She
has led projects as Principal Investigator with funding from EU, British Academy, Sasakawa
Foundation and Daiwa Foundation on different projects exploring ELSA (ethical, legal and social
aspects) and policy issues arising from new biomedical technologies in Asia with comparison to
developed countries.
Prof Shobhana Narasimhan
Shobhana Narasimhan is Professor of Theoretical Sciences, and Dean of Academic of Affairs, at the
Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore. She obtained her BSc in
physics from St. Xavier's College, University of Bombay, and her MSc in physics from IIT Bombay,
where she was the Institute Silver Medallist. She has a PhD in theoretical physics from Harvard
University, and has done postdoctoral research in the USA and Germany. She has been on the
faculty at JNCASR since 1996.
Prof. Narasimhan is strongly committed to promoting the cause of women in science, and has been
working on issues related to this since her student days at Harvard. She has served on many
committees convened to foster this agenda. She was a member of the Working Group on Women in
Physics of IUPAP (the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics). She was also a member of
the National Task Force on Women in Science of the Government of India.
Dr Shashi Bala Singh
Dr Singh, Sc ‘H’ has the distinction of serving in the immensely difficult terrain like Leh- Ladakh. She
served as Director, Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), Leh, from 1st Sep 2007 to
30 Nov 2010 before taking over as Director, Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Science
(DIPAS), Delhi on 1st Dec 2010.
She obtained her Ph.D. degree in Human Physiology from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New
Delhi in 1986 and started her career in DRDO at DIPAS, Delhi. She was conferred the “Scientist of
the Year Award” by Hon’ble Prime Minister in 2010.
She is also the recipient of Surg Rear
Admiral M.S Molhotra Prize-2012 & 2007, CSIR Award for S&T Innovations for Rural Development2011, Marico Innovation Award-2010, Titanium Trophy-2009, DRDO Scientist of the year Award2009, Technology Spin off award-2008, Prof. Baldev Singh Oration award- 2007, DRDO Laboratory
Scientist of the year Award-2006, Dr JN Maitra Memorial Oration Award-2003 and Bharat Nirman
Talented Ladies Award-1995 amongst the various awards and honours to her credit. She also has
more than 100 publications in national and international journals.
Dr Shailja Gupta
Dr. Shailja Vaidya Gupta has been handling International Collaborations in the Department of
Biotechnology for the last ten years and has been instrumental in establishing active bilateral
collaborations with Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, UK
and US; and with EU at a multilateral level. Dr. Gupta is also responsible for DBT’s collaborations with
Non-Governmental organisations such as Wellcome Trust and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Dr Sunil K Agarwal
Dr. Sunil K. Agarwal is Principal Scientific Officer in Science for Equity, Empowerment &
Development (SEED) Division, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India,
New Delhi. At present he is handling two important schemes of DST having societal relevance i.e.
Technology Advancement for Rural Areas (TARA) & Technology Interventions for Tribal
Empowerment (TITE). He is having M. Phil degree in environmental science and holds Ph.D. degree
from Forest Research institute (FRI), Dehradun for which he worked at HFRI, Shimla and IIT, Delhi on
action research to evolve technology intervention models for sustainable rural livelihoods in mountain
areas. He has also got trained as a fellow in Biodiversity Conservation from Development and Project
Planning Centre, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK.
Dr Nafees Meah
Nafees Meah is the Director of Research Councils UK India. Until recently, Dr Nafees Meah was
Head of Science, Department of Energy and Climate Change. He was educated as a chemist at the
Universities of Manchester, Toronto, London and Cambridge and joined the Chief Scientist’s Group at
the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1988. There he managed research programmes on
food safety, nutrition and environmental contamination of food. Before that, he was a senior policy
maker in Defra working on the environmental impact of food production and on climate change and
food security.
Mr Patrick Johnson
Patrick Johnson is the Head of Equality and Diversity, University of Manchester since 2007. Patrick
leads on the development of equality and diversity strategies, policies and practices at the University
and works very closely with senior academics/managers on equality related issues.
Patrick is a director and board member of the Equality Challenge Unit who promotes equality for staff
and students in higher education in the UK. He is also the former Chair of the Higher Education Equal
Opportunities Network which is a network of equality and diversity practitioners working in the higher
education sector in the UK.
Patrick has a degree in Business Management, a Postgraduate Diploma in Careers Guidance and is
a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).
Lynne Heslop
Lynne is the Senior Education Adviser for the British Council in India, based in Delhi. Her work
involves researching the future of higher education in India and developing international cooperation
in education between India and the UK. She started this position nearly three years ago, having
spent the previous five years as the British Council’s Regional Director Education for Central and
South Asia, based in Kathmandu, and responsible for the British Council’s education work in
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Iran. Lynne has over twenty
years’ experience in international education across South Asia and East Asia.
Concurrent to her work, Lynne has research interests in the area of higher education in regions
emerging from conflict and affected by social unrest.
Manjula Rao
Manjula Rao leads on Internationalising Higher Education programme for the British Council in India.
In her current role as Assistant Director, she contributes to British Council’s strategy for higher
education in India, advices the UK sector on latest developments in India, plans and designs student
and faculty mobility programmes between the UK and India to build a talent pipeline and enhance
teaching and research. She is responsible for creating platforms for knowledge exchange between
the two countries to inform policy, share market insights and trends in the sector.
Leena Arora
Leena Arora heads the Newton Programme at British Council India. In her current role, she leads the
partner discussions, planning and initial implementation of the British Council Newton Fund
programme in India. Prior to that, she was working with the British High Commission where she was
Senior Advisor, UK Science and Innovation Network. Leena has a B Tech in Biotechnology and MBA
in International Business.
Purti Kohli
Purti Kohli is the Senior Project Manager – Newton Programme at British Council, India. In her current
role she manages projects which are part of the Newton Fund programme in India. Prior to that, she
was working as a Project Manager for Connecting Classrooms Programme at British Council. Under
the Connecting Classrooms initiative she has worked upon many projects that encourage students to
use their creativity, express their concern for the environment and work towards a cleaner, greener
harmonius world.