Dr. Nandita Saikia is a distinguished Professor of Public Health and Mortality Studies at the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai. She currently serves as the Head of the Centre for Online and Distance Education at IIPS.
Previously, Dr. Saikia was an Assistant Professor in Population Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, where she taught from 2013 to 2021. Before that, she held the position of Assistant Professor at the Population Research Centre, Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), New Delhi (2011–2013).
Dr. Saikia holds a Master’s degree in Statistics from Gauhati University, Assam, and earned her M.Phil. and Ph.D. from IIPS, Mumbai. During her doctoral research, she spent significant time at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), Germany, a globally renowned institution for mathematical demography research. She further enhanced her expertise as a post-doctoral research fellow at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria, from 2017 to 2019.
With extensive experience in demographic research, statistical analysis, and public health studies, Dr. Saikia continues to contribute significantly to the field of population sciences. Her academic journey led her to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)—India’s top-ranked university—in 2013, and subsequently to the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) in 2021, the premier institution for population studies in India. At IIPS, she is actively engaged in teaching and mentoring students, specializing in advanced demographic methods, demographic change with a focus on health and mortality analysis, and quantitative methods in social science research. Over the course of her career, Professor Saikia has successfully supervised 16 Ph.D. scholars (all awarded) and 9 M.Phil. scholars at JNU. Currently, she is guiding 8 Ph.D. scholars at IIPS, helping them shape their research in demographic studies.
Beyond her institutional roles, Professor Saikia has been a visiting scholar at several prestigious international institutions, including University of Rostock, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), Germany; Australian National University (ANU), Australia; International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria; Institut National d’Études Démographiques (INED), France; New York University (NYU), UAE; Centre Population & Développement (CEPED), France; London School of Economics (LSE), UK; University of Toronto, Canada. Her academic pursuits have taken her to 24 countries, where she has actively contributed to research and scholarly discussions. Currently, she serves as a member of the prestigious Technical Advisory Group of the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME).
Professor Saikia’s research primarily focuses on: Formal demography, including mathematical and statistical relationships between demographic measuresof Mortality and cause-of-death studies using life tables; Socio-economic and regional health inequalities; Disability analysis and demographic data quality; Undocumented immigration; Demography of tribal populations; Indian Knowledge System.
A prolific researcher, Professor Saikia has published extensively as a lead author in high-impact international journals, including The Lancet Global Health (Impact Factor: 38.92); The WHO Bulletin; PLOS One; Population Studies; Demographic Research; Population, Space and Place; Social Science and Medicine; Economic & Political Weekly (EPW); Journal of Biosocial Science (JBS); SSM-Population Health; Tropical Medicine and International Health; BMJ Global Health, BMC Journals, Geohealth, GeroScience among others. She has also contributed chapters to several edited books. Notably, her co-authored book, “Adult Mortality in India: Trends, Socio-economic Disparities, and Consequences,” was published by Springer in 2023.
Professor Saikia has received numerous national and international awards in recognition of her outstanding contributions to demographic research. She also plays a key editorial role in several prestigious journals: Associate Editor – Journal of Population Research (Springer); and Guest Editor – Demographic Research.
Outside academia, Professor Saikia is passionate about: Traveling the world, exploring diverse cultures; Inspiring students, especially female scholars, to become independent and impactful contributors to society; and Supporting underprivileged communities, particularly in her homeland. She is also a regular columnist, writing insightful articles for leading national newspapers and magazines, including The Indian Express, The Hindu, The Outlook, etc.
Professor Saikia possesses extensive experience in academic administration across various institutes and universities. His leadership roles include serving as Head of the Department, Coordinator of the Internal Quality Assurance Cell, Cultural Coordinator, General Secretary of IIPSAA, and Project Director for several national-level studies.