Biography

Abhijnan (“Abhi”) REJ is an Indian scientist, researcher, and writer. He is the founder of Tarqeq Research LLP, a research firm focusing on computational modelling of security risks. Rej has published extensively on Asian security and geopolitics. He has also worked on mathematical physics, economic policy, finance, and technology in the course of a career that has spanned academia, corporate R&D, news media, consulting and advisory work.

Rej was previously Security & Defense Editor at The Diplomat and Director of Research at Diplomat Risk Intelligence, the magazine’s research and consulting division. He was also a Senior Fellow in the Strategic Studies Programme at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, India’s leading public policy think tank. Before transitioning to research and advisory work on strategic affairs, he worked as the resident Economist at the JustJobs Network, a public-policy start-up, and as a scientist and innovation evangelist at the Tata Consultancy Services’ Corporate Technology Office.

Rej has been Visiting Faculty at the Institute of Mathematics & Applications, Bhubaneswar where he taught undergraduate courses in advanced mathematics. He was also a Scientific Researcher at the Fields Institute, Toronto. Rej has also been a visiting researcher at several renowned scientific institutions in Europe and India, including Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques outside Paris and the Erwin Schrödinger International Institute for Mathematics and Physics, Vienna.

Rej’s research and analysis have been published in/by Africa Portal (South African Institute of International Affairs), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Contemporary Mathematics (American Mathematical Society), Interpreter (Lowy Institute), Italian Institute for International Political Studies, Journal of Physics A, JustJobs Network, Observer Research Foundation, Stimson Center, War on the Rocks, War Room (US Army War College), and Washington Quarterly, as well as in edited volumes and conference proceedings. His media writings have appeared in Asian Age, Big Think, Business Standard, Christian Science Monitor, Diplomat, Firstpost, Hindu, Hindustan Times, Mint, Moneycontrol, National Interest, Network18, Open, Print, Quint, Scroll, Swarajya, Times of India, and Wire Science.

Rej has been quoted by Asia Times, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, CNBC, Deutsche Welle, Economist, Kathimerini, Nation, Reuters, South China Morning Post, Strait Times, Sydney Morning Herald and Voice of America, among others. He has also been interviewed for the United States Senate India Caucus by the National Bureau of Asian Research, Washington, DC.

Rej’s public policy work has also involved developing and hosting strategic tabletop exercises. He has participated in a variety of Track 1.5 and Track 2 diplomatic dialogues, and has provided policy inputs to the Government of India. Rej has lectured at the Indian Army’s Directorate of Military Intelligence, the Indian Air Force’s College of Air Warfare, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs’ Foreign Service Institute, and at numerous academic and policy fora on security and scientific issues across the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Americas.

After completing his school education in India and Norway, Rej obtained his undergraduate degree in mathematics in 2003 from the University of Connecticut as a University Scholar, one of the highest academic honours the university awards to graduating seniors. In course of his undergraduate studies, Rej was deeply involved in work on complexity science and human behaviour as a researcher with UConn’s Center for the Ecological Study of Perception & Action. He obtained his Master’s degree in 2005, also in mathematics and also from the University of Connecticut, after having written a thesis on quantum algebra and noncommutative geometry.

Between 2006 and 2010, Rej pursued doctoral research in mathematical physics at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, Bonn. In Bonn, Rej researched new mathematical structures in high-energy physics and string theory. Rej is a recipient of a Marie Curie Early-Stage Research Fellowship from the European Commission and a special Junior Research Scholarship from the Clay Mathematics Institute.

Rej maintains a serious interest in astronomy, and is a rookie naturalist. His other pursuits include shortwave listening, DIY and sustainable living. He is married and lives in Gurgaon.