The National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) has announced the shortlisted finalists of Student Thesis Competition (STC) – Season 6, a national academic initiative focused on the theme “Re-Imagining Urban Rivers.” The competition is organised by the River Cities Alliance secretariat at NIUA, in collaboration with the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).
The sixth edition of STC received an overwhelming response from final-year undergraduate and postgraduate students across the country. Submissions came from 71 institutions in 22 Indian states, reflecting a wide range of interdisciplinary approaches and innovative ideas addressing real-world challenges related to urban river systems, water bodies, and climate resilience.
Following a rigorous multi-stage evaluation process, 20 finalists have been selected—10 from the undergraduate category and 10 from the postgraduate category. The shortlisted entries represent 13 institutions across 11 states and 13 academic programmes, including architecture, planning, engineering, environmental sciences, geography, and urban design. The selected theses explore themes such as groundwater stress, sponge city planning, river-sensitive urban development, nature-based solutions, biodiversity restoration, flood management, and community-led river rejuvenation.
As part of the next phase of the competition, each finalist will receive:
- ₹50,000 research scholarship per candidate
- Mentorship from leading sector experts
- Technical support from NIUA and NMCG
- Certificates of Meritorious Achievement jointly awarded by NIUA and NMCG
- Opportunities to publish their research, supporting wider knowledge dissemination and policy relevance
NIUA acknowledged the contribution of expert evaluators for their time and insights, which ensured a transparent and high-quality selection process. Congratulating all the finalists, the institute also thanked participating students and institutions for their continued enthusiasm and engagement, reaffirming the competition’s role in nurturing young professionals and strengthening research-led approaches to sustainable urban river management in India.