Last summer we caught up with PhD candidate Satish Bharathwaj Viswanathan. Here he shares his story about going the distance for the best education and making the most of the journey.

Satish is a Cambridge Trust-funded plant scientist researching viruses in plants, currently chilli peppers, and how in some cases they can be beneficial to plants. From growing up in a rural farming community in India to speaking at international conferences, Satish’s educational journey is very inspiring.

Satish grew up in Tamil Nadu, southern India and for as long as he can remember his schoolteacher mother instilled in him a strong belief in the importance and value that education can have. Aged 16, Satish went to live with relatives 300km away to attend a better school and boost his university prospects. He then travelled 800km from home to complete his undergraduate studies in biotechnology in Warangal, where he was faced with the additional task of learning Hindi. Satish then went on to study for a Masters in agricultural biotechnology in Kharagpur, 1,000km from home.

His next move came when he discovered that the highest achieving student in his field would have the opportunity to study abroad. “I wanted to go abroad to study and see what the world was about.” Satish spent six months 7,500km from home at Braunschweig, Germany’s University of Technology, where he continued his research into stress tolerance in plants, needing to take a month-long crash course in German.

After returning to India and completing his Masters, Satish set about applying to study for his PhD, inspired by fellow Tamil Nadu citizens Dr Venki Ramakrishnan, a Nobel Laureate and Fellow at Trinity College, and mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, the first Indian to be elected a Fellow of Trinity College in 1918 despite having no formal education. “Studying at Cambridge seemed like a dream. I came across Corpus Fellow, Professor John Carr’s profile and found his research very interesting, so I got in touch, and he was very encouraging.”

Satish travelled 8,250km from home to take up his place at Corpus in September 2020, eagerly awaiting a post-Covid opportunity to dine in Hall. “It was perfect. The beautiful Harry Potter­-style surroundings were everything I had hoped for. I must admit the formal attire in the UK is different to India, I had bought a tie but had no idea how to tie it. Thankfully porter Mark Lightning was on hand to guide me through the process.”

Due to the pandemic, there were fewer opportunities to meet people, so Satish welcomed the chance to join the MCR committee as International Officer. In his third year he switched to Sports Officer, on the condition that he could leave a legacy of new squash racquets for future Corpuscles.

“Sport can bring you so much happiness away from your studies, it’s all about having fun. It’s about attitude, not aptitude. Leckhampton residents are so lucky to have the sports facilities on their doorstep.”

As well as sport, Satish pursued a lifelong dream of trying ballroom dancing by joining the University Dancesport Team. He went on to compete at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom in the beginners’ competition. “Cambridge has been really rewarding as an experience, you can find your thing, there’s room for that.”

As a plant scientist, Satish lauds his membership of the Oliver Rackham Society and its value in showcasing the opportunities that exist beyond the academic. He is also grateful for the financial support of the College, without which he would not have been able to attend conferences.

“Conference attendance is key to any research, it allows you to meet others working in your field, present your work and get feedback to help further shape your thesis, whilst getting on the radar of leaders in your field.”

Satish has now submitted his thesis and taken up a temporary postdoctoral role in Professor Carr’s lab, continuing his research during the marking process. “Looking to the future, my ideal role would be to bridge the gap between science and industry. Having witnessed first­hand the scepticism of small-scale farmers in India like my father, I would love to create a cooperative startup to improve communication between farmers and industry.”