top of page
IMG-20230309-WA0001.jpg

MORE ABOUT ME

Ever since I can remember, I have been curious and adventurous. Growing up, I found a way to turn these virtues into a thriving career. A career that has been a manifestation of my passion for

physics, astronomy and problem solving. 

​

My resume has been a reflection of my appreciation towards a wide variety of life experiences. In addition to my education and accolades, it also includes my research interests activities that I have engaged myself in, in due course of shaping my career. Take a look at my CV below and please don’t hesitate to contact me.

CV

Interests and Experiences

RESEARCH INTERERSTS

My primary research interests are in strong gravity, mostly involving gravitational waves. I am a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and LISA Consortium, as a part of which I work on testing whether General Relativity (GR) is our best description of strong gravity with Dr. Nathan Johnson-McDaniel and Dr. Anuradha Gupta at the University of Mississippi. Currently, we are studying gravitational waves generated by coalescing Binary Black Holes (BBH) and investigating the 'false' causes of GR deviations due to missing GR physics in BBH waveform templates. 

EDUCATION

  • Expected Aug 2025

Ph.D.,  Physics, University of Mississippi (UM), U.S.A.,

Research area: Testing General Relativity using Gravitational Waves

Dissertation Advisor : Dr. Anuradha Gupta

  • May 2023

           M.A., Physics​, UM

  • May 2019,

MSc Astrophysics, University of Potsdam, Germany

Thesis Title : Potential Detection of a change in the Gravitational Constant with Scalar  Gravitational Waves 

Research Advisor: Dr. Jean-Luc Lehners, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)

  •  May 2016

BSc Physics, Fergusson College, Savitribai Phule Pune University, India

Thesis Title: Determining Hubble’s constant and Deceleration parameter using Supernova type Ia. 

 Thesis Advisor: Dr. Aseem Paranjape, Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune

AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS

  • Spring 2024

          - 2024 StudyMississippi International Graduate Student of the Year Award

             Chosen from candidates across the state of Mississippi based upon exemplary academic achievement, intercultural engagement, and

             community involvement.

           - DGRAV Travel Award, 2024, APS April Meeting​

          - Gulf Coast Gravity Meeting (GCGM10): Best Student Presentation Award

  • Fall 2023 - present

SEC Emerging Scholars Doctoral Fellow, Awarded by the South Eastern Conference (SEC) at UM.

For demonstrated commitment to diversity, excellence in academics and research.

  • Spring 2023

DGRAV Travel Award for the 2023 APS April Meeting

  • 2015-16

INSPIRE scholarship awardee, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

Awarded to  top 1% students of the state

  • 2013-16

Late Prof D.S.Jog Prize,  Endowment Prize awarded for second highest marks in Physics.

Fergusson College, Pune.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

  • Fall 2023 - present

            SEC Emerging Scholars Doctoral Fellow, UM, Oxford, MS​

  • Spring 2023 - Fall 2023

            Research Assistant, UM, Oxford, MS​

  • Summer 2023

            Undergraduate Physics Instructor of Record, UM, Oxford, MS

  • Fall 2020 -Spring 2023 

 Teaching Assistant for Physics labs, Department of Physics and Astronomy,  University of Mississippi,

  • Fall 2017 - Spring 2019

 Student assistant in the IT department, Max Planck Institute for gravitational physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Potsdam.​

PUBLICATIONS 

  • P.Narayan, N. K. Johnson-McDaniel, and A. Gupta, “Effect of ignoring eccentricity in testing general

       relativity with gravitational waves,” Phys. Rev. D, vol. 108, p. 064 003, 6 Sep. 2023.  doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.108.064003.

DEPARTMENT AND UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP

  • Spring 2024

           Co-Organizer, Physics and Astronomy Joint Research Symposium

  • Fall 2023 - Present

           Co-Organizer, Oxford Science Cafe,  An initiative towards public outreach where we talk about science in a cafe setting, Oxford, Ms.

Head of Student Affairs, Physics Graduate Students Association​​

  • Fall 2023

          Tutor - Increasing Minority Access to Graduate Education (IMAGE) program

  • Fall 2022 - Present

Founder and President, Association of Graduate Women in STEM (AGWiS), University of Mississippi.

Vice President, Badminton Club, University of Mississippi.

Public Relations, Astronomy Public Outreach, University of Mississippi.

  • Fall 2022

           Co-Organizer​ - SESAPS

  • Fall 2021 - Fall 2022

           President - Badminton Club​

  • Fall 2015

           Co-Organizer33rd meet of Astronomical Society of India, Local organizing committee

  • Spring 2015

           Co-Organizer - Frontiers in Physics​

  • Fall 2013 - Fall 2016

 Represented Savitribai Phule Pune University for Inter-University Badminton and Table Tennis Tournaments

CONTRIBUTED RESEARCH TALKS

  • 2024 Physics and Astronomy Joint Research Symposium, Impact of strong gravitational lensing on GR tests with binary black hole signals, 2024.

  • APS April Meeting, Assessing biases in testing general relativity due to type II lensing of binary black hole signals, 2024.

  • GCGM10, Impact of strong gravitational lensing on GR tests with binary black hole signals, 2024.

  • 15th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves, When can we ignore eccentricity when testing general relativity with gravitational waves? 2023.

  • APS April Meeting, When can we ignore eccentricity when testing general relativity with gravitational waves? 2023.

  • SESAPS, University of Mississippi, When can we ignore eccentricity when testing general relativity with gravitational waves? 2022.

​

​​

​

INVITED RESEARCH TALKS

SCHOOLS AND MEETINGS ATTENDED

  • 2024 - Physics and Astronomy Joint Research Symposium

  • 2024 - American Physical Society (APS) April Meeting, Sacramento, California

  • 2023 - 15th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves, virtual meeting.

                     SEC Emerging Scholars Workshop, Professional Development Workshop for SEC Scholars, University of Arkansas.

                     American Physical Society (APS) April Meeting, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

  • 2022 - SESAPS, 89th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society (SESAPS) meeting.

  • 2017 - Jurgen Ehlers Spring School, Albert Einstein Institute, Potsdam

  • 2016 - Introductory School on Astronomy and Astrophysics, IUCAA

  • 2015, 16 - Pulsar Observatory School, Ooty Radio Telescope, India

  •  2014 - Radio Astronomy Winter School, National Center for Radio Astrophysics, December 

                      National Initiative for Undergraduate Sciences (Physics), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

OUTREACH LEADERSHIP

  • Spring 2024

            Exhibitor: ScienceMakers, Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, Jackson, Ms​

         Demos on gravitational-wave science and LIGO science. Focused on contributions of women and minorities in physics. Over 700 elementary-

         high school student attendees

​            Exhibitor: Environmental Day, Field Station, UM, Oxford, MS

         Presentation on gravitational wave physics and LIGO science. Over 45 student attendees.

            Judge: Mississippi Regional Science Fair

  • Fall 2017

            Presenter: Potsdam Science Day, AEI, Germany.

  • Spring  2015

            Presenter: National Science Day, IUCAA, India.​

INVITED OUTREACH TALKS AND VIDEO APPEARANCES

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

  • 2023 - Present

Member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboraion (LSC)

  • 2022-Present

Member of the American Physics Society (APS) 

Member of Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) Consortium

SKILLS

  • Languages ] Tamil (Mother tongue), English, German, Hindi, Marathi, Sinhala.

  • Coding ] Python, php, LATEX.

  • Databases ] Mysql

  • Web Dev ] Html, JavaScript\Intruments ] Amateur Violinist

  • linkedin

©2020 by Purnima Narayan. Proudly created with Wix.com

bottom of page