STEM Story: Shilpi Mandal – An Integrated Master’s Student In Mathematics

Shilpi Mandal is an Integrated Masters’ student in Mathematical Sciences at the University of Hyderabad, India. Her research area is an intersection of algebra and number theory. She is a former coordinator of the Junior Science Club at UoH and an active member of a student organization called The Nations’ Rock Beat (NRB). She enjoys the spirit of teaching mathematics to students across different schools/colleges through various outreach programs initiated by these clubs, where the major goal is to eradicate apprehension surrounding mathematics among young minds.

She has been to a lot of schools and workshops, and all of them guided her towards the current interest in algebraic number theory. Most recently, she attended the CIMPA school at the University of Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. The topic being “Group Actions in Arithmetic and Geometry”, proved essential on her journey towards mathematical research.

Her masters’ thesis is aimed at understanding the Class Number Problem of number theory and study its algebraic aspects. Shilpi is going to join Emory University, Atlanta, USA, for the Fall of 2020 as a doctoral student. She aims to continue her work in the field of number theory and aim to do some substantial work towards solving the Class number problem, after which she wish to continue in academia.

Apart from mathematics, she really enjoys going on trips, exploring new places, cultures, and ethnic food habits. Shilpi has been part of a lot of treks and always look forward to a vacation to go away to a new place. She is also an avid reader and loves playing Kalimba whenever in the mood.