M. Karunanidhi Ph.D Studentship and postdoctoral research programme established at University of Cambridge

After helping establish the Ambedkar-Kalaignar Visiting Fellowship at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, Chennai-based entrepreneur Sabarisan Vedamurthy has established the M. Karunanidhi Ph.D. Studentship and a postdoctoral research programme at the University of Cambridge.

Mr. Sabarisan and his wife Senthamarai Stalin, DMK leader M.K. Stalin’s daughter, have been included in the Guild of Cambridge Benefactors.

“Their gift to Cambridge established the M. Karunanidhi Ph.D. Studentship, alongside ongoing funding for postdoctoral research focused on the Dravidian Movement. In doing so, it honours the enduring legacy of M. Karunanidhi, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, whose statesmanlike commitment to social welfare and inclusive progress reshaped contemporary Tamil society,” says the brochure of the Guild of Cambridge Benefactors. Mr. Sabarisan, who met Bagavanidhi, the first recipient of the Ambedkar-Kalaignar Visiting Fellowship, said his objective was to ensure sustained engagement between the SOAS and Tamil Nadu politics.

He presented Mr. Sabarisan with a copy of his gist of his study, Reclaiming the Mandate: From the Special Component Plan to a Right-based Development Architecture of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. He was one of 88 students who applied for the fellowship. “English language skill was not a criterion. The fellowship relieved me of any financial constraints, and I was able to concentrate on my studies,” said Mr. Bagavanidhi, a native of Sengipatti, near Budalur in Thanjavur district.

As part of his studies, he had examined the Tamil Nadu Budget for 2025-26. “The three-month fellowship has prepared me for the next level. Both teachers and students referred me to the Ambedkar-Kalaignar Fellowship. I am planning to pursue a Ph.D., and the teachers at the university are encouraging me,” he said.

“We need to take the Dravidian Movement, social justice, and Tamil Nadu politics to a wider audience,” said Mr. Sabarisan, who has contributed £1.3 million towards the M. Karunanidhi Ph.D. Studentship. The funding will support a student for three years of doctoral research.

The University of Cambridge said the couple’s philanthropy was opening doors for talented researchers from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, ensuring that those with lived experience of these issues were empowered to contribute to, and lead academic debate.