Pranoy Debnath MSCA fellowship: Tripura researcher heads to Glasgow
Pranoy Debnath, a 33-year-old civil engineer from Tripura, has won a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship and will begin work at the University of Glasgow in late 2026 . He is currently at IIT Bombay on the National Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Pranoy Debnath MSCA fellowship: project focus and relevance
At Glasgow, Debnath will work on rock-based foundation systems for on-shore wind turbines. The project targets stability and soil–structure interaction, important for structures in hazard-prone regions. His work aims to improve design methods for foundations where bedrock conditions matter most.
The research links directly to northeast India’s needs: Tripura and neighbouring states lie in seismic zone V and face high earthquake risk. Debnath says combining engineering with advanced simulation and data-driven methods can strengthen vulnerable vernacular and masonry structures.
Pranoy Debnath MSCA fellowship: academic path and experience
Debnath started with a B.Tech in civil engineering from NIT Agartala and completed his PhD at IIT ISM Dhanbad in 3.5 years . He later won the National Postdoctoral Fellowship and joined IIT Bombay, where he works on soil–structure interaction.
Before returning to research, he worked in a private firm on metro and micro-tunnelling projects in Kolkata. To support his studies, he also tutored students privately during his college years. His programming background and use of machine learning for soil and structural simulations have been key to his research profile.
He is the second scientist from Tripura to win an MSCA fellowship; the first, Chaidul Haque Chaudhuri, was awarded the fellowship in 2023 and is now at IIT Bhubaneswar.
Timeline, eligibility and career plans
Debnath will move to Glasgow for the MSCA project from late 2026 . MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to PhD holders and fund postdoctoral research abroad; many applicants combine host-lab expertise with clear research deliverables.
After completing his postdoctoral stint in Scotland, Debnath has said he hopes to join an IIT. His research on hazard resilience and machine learning-driven simulations aims to influence both academic practice and real-world designs in seismic regions.
The selection follows several published research papers and a fast PhD track, and highlights growing visibility for researchers from India’s northeast in international fellowship programmes.