From 4 October 2024, the Indian researcher Sujata Kulkarni spent a year working on her doctorate at the Institute for Meteorology. “I applied for the DAAD Fellowship as part of a sandwich programme for my PhD. In my second year of doctoral studies, I was fortunate to find an excellent host here at Leipzig University: Professor Marlene Kretschmer, whose expertise matches my research interests exactly – climate causality and attribution,” says Kulkarni. Her research aims to understand how the Indian summer monsoon is changing. She is testing the hypothesis that Arctic warming affects the monsoon. In her home country of India, the monsoon – a key component of the global climate system – determines harvests, food security and economic stability each year.
Monsoon connections:
The two young researchers strengthening ties between Leipzig and India
Until recently, just a few corridors separated the workplaces of Sujata Kulkarni and Sara M. Vallejo-Bernal at the Faculty of Physics and Earth System Sciences. Both study the global impacts of climate change – and both are part of a growing academic partnership between Leipzig University and Indian institutions. Kulkarni came from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee to pursue her doctorate in meteorology in Leipzig. Vallejo-Bernal, in turn, travelled from Leipzig to India to conduct research at IIT Madras and IIT Hyderabad. Together, they embody how two scientific cultures can complement one another.
Research freedom and practical application
During her time at Leipzig University, she enjoyed the freedom to pursue her own questions and to explore approaches that she would have found more difficult to implement in India. This research freedom has been crucial for her – not least because it has allowed her to integrate methods that she hopes to develop further once she returns to India. “In India, there are traditionally more formal structures and rules that can sometimes limit flexibility in research. On the other hand, Indian institutes have strong laboratory infrastructure and a strong practical focus, especially in engineering sciences. There, much of the focus is on product development and application – which is very valuable,” she explains.
Sara M. Vallejo-Bernal also realised how valuable this practical orientation can be for her own research during her time in India. Her work focuses on atmospheric flows and extreme precipitation events, which are closely linked to the Indian summer monsoon. “During my PhD, I published papers on this topic with colleagues in India, particularly on the Intertropical Convergence Zone that drives the monsoon. This led to close ties with researchers at the IITs,” explains the Colombian scientist.
In spring 2025, she therefore spent three months conducting research at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and IIT Hyderabad – two of India’s most prestigious universities. “I was mainly at the IIT Madras campus in Chennai, a coastal city in south-east India, which is also the location of a Saxon Science Liaison Office. The stay served to continue our research on the Intertropical Convergence Zone. I also visited IIT Hyderabad for a week, gave lectures and discussed ongoing projects with the research groups there. We visited facilities and were shown the laboratories, which were very impressive,” says Vallejo-Bernal. According to her, Indian research is often strongly rooted in theoretical foundations, yet at the same time very successful at translating results into practical applications. “This link between theory and practice was particularly evident in prediction systems and technologies that directly benefit Indian farmers, for instance. This combination of sound science and application orientation is very valuable”, the scientist continues.
Expanding partnerships with India’s IITs
The individual experiences of these two researchers reflect what Leipzig University is also pursuing at the institutional level: it seeks to deepen academic exchange with India in the long term. In recent years, the University has systematically expanded its contacts with Indian research institutions – particularly with the excellent Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), which rank among the country’s leading universities.
A visible sign of this was the visit of a delegation from IIT Roorkee to Leipzig University in November 2024. Representatives from both universities – including Kulkarni and Vallejo-Bernal – exchanged ideas on potential areas of cooperation in climate research, sustainability and engineering. A few months later, Rector Eva Inés Obergfell travelled to India as part of a delegation organised by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). During visits to Hyderabad, Madras and New Delhi, she gained insights into India’s research landscape and explored opportunities for joint projects.
All these initiatives share a common goal: to connect research and teaching across continents – with everyone as equals and to the mutual benefit of all involved. Sujata Kulkarni and Sara M. Vallejo-Bernal embody what genuine international collaboration looks like – building bridges between different research cultures, perspectives and continents.
Created by: Lina Hörügel; translation: Matthew Rockey
