Ep. 18: Conversation with Kaneenika Sinha - Mathematician, Blogger and Author

Kaneenika Sinha is a mathematician and is as associate professor in department of mathematics at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune. She is a number theorist, and her research interest is in analytic number theory and arithmetic statistics of modular forms. Kaneenika did her PhD from Queen's University in Canada, and spent a few years as post doc in Univ of Toronto, Univ of Alberta and Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, Berkeley. She started her independent career at IISER Kolkata before moving to IISER Pune.

“Kaneenika Sinha's webpage.” Accessed August 26, 2023. http://sites.iiserpune.ac.in/~kaneenika/.

Twitter. “Kaneenika Sinha (@kaneenikasinha) / X,” June 15, 2023. https://twitter.com/kaneenikasinha.

In this episode we discussed

• her biography
• on how she developed interest in mathematics
• her influences during college days in Delhi
• her exposure to a summer program in TIFR, Mumbai
• where she found her spark and origins for mathematics research
• She also tells us about her experience on learning and doing research in mathematics including number theory
• We discussed various aspects of her research including her recent book and the process of writing, and why it is so important to research, teaching and learning
• We discussed importance of mathematics and its role in society and how academics, scientists and of course mathematicians can contribute towards betterment of society
• There is also an excellent segment in pristine Hindi, in which Kaneenika describes her research with eloquence, which is fascinating to hear.
• We also discussed about her interest in literature and reading and she wonderfully elaborates on some of her influences and likings including Harivansh Rai Bachchan
• Kaneenika is one the most articulate colleagues i have interacted with, and discussing research and its motivations with her is always a pleasure. I learnt a lot from this conversation, and I am sure you will too...Listen, as we humanize science..

References :

1. Link to her article on Prime numbers in the Bhavana Magazine: https://bhavana.org.in/primes-of-our-lives/

2. Link to a biographical article she wrote on Sarvadaman Chowla: https://bhavana.org.in/sarvadaman-chowla-the-perpetual-ambassador-for-number-theory/

3. Her TedX talk on Prime numbers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iOyG3sFJ7I&t=614s

4. Link to a blog post on Harivansh Rai Bachchan: https://academic-garden.blogspot.com/2022/12/harivansh-rai-bachchan-inspiring-phd.html

5. Link to two articles on C R Rao in Bhavana Magazine : https://bhavana.org.in/c-r-rao-a-life-in-statistics/https://bhavana.org.in/glimpses-from-the-life-and-work-of-dr-c-r-rao/

6. Link to Resonance: https://www.ias.ac.in/Journals/Resonance_%E2%80%93_Journal_of_Science_Education

7. Link to her book on the AMS webpage: https://bookstore.ams.org/STML/104

8. Link to preface of the book : https://www.ams.org/bookstore/pspdf/stml-104-pref.pdf