PAU's Nitika Sandhu becomes first from university to receive INSA associateship
Ludhiana: A young scientist at Punjab Agricultural University (
PAU
),
Nitika Sandhu
, has made history as the first from the university to receive the Associateship of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA).
The prestigious honour is awarded to exceptional scientists under 40 for their outstanding research contributions and leadership potential in advancing science in India.
The INSA Young Associateship, a highly competitive honour, has been bestowed for Sandhu's pioneering work in
agricultural biotechnology
. With this achievement, she now holds
young scientist awards
or fellowships from all three of India's premier scientific academies — INSA, the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), and the National Academy of Sciences (NASI), India.
This makes her the first young scientist across all faculties at PAU to receive this rare and distinguished trio of honors. Notably, she has recently been selected as a NAAS Associate for 2025 and an INSA Young Associate Fellow for 2025.
Sandhu completed her PhD in 2014 from CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines, and CIRAD, France.
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Her doctoral research was supported by the Monsanto Beachell Borlaug International Scholarship Programme. Following her PhD, she pursued four years of postdoctoral research at IRRI, Philippines, before joining PAU in 2018 as a molecular geneticist in the School of Agricultural Biotechnology.
Over the course of her career, Sandhu has received numerous accolades, including the NASI Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award, SERB Women Excellence Award, DBT BioCARe Women Scientist Award, CSIR/UGC Junior Research Fellowship, IRRI Seed Grant Postdoctoral Fellowship, and the UNLEASH Lab International Innovation Award.
Her research excellence has been further recognised through the successful acquisition of five national research grants from DBT and SERB, and one international project funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), United Kingdom.
PAU vice-chancellor Satbir Singh Gosal; director of research Ajmer Singh Dhatt; director of School of Agricultural Biotechnology, Yogesh Vikal; and director of GS Khush Institute of Genetics, Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Parveen Chhuneja congratulated her for the big achievement.
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