I am a geophysicist at IIT Bombay with a research focus on passive source seismology and lithospheric imaging. My work integrates ambient noise, receiver functions, and surface wave analysis with advanced Bayesian trans-dimensional inversion techniques to unravel the deep structure and dynamic evolution of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle.

Prospective students:

                        I am looking for motivated and enthusiastic students to join my research group at IIT Bombay. Open positions include Project Assistant (for one year), as well as opportunities for Ph.D. and Postdoctoral research. If you are interested in working on the topics listed below, please feel free to reach out by sending your CV to my email for more information.

Research Interest:

• Seismology
• Ambient Noise
• Receiver Function
• Surface Wave
• Seismic Tomography
• Bayesian Trans-dimensional Inversion

Current research:

1. Seismic imaging of South Asia: A natural laboratory to test models for the evolution of continents, oceans, and their deformation mechanisms. Geographically, it includes the Indian subcontinent flanked by the Arabian Sea in the west and the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Cenozoic Himalaya-Tibet-Pamir-Hindu Kush mountain belt, along with the Pakistan-Afghanistan block in the northwest and the Myanmar block in the northeast. The project aims to generate improved surface wave dispersion maps using ambient noise and earthquake data. The dispersion maps can be further used in velocity imaging, joint inversion with receiver functions, anisotropic studies, etc.
2. Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP): Geophysical investigation of the structure of the magma plumbing system in the DVP helps in understanding the nature of deformation in the mantle lithosphere and magma chambers in the crust.
3. Precambrian crustal evolution: The Archean and Proterozoic eons mark a critical phase in Earth’s history, when the continental crust first formed and stabilized. In the Indian peninsula, cratons such as Dharwar, Singhbhum, Bastar, and Bundelkhand preserve valuable records of early crustal growth, magmatism, and tectonic reworking. These ancient blocks are essential for understanding supercontinent assembly and offer key insights into the thermal and tectonic evolution of the early Earth.

• Ph.D. (Geophysics), 2022
  Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune
• 5Yr Integrated M.Sc.Tech (Applied Geophysics), 2015
  Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad

• Research Associate, February 2022-February 2024
  Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune
• Junior and Senior Research Fellow (DST-INSPIRE), 2016-2021
  Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune

• National Postdoctoral Fellowship (N-PDF) from SERB, India, 2023 (not availed)
• Invited as a Researcher by École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France (May-July, 2018)
• INSPIRE Fellowship (2016-2021) for full-time doctoral study from DST, India
• Finalist of the Schlumberger Ocean competition 2013 (geophysical software development)
• Summer Research Fellowship (2013), Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore.
• Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) – INSPIRE for 5 years (2010 – 2015) from DST, India
• Qualified IIT-JEE in the main merit list, 2010
• Qualified All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE), 2010
• Merit award in English Language and Communication in Grade X
• District topper in CBSE (Grade X)
• Certificate A holder in National Cadet Corps (NCC)

Peer-Reviewed Journals  

• Saha, G., Kumar, V., Chaubey, D. K., & Rai, S. S. (2023). Cryptic magma chamber in the Deccan Traps imaged using receiver functions and surface wave dispersion. Geophysical Research Letters, 50(23), e2023GL105359. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105359
• Kumar, V., (2023). Preserved and modified arc crust beneath the Kohistan-Ladakh arc in western Himalaya-Karakoram region: Evidence from ambient noise and earthquake data. Frontiers in Earth Science, 11, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2023.1264415
• Kumar, V., & Rai, S. S. (2023). 3-D geometry of the Lonar impact crater, India, imaged from cultural seismic noise. Geophysical Journal International, 234(3), pp.1933-1942. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggad177
• Kumar, V., Rai, S. S., Hawkins, R., & Bodin, T. (2022). Seismic Imaging of Crust Beneath the Western Tibet‐Pamir and Western Himalaya Using Ambient Noise and Earthquake Data. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127(6), e2021JB022574. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JB022574.
• Kumar, V., & Rai, S. S. (2022). Complex seismic image of the Main Himalayan Thrust in Garhwal and implication to earthquake hazard. Journal of Earth System Science, 131(2), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-022-01809-0.

Papers in conference proceedings

• Mullick, N., Kumar, V., Saha, G., Rai, S. S., & Bodin, T. (2024). Influence of the Kerguelen hotspot on eastern Indian lithosphere by trans-dimensional Bayesian inversion of Rayleigh wave dispersion data (No. EGU24-9647). Copernicus Meetings.
• Mullick, N., Rai, S. S., & Kumar, V. (2022, December). Role of lower crust on evolution of Himalaya, insights from Garhwal Himalaya. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts (Vol. 2022, pp. S31B-05).
• Mullick, N., Rai, S. S., & Kumar, V. (2022, December). Lithospheric structure of India-Asia collision zone across Garhwal-Kumaon Himalaya. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts(Vol. 2022, pp. T21A-05).
•  Kumar, V., Rai, S., Hawkins, R., & Bodin, T. (2021, December). Lateral variations in the crustal structure of the western Himalaya and Ladakh-Kohistan arc inferred from surface wave analysis. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts (Vol. 2021, pp. T45C-0235).
• Kumar, V., Rai, S., Hawkins, R., & Bodin, T. (2021, December). Seismic imaging of crust beneath the western Tibet-Pamir and western Himalaya using ambient noise and earthquake waveform data. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts (Vol. 2021, pp. T35A-0195).