Dr Ujjwal Krishna is Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Australia India Institute. He has over seven years’ experience in development and public policy issues across the Indo-Pacific, and his main areas of interest include the political economy of international development, research uptake, foreign policy, and bilateral cooperation.
As Specialist Doctoral Research Scholar with the Developmental Leadership Program (DLP), he supported impact and engagement for an international research partnership across ten Indo-Pacific nations. While working with DLP and the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)’s Governance Section, Office of the Chief Economist, and Global Education and Scholarships Section, he explored how bureaucrats and diplomats use research and evidence at the individual, organisational, and policy levels of decision-making in a bilateral donor agency.
Earlier, Dr Krishna was a Policy Engagement Consultant to the University of Oxford, and a Visiting Researcher at the University of Birmingham’s International Development Department. He also worked with the Director and Chief Executive of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), where he supported the Government of India in securing its interests at global internet governance fora, and conducted research for the World Bank, ADB, Union ministries, and the space industry.
His work across governance, education, skills, technology, climate, migration, labour, trade, cities, and social policy spans various roles, including with the University of Sussex’s Institute of Development Studies (IDS), La Trobe University’s Centre for Human Security and Social Change, The Asia Foundation, Brookings, J-PAL South Asia, UNDP, Community Empowerment Lab, and the Government of India’s NITI Aayog.
Dr Krishna holds a BA (Hons) in Economics from the University of Delhi, an MA in Development Studies (with Distinction) from the University of Sussex, and a PhD in International Development from La Trobe University, which he attended on a DFAT-funded scholarship.
He tweets at @DrUjjwalKrishna.