Ajit Kumar Mehta

"I am from a very remote part of India, where the majority of people lack access to a formal education and a lot of their lives revolve around religion. My parents are very religious and also believe a lot in astrology - they don't do anything without consulting their astrological calendar. They take a lot of things for granted, believing God is responsible for much of what happens around them. I’ve found being from that background and coming to this kind of academic work is very difficult, especially since none of my family members and relatives appreciated what I was working on. Through passionate discussions with my father, he started appreciating scientific thinking. This has made him not interfere as much in my academic journey with his strong religious sentiments. I believe science should reach everyone and that giving people the tools to think logically and scientifically will benefit society. I am not saying that believing in God whatsoever is bad, and it can coexist with thinking scientifically about the world. A lot of harm comes from religious fighting in India. I am happy that beginning with my parents, my community can change too. This keeps me motivated."

Ajit Kumar Mehta is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB). He works on waveform modelling, testing general relativity, and lensing of gravitational waves. He is currently working on searches for gravitational waves, and how understanding the glitches can change our interpretation of the foreground signals. He enjoys dancing and singing and is easily distracted by any tune, whether it's Indian or Western music. You can follow Ajit on Facebook here.