“I found the purpose of my life at Cambridge”
Darshana Joshi
“I have been on such a fun journey”, says Darshana Joshi (Hughes Hall 2012), who benefited from a scholarship to support her PhD in Physics and now, back home in New Delhi, runs a global charity that inspires and upskills young people to enable access to STEM careers.
I have such fond memories of being in Cambridge. My favourite library was the UL when writing up my thesis. I loved walking through the corridors to absorb that wonderful book smell. And the best place for sipping a cup of coffee while thinking, or working, or just enjoying the view was the café in the University Centre, overlooking the Mill Pond.
Darshana Joshi
“It started when I showed young people a physics experiment at the Cambridge Festival and at the Department’s ‘Physics at work’ open day. Children as young as 8 were really enjoying taking part, and this got me thinking that in India, I didn’t get to do any science experiments until high school. How could we bring advanced science to Indian classrooms?”
Joshi’s passion for giving young people across India, South-East Asia and Africa the opportunities and confidence to pursue STEM careers was further developed when she was elected the first South Asian woman president of Cambridge’s Graduate Student Union. In that role, she met University senior leaders who were genuinely supportive of widening participation, including Stephen Toope, then Vice-Chancellor. “Those interactions really opened my eyes to the issue of equity,” she reflects.
“I saw how futuristic Cambridge is—how it is shaping the future of global education and science, and technology. Here I learnt what excellence meant—going beyond your discipline.” Joshi’s PhD research in soft condensed matter certainly did that, exploring the use of DNA as a building block for new applications in optoelectronics or drug delivery.
With a group of other Cambridge alumni who have become life friends, including her husband who was a postdoc and then an employee of a local tech start-up, she set up VigyanShaala (meaning ‘the school of science’) with a mission to make STEM education, skilling, and professions accessible to the most marginalised young people across the globe. One specific programme, She for STEM, pairs undergraduate students with mentors at leading universities who give their time for free.
“We reach every state in India for girls. Plus, we’ve had mentees from 16 countries, who can build a network and generate a feeling of sisterhood as they realise that whether they are from Pakistan or Nigeria, Bangladesh or Tanzania, their challenges are the same.” At first, VigyanShaala’s activities were supported by grants, but it is now a self-sustaining charity. For example, She for STEM participants who can pay the small fee can subsidise others who cannot.
The impact so far has been felt most significantly in India, which boasts more than 10,000 She for STEM fellows across 28 states and 330+ districts, 150 Rural STEM Champions and over 15,000 students who have engaged with hands-on STEM workshops and other activities. “We’re looking to scale this globally, using She for STEM in India as a case study”, explains Joshi. “Other countries are adapting this programme and contextualising it for local needs. We’re also linked in with the Centre for Global Equality at Cambridge.”
Among accolades for her endeavour, Joshi was honoured in 2022 as one of 75 Women Transforming India by the NINTI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India), the Indian government’s policy think tank.
“I’m a first-generation learner myself—my parents didn’t finish their education, and we were a low-income family. Without partial support from the Nehru Trust for Cambridge University scholarship, I would never have come to Cambridge, and I wouldn’t be doing this! I found the purpose of my life at Cambridge. It is crucial that we nurture new talent and create new pathways for more people to contribute to STEM. Additional scholarships will bring more promising people from all backgrounds to this enriching environment that is Cambridge, to help solve tomorrow’s problems.”
This impact story is part of
Related stories
Philanthropic giving is at the heart of the success of the Collegiate University, enabling us to make discoveries that change the world and to ensure that our students receive an unrivalled education. Cambridge owes its world-leading excellence in research and teaching to the generosity of its supporters. Our history is synonymous with a history of far-sighted benefaction, and the same is as true today as it has ever been.
Giving opportunities
Philanthropic giving is at the heart of the success of the Collegiate University, enabling us to make discoveries that change the world and to ensure that our students receive an unrivalled education.
