Investing in academic talent: Meet PhD scholar Shaonlee
Current PhD student Shaonlee Patranabis, was awarded the Warnford and PhD Consortium Scholarships when she joined LSE as a research student in 2022, enabling her to further her significant research into housing markets in India in the Economic Geography research group in the Department of Geography and Environment. Shaonlee's work focuses on two major themes – the affordability of housing, and understanding its origins in land rights and how that 200-year old system continues to affect conditions today.
Shaonlee recently shared more about her research, and spoke about the critical role that PhD scholarship support plays in enabling new ideas and academic progress.
Philanthropic PhD scholarships generally come without the strict frameworks attached to public research funding, giving the recipients the freedom to bring multiple perspectives to bear on complex global challenges.
What PhD funding does is that it gives the PhD scholar a certain amount of dignity in which they are able to sustain themselves in the academic world...It’s basically an acknowledgement that the research we do is valid, and it deserves to be paid for.
Alongside sitting down in front of the camera, Shaonlee also spoke at the annual Donors and Scholars event in February 2024, highlighting her immense gratitude for those who generously support LSE and our students.
The scholarships I have been endowed with have relieved these burdens and provided me with financial security and peace of mind. Your generosity has been instrumental in promoting my education, and for that, I am profoundly thankful. My experiences, and the experiences of many of my colleagues would not have been possible if not for the scholarships that the donors have provided. It goes beyond financial assistance; it is a as a catalyst for social and material mobility.
Growing up in India, the prospect of joining LSE may have seemed impossible for many, but with the unwavering support of her parents, Shaonlee was determined to make it a part of her academic journey. LSE’s Department of Geography and Environment particularly enticed her due to its urban economic work.
The Department has been able to teach me the tools and given me the support to actually go out and do research that I want to do, and I hope that I’m bringing a perspective back to the Department that isn’t there at this moment. My hope is that my research allows policymakers to make better use of the information that they have, and in the end, that it is possible for Indian cities to urbanise in a way that everybody is housed, that everybody can access housing easily and they can rent a house, and it should not cost them 70% of their paycheck.
