About

Arti Agarwal is a PhD Scholar in the Department of Design at IIT Kanpur. She is an alum of IIT Roorkee (2007) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2020). She was also accepted for admission to Ohio State University for Masters of Landscape Architecture (2007) and to Boston University for MS in Economics (2011), both of which she did not pursue, choosing to contribute to her country instead.

A polymath, Arti has had a successful run in many disciplines. With extensive experience of both, hands-on work in the field, as well as detail-oriented writing and research, academia started to appeal to Arti as early as 2019. This motivated her to pursue her Micromasters in Data, Economics and Development Policy (DEDP) from MIT (2019-20). In 2021, Arti wrote her first book, Cownomics, which sheds light on the need to move towards a sustainable, cruelty-free cow-based economy in India.

To continue on her chosen path, Arti decided to pursue a PhD in the interdisciplinary Department of Design at IIT Kanpur. It allowed her to bring the know-how of Economics, Environmental Sciences, Town Planning and Design Thinking into her research area. Arti has received the prestigious Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship starting January 2023 for her research work during the PhD program.