Research Officers

Romila Santosh

2001

Romila Santosh gained her undergraduate degree in Chemistry at University College London and her MSc in Research Methods in Psychology from the University of Reading. Romila also studied Hindi and Sanskrit.

Romila has been involved in a number of research projects in the field of Psychology and Applied Social Studies and in recent years has been involved with community development projects based in local government. Romila was the driving force behind the Hindu Youth Research project 2001, which set out to investigate in greater depth how Hindu youth's religious beliefs impact on their perception of a variety of personal, social and cultural issues. She has an interest in the Vedic sciences and has looked into Vedic astrology, and studied the science of Vastu. She is currently studying Ayurveda. Her research interests include: Research into Vastu and Ayurveda from both clinical and social perspectives.

Dr Savita Vij

2001

Savita Vij was privileged to join OCVHS Research team pioneering the Hindu Youth Survey with Romila Santosh. She completed her Phd thesis; 'The Politicisation of Hindu Identities in a University Context', in 2003, in the Sociology and Cultural Studies department, Birmingham Univeristy. Her academic interest in work upon young Hindus has progressed from her undergraduate years at Royal Holloway University through her BA honours in Sociology with Social Policy received in 1999. In relation to the recent findings of both her thesis and the Hindu Youth Survey, she hopes to take part in a further project to pursue work around the second- and third-generation Hindus in multicultural Britain; their 'needs', 'aspirations' and 'identities'.