About Me

About Me

Hello and Namaskar! 🙏

My name is Chaitanya Giri. 
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I am a strategy analyst doubling up as an author based out of the Indian (Bharatiya) megalopolis of Mumbai. 
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At present, I am affiliated with a leading international think tank, the Observer Research Foundation; I serve on the Advisory Board of the Satcom Industry Association, and I am nominated by the Governor of Maharashtra to be on the Senate of the University of Mumbai.

My day job traverses the domains of space and S&T policy and strategy analyses, from commercial, cultural, and political perspectives, especially those at the crossroads of Industry 4.0 & Space 2.0. 
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I am a trained, hands-on, and bona fide space scientist - astrochemist and planetary chemist, to be precise. I have spent considerable time in Germany and France as a doctoral and postdoctoral scientist, and after that in Japan and the United States as an early-career scientist. I am grateful that life offered me opportunities to work at some of the top space science and technology laboratories in the world, well before I switched towards think tanks. 
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I have transferred my skills from hands-on scientific research to strategy consulting. I am fortunate to work closely with numerous scientific institutions, international multilateral organisations, private corporations, startups, venture capital firms, academia, and media.

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Professional Accomplishments

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  • Fifteen years of Work Experience (2011-2026) in Strategic Space and Strategic Sciences Projects with International and National Exposure - 11 Years of Post-PhD Experience - More than 8 Years with Industry (Think Tank) Experience - ~3.5 Years of Science Postdoctoral Research (Scientific Research) Experience 
  • Consulted National Security Council Secretariat (Prime Minister’s Office), Department of Space, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Defence, and Ministry of Earth Sciences on Strategic Technology Projects
  • Minister Nominated Member of Review Committee on International Science and Technology Cooperation (Oct 2021-July 2022) of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Earth Sciences
  • Executed first-ever Policy Research Study at the interface of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), Department of Space, on strategic commercial space sector exports during a consulting stint at RIS
  • Nominated Member of Committee on Space Economy Sector (Nov 2022) of NITI Aayog (S&T and DC Verticals)
  • Invited Member of the Advisory Board of the Satcom Industry Association India
  • Nominated by the Governor of Maharashtra to the Senate of the University of Mumbai (2023-2028).
  • Represented India on various Track 1.5 and Track 2 Diplomatic Engagements on science, space, climate, and emerging technology matters
  • High-Table Speaking at various global summits, including NATO’s Halifax International Security Forum 2018 and 2019, NATO’s GLOBSEC Forum 2025, Prague, India-Canada Track 1.5 Dialogue 2018, the Russia-India Strategic Dialogue 2019, and the Indo-Pacific Critical Tech Forum 2024
  • Award-winning early career scientist with rich twelve years of experience in Field-Deployable Measurement and Signals Intelligence (MASINT) payload technologies
  • Scientific team member of the Philae Lander - the first space probe in human history to ever land on a comet surface - on the European Space Agency’s Rosetta Mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
  • As co-investigator of the COSAC MASINT payload of Philae, discovered novel organic molecules native to the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
  • Awarded the 2014 Dieter Rampacher Prize by the Max Planck Society - ranked #4 globally for science - for outstanding doctoral research by the youngest scientist
  • Made the first-of-its-kind physical detection of extraterrestrial graphene in two distinct meteorites
  • 1 of 10 promising scientists recruited by MEXT, Government of Japan, under the EON Fellowship
  • Led and co-led competitive basic science research grants worth more than US$ 0.1 million during postdoctoral years
  • Author of the books: India in the Second Space Age of Interplanetary Connectivity (Routledge, 2022); The Long Siege: 500 Years of India’s Struggle for Technopolitical Freedom (BluOne Ink - Occam, 2025).
  • Frequent columns in reputed national dailies and magazines, and commentaries in international media publications. 
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Professional Affiliations

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August 2024 - Present || Fellow, Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology, Observer Research Foundation, Mumbai

February 2023 - July 2024 || Associate Professor, FLAME University, Pune, INDIA

February 2022 - intermittent || Contributor, The Center for International Governance Innovation, Waterloo, CANADA

December 2021 - July 2024 || Consultant, Research and Information System for Developing Countries, New Delhi, INDIA​

