Former JMI PhD Scholar Dr. Rahul Kumar Walia Awarded Royal Society Newton International Fellowship;

Former JMI PhD Scholar Dr. Rahul Kumar Walia Awarded Prestigious Royal Society Newton International Fellowship; A Proud Moment for the Black Hole Research Group, Centre for Theoretical Physics

 Jamia Millia Islamia announces that its former PhD scholar of Centre for Theoretical Physics, Dr. Rahul Kumar Walia, has been awarded the highly prestigious Royal Society Newton International Fellowship. He joined University College London (UCL), United Kingdom, for his postdoctoral research under this globally competitive fellowship program.

 

The Newton International Fellowship, awarded by the Royal Society, is one of the UK’s most selective schemes for early-career researchers. It supports outstanding scientists in establishing independent research careers and fostering long-term international collaborations. At University College London, Dr. Walia will officially hold the title of Royal Society Newton International Fellow.

 

Dr. Walia completed his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Sushant G. Ghosh at CTP, where his doctoral research made significant contributions to black hole physics and gravitational lensing. His work led to the development of the Kumar–Ghosh black hole parameter estimation framework, introduced in the landmark paper “Black Hole Parameter Estimation from Its Shadow” published in The Astrophysical Journal (Vol. 892, 2020, p. 78).

 

Following his PhD, Dr Walia’s academic trajectory has included highly prestigious international fellowships and appointments. He was awarded the Fulbright–Nehru Postdoctoral Fellowship by the United States-India Educational Foundation and carried out advanced research at the University of Arizona. He also held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, strengthening his global research profile.

 

He is an active member of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) and next-generation EHT collaborations. To date, he has authored 32 research papers with over 3,300 citations and an h-index of 23. Together with his supervisor, he has co-authored 27 papers, including multiple internationally recognized works. Notably, five of their joint publications received the IOP Top Cited Paper Award – India (2019–2023).

 

Prof. Saima Saeed

Chief Public Relations Officer