4 July, 2025, Bengaluru: IIM Bangalore is proud to announce that Muhammed Sadiq T, a Fellow from the inaugural cohort (2018–19) of the N. S. Ramaswamy Pre-doctoral Fellowship (NSR Pre-doc), has successfully defended his doctoral thesis at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and will be formally awarded the PhD degree at the institute’s upcoming convocation.
This marks a milestone for IIMB’s one-year, fulltime, fully-funded research-intensive programme, as Sadiq becomes the first Fellow to complete a doctoral degree. The feast also reaffirms the programme’s vision of preparing aspiring scholars, especially aspirants from underrepresented backgrounds, for academic excellence in management research.
“Currently, 51 of our Predoc Fellows have been admitted into PhD programs across the globe. This is the first PhD grant to a Predoc Fellow, and we believe it is the beginning of several such successful grants to come”, said Prof. Anil B. Suraj, Chairperson of the NSR Pre-doc programme and the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion.
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Sadiq completed his PhD in the Information Systems area at the Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras, under the guidance of Professor Saji K. Mathew. His doctoral research, titled ‘Health Misinformation on Social Media: Psychological Drivers and Control Strategies’, examines the spread of health misinformation online. His thesis maps key drivers and control strategies of misinformation across social media platforms, evaluates the effectiveness of digital nudges to reduce misinformation on end-to-end encrypted messaging platforms, and investigates the socio-psychological factors that motivate users to share health-related misinformation, offering several implications for public health communication. His work has resulted in high-quality academic publications, including, ‘The disaster of misinformation: A review of research in social media’, published in the International Journal of Data Science and Analytics (Springer, 2022), and ‘Infodemic and its cure: A digital nudging approach’, presented at AMCIS 2023. He has also presented his research work at major international IS conferences such as ICIS and AMCIS. As part of his PhD journey, Sadiq was also a doctoral visiting researcher at the University of Illinois, Chicago, USA, where he collaborated with international scholars on projects related to users’ digital health behavior, which was later published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
During his time at IIMB, Sadiq was mentored by Prof. Rajendra K. Bandi, Information Systems area, with Prof. Rajluxmi V. Murthy, Decision Sciences area, serving as the Chairperson of the NSR Pre-doc Programme.
“I am deeply thankful to Prof. Bandi for his guidance and support during my Pre-Doc days at IIMB. His encouragement played a key role in my decision to pursue the PhD programme in Information Systems. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to Dr. Sunil Reddy Kunduru (currently faculty at IIM Amritsar), who also passionately mentored me. I extend my gratitude to Prof. Rajluxmi V. Murthy, who was our Predoc chairperson then”, said Sadiq, sharing the news.
On the fellowship having shaped the trajectory of his academic career, Sadiq shared, “I truly appreciate the opportunities and exposure the NSR Pre-Doc program at IIMB gave me, which laid a strong foundation for my academic pursuits and growth. Thank you for designing such a wonderful programme. I sincerely hope IIMB will continue to support more such diverse and impactful programmes in the future”.
On the achievement, Prof. Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Director, IIMB, said, “Sadiq’s doctoral completion is a defining moment for the NSR Pre-doc Fellowship. It reflects the academic rigour and design that have shaped the programme from the outset. We remain committed to strengthening the research pipeline in management through such initiatives and look forward to many more such milestones”.
The NSR Pre-doctoral Fellowship, launched in 2018, is an initiative by IIMB aimed at enhancing the diversity of thought and experience in management research. It is a one-of-a-kind apprenticeship programme designed to help Fellows prepare for doctoral studies at leading institutions in India and abroad. As of 2025, 51 NSR Pre-doc Fellows have gained admission to doctoral programmes globally.
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