Kerala Researcher Bags Rs 94 Lakh Worth Shah Rukh Khan-La Trobe Scholarship

The Shah Rukh Khan-La Trobe University Phd Scholarship was awarded on Wednesday to an Indian female researcher with a passion for improving farming practices through animal science, ecology and molecular studies. PhD research student Gopika Kottantharayil Bhasi, from Thrissur in Kerala, was chosen from more than 800 Indian women and received the four-year scholarship to La Trobe University at a ceremony in Mumbai attended by La Trobe Chancellor, John Brumby AO.

The AUD 200,000 (about Rs 9.5 million) scholarship, announced in August 2019 when Mr Khan was conferred an Honorary Degree by La Trobe University to recognise his wide-ranging humanitarian work, including his establishment of the Meer Foundation to support and empower women who have survived acid attacks in India.

Gopika will be joining La Trobe's research team who are discovering new techniques to protect the world's honey bee population from viruses, pollutants and declining diversity in flora.