August 14, 2023

Australia India Research Students Fellowship program

A journey of cross-continental collaboration as University of Wollongong hosts Kushagra Sharan, an AIRS Fellow from India's IIM Kozhikode: exploration of leadership altruism, fostering research and forging academic connections that transcend borders.

Earlier this year, the University of Wollongong was named as one of the host institutions for Australia India Research Students Fellowship (AIRS Fellowship) program. This prestigious one-off program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education supports emerging research from India and Australia to undertake short-term research exchanges. The Faculty of Business and Law had the privilege of hosting Kushagra Sharan, one of 35 AIRS Fellow from India undertaking their research projects in Australia.

Kushagra is a PhD candidate at Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK), one of UOW’s partner institution in India. Kushagra was undertaking a research project on ‘Exploration of Leader’s Altruistic Variance in Negotiationsq’.

Kushagra worked closely with Jon Billsberry, Senior Professor of Leadership and Management, and Amir Arjomandi, Associate Professor and Head of Postgraduate Studies at the School of Business and Venkat Yanamandram, Associate Dean (International & Accreditation) of the Faculty of Business and Law.

During his 8-week fellowship at UOW, Kushagra not only worked on his research project, but he also contributed to deepen the relationship between UOW and IIMK. Kushagra fostered conversations between UOW’s Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC) and the Centre for CLIMATE Studies (CCS) of IIMK, and iAccelerate and IIMK-Live (Laboratory for Innovation Venturing and Entrepreneurship).

For his work and contribution during his time in UOW, Kushagra received the Letter of Recognition from Associate Professor Arjomandi. The close relationship between Kushagra and his mentors has led into discussions pertaining joint supervision, research association on different agenda, and potential future collaborations. Kushagra reflected on his time “The AIRS fellowship helped me in providing insights into Australia’s values, beliefs, societal norms and traditions. Secondly, the culture of adopting UN Sustainable Development Goals in the start-up ecosystem from the pre-acceleration phase is encouraging, shaping entrepreneurs’ decision-making in building a sustainable ecosystem. The interactions with the Professors, workshop-participants have helped in building ideas and future work directions for me. The discussions and meetings, have propagated future collaboration opportunities IIMK and UOW.”

The Faculty of Business and Law was delighted to be a part of Kushagra’s journey, and we look forward to continued collaboration.