Sneha Pappula Reddy and Agyeya Pratap felt like their Australian study dreams had been snatched away from them.
In early 2020, the two Indian students had set their sights on moving to Perth after receiving offers to undertake PhD projects on full scholarships at the University of Western Australia’s (UWA) Institute of Agriculture.
But when the borders between Australia and India were slammed shut due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they feared for the future of their studies into the impacts of heat and drought on crops.
Highlights
- Postgraduate students Sneha Pappula Reddy and Agyeya Pratap have been unable to enter Australia since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020
- University of Western Australia helped the students commence their research into the impacts of heat and drought on crops at an agriculture institute in India
- Ms Reddy and Mr Pratap hope to be on-campus in Australia by June
- A total of 56,000 international students arrived in Australia from November 2021 to February 2022
"My family and I were so excited about me getting the scholarship so I could carry out research in Australia, but unfortunately COVID-19 changed everything," Ms Reddy told SBS Malayalam.
However, after overcoming a number of hurdles, Ms Reddy and Mr Pratap were both able to start their projects in India thanks to a collaboration with one of that country's premier agricultural research institutes.
'Feared being left behind'
Mr Pratap said he had been looking for PhD options after completing his Masters in Biotechnology at South Asian University New Delhi.
"I found Professor Kadambot Siddiques' profile on the UWA website and that convinced me," he told SBS Malayalam.
"The course I applied for was plant biology and climate change adaptation in staple crops," said Mr Pratap, who hails from Firozabad in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
He said that he received his scholarship letter for the PhD in March 2020, but by the time he finished his application, COVID-19 cases had gone up, and India and Australia had closed borders.
"I applied for a travel exemption multiple times, with a letter from the dean, a letter from the university, a letter from industry partners. But the application was rejected every time stating my studies don't come under a critical sector and don't provide any support to the Australian economy," Mr Pratap said.
Mr Pratap, whose thesis explores the impact of increased heat stress on wheat varieties, said the university has been very supportive throughout the last two years.
"Prof Siddique was able to organise collaborative research at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI). It took almost one year to get my research started at IARI after completing the registration."
"I was able to start my research at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) on 1 November, 2021. Now I am in the middle of an experiment and need to complete it before coming to Australia."
Research work is always time-bound and if I didn't start on time I would be left behind.
Mr Pratap is currently holding experiments and collecting samples from wheat varieties at their reproductive, or flowering, phase.
"Getting the IARI collaboration was the best thing that happened to me. If I had been waiting for the borders to open I wouldn't have received any financial support and I couldn't have started my research."
Research Student Agyeya Pratap with Supervisors at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. Source: Supplied by Agyeya Pratap
'Felt like I was wasting my time'
Ms Reddy, who hails from Hyderabad in Telangana state, said she wanted to be a scientist ever since she was child and has always been interested in plant-based research.
"My dream was to do research at University of Western Australia," she told SBS Malayalam.
Like Mr Pratap, Ms Reddy said she applied for exemption to travel to Australia several times after the borders shut, but finally gave up applying.
"I felt like I was wasting my time," she said.
Ms Reddy said she took the opportunity to start her studies as an offshore student and working at the same time at IARI, which has an "exciting collaboration" with UWA.
"I had been working at IARI for over six years and thought it was good to keep my focus here."
"It took almost six months to get everything organised including opening a bank account in Australia. Finally after almost one year I was able to start my research," said Ms Reddy.
Ms Reddy's work is part of the Department of Biotechnology Indo Australia Strategic Fund and the title of her project is 'Functional genomics for enhanced drought tolerance for chickpea'.
Ms Reddy is conducting an analysis of chickpea genotypes when put under terminal drought stress.
"I am now looking forward to onshore study and research at UWA for better communication, exposure and more effective research," said Ms Reddy.
Source: Supplied by Sneha Pappula Reddy
'Very good ties'
UWA Institute of Agriculture Director Hackett Professor Kadambot Siddique, who is the principal supervisor of both students, said they have benefited from special relations between India and Australia.
"The students were happy and relieved by the outcome of being able to start their research from a premier agriculture institute in India," he said.
"We were able to make this happen only because of the very good ties with ICAR and IARI."
Prof Siddique said the projects could have benefits to both Australia and India, as the two countries face similar challenges.
“Climate change has caused increasingly hotter temperatures and drought, which has led to significantly damaged and reduced crop production around the world including in Australia and India,” he said.
“These projects aim to learn more about crop plants’ response to heat and drought stress, which will lead to future genetic improvement so crops are better adapted to extreme climate conditions.”
He added that the only way is up for Australian and Indian academic relations.
"It is very good to see that Australia and India has signed the new trade deal, which will help further foster India-Australia academic relations and also relations in the field of agriculture,"
Both Mr Pratap and Ms Reddy are expected arrive on-campus at the University of Western Australia in June after completing their current experiments in India.
The number of international students arriving Australia has increased recently after a sudden drop over the last two years due to the pandemic.
The UWA Institute of Agriculture Director Hackett Professor Kadambot Siddique Source: Supplied by Prof Kadambot Siddique
According to the Home Affairs website, a total of 56,000 international students arrived in Australia from November 2021 to February 2022.
Demand is also on the rise with more than 50,000 overseas student visa lodgements since late 2021.
