Somerville College and the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development are delighted to announce that the OICSD Research Director, Dr Radhika Khosla, has been awarded the title of Professor of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of Oxford.
Professor Khosla has been the Research Director of the Oxford India Centre since 2018, when she also became an Associate Professor and researcher at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment in the School of Geography and the Environment. She is also a Senior Research Fellow at Somerville, Programme Leader in Zero Carbon Energy Use at Oxford’s ZERO Institute, and Principal Investigator of the Oxford Martin School Programme on the Future of Cooling. Her new title of Professor was awarded through the University’s annual Recognition of Distinction exercise, and is incredibly well-deserved.
Professor Khosla’s work focuses on extreme heat and the global demand for cooling, especially in the Global South. Her work has been featured in Somerville Magazine and she was recently profiled for the University’s Climate and the Environment campaign.
With temperatures rising worldwide, air conditioning and other cooling methods have never been more in demand. However, most air conditioners use a large amount of electricity and emit climate-damaging gases. Their use exacerbates climate change, which in turn increases demand for cooling. This vicious cycle is what Professor Khosla and her colleagues at the Future of Cooling Programme are working to tackle, by researching sustainable cooling methods and ways to reduce the impact of air conditioners.
Reflecting on her professorship, Professor Radhika Khosla commented:
“I am delighted and honoured to have been awarded the title of Professor of Environmental Science and Policy. Somerville and the Oxford India Centre have provided a distinctive home for my work, bringing together researchers and students across disciplines and creating important connections between research, policy and practice. I look forward to building on this work with colleagues at the OICSD and across Oxford, particularly as we continue our research on extreme heat and sustainable cooling globally.”
Professor Khosla’s research brings together environmental science, energy, urban development and public policy. She was the lead author of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Cooling Watch reports in 2023 and 2025; the 2023 report provided the evidence base for the Global Cooling Pledge, since endorsed by more than 70 countries. She served as Special Scientific Advisor to the UK Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee for its 2023–24 inquiry into heat resilience and sustainable cooling, and contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report and the UNEP Emissions Gap Report.
Professor Khosla is Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Research Letters and a Fellow of the Energy Institute. Her research has been covered widely in international media, including the Financial Times, New York Times, The Economist, BBC, Reuters and TIME.
With thanks to the Smith School for their original article on this news.