October 2021 - present || Member, Advisory Board, Space Federation of India

October 2021 - present || Member, Advisory Board, Satcom Industry Association India

March 2018 - November 2021 || Space & Ocean Studies Fellow, Gateway House: Indian Council for Global Relations, Mumbai, INDIA

Feb. 2018 - present || ELSI Origins Network (EON) Affiliate Scientist, Earth-Life Science Institute - A World Premier International Research Center Initiative by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Japan at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, JAPAN

Feb. 2016 - Jan. 2018 || ELSI Origins Network (EON) Research Fellow, Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, JAPAN

Jun. 2016 - Jun. 2017 || Science Collaborator (EON Visiting Investigator), Code 690, Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, USA

Jun. 2016 - Jun. 2017 || EON Visiting Investigator, Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington DC, USA

Sep. 2014 - Nov. 2015 || Postdoctoral Scientist, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, GERMANY

Sep. 2011 - Sep. 2014 || Doctoral Scientist, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, GERMANY

Feb. 2012 || Visiting Scientist at DESIRS beam line, CNRS-CEA SOLEIL Synchrotron, Paris, FRANCE

Oct. 2010 || Visiting Scientist, Planetary Exploration Research Center, Chiba Institute of Technology, Chiba, JAPAN

Academic Background

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Sep. 2014

Ph.D. (Chemistry)

Thesis: The organic composition of cometary nucleus, the COSAC experiment on Philae

Supervisors: Uwe Meierhenrich, École Doctorale Sciences Fondamentales et Appliquées (EDSFA), Université Nice Sophia Antipolis, Nice, FRANCE

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Fred Goesmann, International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) in Solar System Science, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, GERMANY

 

Aug. 2011

M.Sc. (Biophysics) with First Class

University Department of Biophysics, University of Mumbai, INDIA

 

Jun. 2008

B.Sc. Hons. (Major: Chemistry; Minors: Life Science, Microbiology) with First Class

Ramnarain Ruia College, University of Mumbai, INDIA

Academic Genealogy (A Pleasant Chance)

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I received a PhD in Chemistry in 2014 from the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis (now CĂ´te d'Azur University), France, under the tutelage of Prof. Uwe Meierhenrich.

Prof. Meierhenrich is a global authority on biomolecular chirality and interstellar organic chemistry. His team has the distinction of synthesising several amino acids and sugars under interstellar conditions simulated in the laboratory. He has also been a leading investigator and payload designer for the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and ExoMars mission to the planet Mars.

Being his protégé, I am part of an academic genealogy that has some of the most prolific chemists of modern times (left-to-right in chronological sequence).

Wolfram Thiemann has been an influential proponent of environmental chemistry, meteoritics and interstellar organic chemistry.

Karl Erik Zimen was Germany's prominent nuclear scientist and policymaker. He also served as the founding director of the Hahn-Meitner-Institute for Nuclear Research in Berlin, which today is known as the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin.

Otto Hahn is considered the Father of Nuclear Chemistry. He is the discoverer of Nuclear Fission and several transuranic elements and nuclear phenomena.

Theodor Zincke is well-regarded among organic chemists, as the discoverer of important chemical reactions - Zincke Reaction, Zincke-Suhl Reaction and the Zincke Nitration.

Friedrich Woehler was the first to synthesise urea and had co-discovered elements Beryllium, Silicon and the compound silicon nitride. He discovered calcium carbide. Woehler, in his time, had the largest collection of meteorites.

Jons Jacob Berzelius is considered the father of Modern Chemistry. He has several firsts to his credit. He discovered the elements cerium, silicon, selenium and thorium. He has coined several terminologies of prime importance to modern chemistry - allotrope, catalysis, isomer, polymer and protein.

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Enjoy this interesting trivia!

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About the Site

This site - chaitanyagiri.com - is a one-stop aggregation of all content I have independently generated, through my professional affiliations, and at the invitation of connoisseurs and institutions.

This is a not-for-revenue website. However, I'm excited to be part of a group of like-minded peers and enthusiasts who will keep me on my toes and provide valuable content for them each month!

I would curate a subscription-based monthly newsletter and disseminate it on the last Sunday of every month (early morning, 6 am to be precise). The subscription would not cost you anything; instead, it will help me identify, connect with, and interact with my regular readers. Let's form a nice, jolly, and do-gooder community!

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