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Ragavan, a fellow from 2018, completes his PhD

19 August 2025
Ragavan, a fellow from 2018, completes his PhD

It is fair to say that the fruits of Iceland´s development support, through the work of the GRÓ Fisheries Training Programme, is evidently clear in the Sri Lanka fisheries today.

On August 18th a former FTP fellow, Mr. Ragavan Nadarajah, defended his PhD dissertation at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in Sri Lanka. Interestingly, his supervisor was also a former FTP fellow and a PhD scholarship recipient, professor Chamari Dissanayake.

Furthermore, the two examiners were also former FTP fellows, professor Dileepa de Croos (who was also a PhD scholarship recipient) and Dr. Sisira Haputhantri. As we congratulate Ragavan for his accomplishments, we are extremely proud of what former fellows are contributing to the fisheries development in Sri Lanka.

The title of Ragavan's PhD dissertation is “The fishery and population dynamics of selected shrimp species in Jaffna lagoon, Sri Lanka, and local ecological knowledge in community-based management as a smart management option”.

The Jaffna region is very important to Ragavan and during his fellowship in Iceland he researched the impact of fuel subsidies on Sri Lanka small scale fisheries with data from Jaffna coastal fisheries, under supervision of Dr. Daði Már Kristófersson (University of Iceland) and Mr. Hördur Sævaldsson (University of Akureyri).

See his research paper here> 

GRÓ FTP has worked with various fisheries organisations and academic institutes in Sri Lanka since 1999, and 30 Sri Lankan fisheries professionals have completed the six-month training in Iceland. We see clearly how the Sri Lankan fellows are supporting each other in the relatively small community of fisheries professionals and scholars in Sri Lanka and the involvement of former fellows in this event is a good example of that.

Dr. Ragavan Nadarajah (right) and his PhD supervisor Prof. Chamari Dissanayake.
Ragavan together with his PhD supervisor and examiners. From left to right: Prof. Chamari Dissanayake (GRO-FTP Fellow 2005 and PhD Scholarship Recipient); Prof. Dileepa de Croos (GRO-FTP Fellow 2007 and PhD Scholarship Recipient); Dr. Ragavan Nadarajah (GRO-FTP Fellow 2018); and Dr. Sisira Haputhantri (GRO-FTP Fellow 2007).
Ragavan together with his PhD supervisor and examiners. From left to right: Dr. Sisira Haputhantri (GRO-FTP Fellow 2007); Dr. Ragavan Nadarajah (GRO-FTP Fellow 2018); Prof. Dileepa de Croos (GRO-FTP Fellow 2007 and PhD Scholarship Recipient); and Prof. Chamari Dissanayake (GRO-FTP Fellow 2005 and PhD Scholarship Recipient).
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