Five Rhodes Scholars-Elect for India 2025 have been selected after a competitive application process and two rounds of preliminary interviews. The shortlisted finalists were interviewed and five were chosen to receive the prestigious scholarship.

These five winners of this scholarship are Rayan Chakrabarti, Vibha Swaminathan, Avanish Vats, Shubham Narwal, and Pal Aggarwal.

They will be heading to the University of Oxford in October 2025 to join a cohort of more than a hundred scholars from around the world to undertake fully funded postgraduate studies.

The Rhodes Scholarship is the world’s preeminent and oldest graduate fellowship, based at the University of Oxford since 1903. The scholarships for India began in 1947 and have been awarded to five applicants each year. Students from anywhere in the world can apply for a Rhodes Scholarship.

The Rhodes selection process aims to choose young people with proven academic excellence who also show exceptional character, leadership, energy to use their talents to the full and a commitment to solving humanity’s challenges. The selection process includes a rigorous review process before the final interview, with a selection committee composed of experts and leaders in diverse fields.

Applications for the 2026 Rhodes Scholarships will open in June 2025. More information about the scholarship application be found at the official website — rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/apply.

Rayan is completing his Master’s at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He holds an undergraduate degree in literature from St Stephen’s College. His work lies at the intersection of memory studies, critical heritage, and anthropology. At Oxford, he is interested in building and working on an archive and museum of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact in South Asia.

He is a trained pianist and loves writing and translating poetry that centres around politics and nationhood.

Vibha Swaminathan is a final year law student, pursuing LLB (Hons) at the National Law School, Bangalore. She also holds a BA (Hons) in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University. She is interested in studying the political and legal fragilities of citizenship regimes, and hopes to combine this academic engagement with a human rights litigation practice before trial courts in India.

Avanish is from Ranchi and has completed his bachelors in Philosophy from St Stephen’s College, Delhi. He conducted research on accessibility in education and healthcare for disabled individuals in Jharkhand, under the State Disability Commissioner’s office in Ranchi. He is also the third scholar with a visual impairment to have been elected from India.

He is a Tabla player and has written and directed short films. His academic interests include epistemology and making philosophy accessible to disabled people.

Shubham Narwal is pursuing a Bachelor’s in Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry at ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly. Growing up in the National Dairy Research Institute sparked an interest in studying Veterinary Science. He will now pursue an MSc in Clinical Embryology and explore new conservation strategies for the critically endangered bird, the Great Indian Bustard. Shubham is the first Indian scholar-elect from veterinary medicine.

Besides his passion for volunteering in nature conservation organisations, he likes Harry Potter and is a basketball enthusiast.

Pal Aggarwal is a final year BTech Engineering Physics student at IIT Bombay. Her academic journey has been driven by a deep-seated interest in astrophysics, mathematics and data science, having worked with researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics.

At Oxford, she wants to study high-energy astrophysics, striving towards her dream of becoming an astronaut and advocating for women in science.

She is also a trained Bharatnatyam and contemporary dancer.