Research that tackles poverty

SDG 1.1Research that tackles poverty

UPES researchers design low-cost technologies and study the economics of small businesses, so that health care, clean fuel and decent livelihoods reach people on low incomes.

The figures below cover UPES research publications on poverty and its causes from 2021 to 2025 (source: Scopus, October 2026).

What the research covers

Number of 2021–2025 papers on each theme (a paper can appear under more than one).

Most cited work

1. Water desalination using nanocelluloses/cellulose derivatives based membranes for sustainable future (Desalination, 2021), cited 143 times.
2. Financial Inclusion and Its Ripple Effects on Socio-Economic Development: A Comprehensive Review (Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 2024), cited 130 times.
3. Financial inclusion: The role of fintech and digital financial services in India (Indian Journal of Economics and Business, 2019), cited 97 times.
4. Overcoming water, sanitation, and hygiene challenges in critical regions of the global community (Water-Energy Nexus, 2024), cited 86 times.
5. Digital Financial Literacy and Its Impact on Financial Decision-Making of Women: Evidence from India (Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 2024), cited 75 times.

The full list of 77 publications since 2008, with links, is on the poverty research publications page (also available as a spreadsheet).

Research spotlights

• Cancer screening women can afford. Reema Rawat and Prof Ashish Mathur developed a low-cost, portable cervical cancer screening device, funded by the Department of Science and Technology, so that women in remote areas without advanced hospitals can be tested. Source: UPES R&D Newsletter, January–June 2025.

  upes.ac.in (PDF)

  

• Cheap fuel from city waste. With a ₹97.4 lakh ANRF grant, Dr Siddharth Jain's team is developing technology that turns municipal solid waste into methanol at ₹25–30 a litre, supporting the Swachh Bharat Mission and the National Methanol Policy. Source: UPES R&D Newsletter, July–December 2025, p. 8.

  upes.ac.in (PDF)

  

• Helping small businesses survive the green transition. PhD scholar Shivansh Nautiyal, with Dr Sushil Kumar Rai, studied the barriers that stop India's micro, small and medium enterprises from adopting greener practices. The paper in Sustainable Development (2025) won a UPES PhD Spotlight Award. Source: UPES R&D Newsletter, July–December 2025, p. 13.

  upes.ac.in (PDF)

  

• Nutrition and income from the hills. The Himalayan Institute for Learning and Leadership (HILL) promotes Bhanjira, a resilient Himalayan crop, to improve nutrition and raise farm incomes. Source: HILL projects (UPES blog), Himalayan Institute for Learning and Leadership.

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UPES also hosts the SWACHH Incubation Centre, funded by BIRAC, which supports health innovations from early-stage start-ups (see SWACHH Incubation Centre and BIRAC SPARSH).