Day 2 of the Delhi Orientation Program for the India Summer Fellows 2026 began with a visit to the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, one of India's foremost institutions for science, engineering, and research.
The visit centered on an engagement with faculty from the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS), a unit at the cutting edge of research into air quality, climate dynamics, and atmospheric processes. Fellows had the opportunity to tour active research laboratories, speak with graduate students working on a range of innovative projects, and gain a firsthand understanding of the methodologies and questions driving some of today's most important environmental science.
The conversations that unfolded across the visit were as valuable as the laboratories themselves. Graduate students offered candid perspectives on their research journeys, the challenges of working at the intersection of science and policy, and what it means to pursue this work in the Indian context. For fellows at an early stage of their own academic and professional trajectories, these exchanges offered something difficult to replicate in a classroom: the texture of a research life in practice.
The Centre for Atmospheric Sciences sits at a particularly significant intersection for the India Summer Fellows program. As the fellows prepare to work on projects spanning emissions markets, methane, transport, and energy transition, an understanding of the atmospheric science underpinning these policy challenges is both directly relevant and intellectually grounding.
The delegation was received by Professor Anil Verma, Professor Sandeep Sukumaran and Professor Sagnik Dey, whose generosity with their time and expertise made the visit as substantive as it was welcoming. The UChicago Center in Delhi also extends sincere thanks to the IIT Delhi Office of International Relations for facilitating the engagement and ensuring a smooth and enriching experience for the cohort.
It was an energizing start to a full day, and a reminder that the research shaping India's environmental future is being done right here, on campuses like this one.
