In 2018, Sahana Subramanyam, then an economics major at Azim Premji University in India, participated in the Santa Fe Institute’s (SFI) summer research program for undergraduates. The program, now known as Undergraduate Complexity Research (UCR), provided her with a unique opportunity to explore interdisciplinary research and connect with scholars from various fields.
Subramanyam was encouraged by her professor Arjun Jayadev to apply to the program. He described SFI as a place where “ideas mattered more than titles and where everyone was united by a shared passion for science.” She recalled being captivated by his stories of researchers collaborating across disciplines and decided to experience this environment herself.
Upon acceptance into the fully funded program, Subramanyam became one of its first participants from India. She noted feeling welcomed into an “eclectic and passionate community of scholars.” The UCR program allowed students to choose their own mentors while also engaging freely with other researchers. Her mentor, Mike Price, exemplified SFI’s interdisciplinary approach and encouraged her to pursue diverse interests while emphasizing the importance of deep learning within specific areas.
The collaborative culture at SFI stood out for Subramanyam. Scholars from different backgrounds were open to answering questions and sharing knowledge informally during daily interactions. She said that these conversations often led to new research ideas: “Conversations over tea and lunch often turned into mini-lectures on everything from the origin of life to algorithmic fairness to hypercubes.”
A significant moment for Subramanyam was meeting Sam Bowles and Wendy Carlin, authors of the CORE economics textbook used in her undergraduate studies. With support from Carla Shevidy, SFI’s education program manager, she attended Sam Bowles’ presentation and later collaborated with Bowles and Carlin on a project analyzing trends in economics research using topic modeling techniques. She credited this mentorship with encouraging her pursuit of economics research: “Their mentorship made me feel much more confident in my own abilities, and made me excited to contribute to the field of economics — something that had previously seemed inaccessible.”
The collaboration resulted in a published paper showing how economics has expanded its focus beyond state and market spheres toward civil society issues such as caste, gender, and race.
Subramanyam also highlighted the influence of Matt Jackson’s work on networks—a methodological innovation adopted by economists studying civil society—which played a role in her decision to pursue doctoral studies at Stanford University. Currently, she is working with Jackson and Bowles on a project examining wealth and social inequality across small-scale societies alongside researchers from anthropology, sociology, and statistics.
Reflecting on her experience at SFI’s UCR program, Subramanyam emphasized the supportive environment that enabled students like herself to achieve meaningful research outcomes within three months: “I believe this was possible only because of the community effort at SFI.”
