Research Statement

Akshat is interested in the economics of information and governance: how institutions encode knowledge, how policy alters incentive structures, and where rigorous mathematical tools can illuminate questions that prose alone cannot. Current work spans AI policy, tail risk in financial markets, education policy, and algebraic number theory.

W(π) = maxa ∈ A Σs π(s) u(a, s) (1)

Eq. 1 · the value of information, as the envelope of expected utility over actions

published   programme / in progress
202420252026
§1 Papers & Publications 5 entries
[1]
Ongoing 2026 [cs.CL]
Financial Misinformation on Indian Social Media: Multilingual Detection and the Traits That Predict Sharing Indian School of Business · Under faculty mentorship

Examining how financial misinformation spreads across Indian social media. The corpus is multilingual and code-mixed, so detection runs on MuRIL and XLM-RoBERTa rather than the usual English-only models. Paired with validated psychological instruments, the BFI-2-XS personality inventory and the Fear of Missing Out scale, to identify which individual traits predict sharing behaviour rather than only which posts are false.

[2]
Published 2025 [econ.GN]
The Two Faces of Progress: A Look at the Socio-Economic Challenges and Opportunities Presented by Artificial Intelligence IJRASET · Vol. 13, Issue 7, 2025 · Peer-reviewed

Research conducted under Professor Surbhi Goel (University of Pennsylvania) on AI policy and existential risk, examining the dual nature of transformative technology through an economic and governance lens. Presented at the NYC STEM Research Conference; I was the only high school student in the room.

@article{bhaskar2025twofaces,
  author  = {Bhaskar, Akshat},
  title   = {The Two Faces of Progress: A Look at the
             Socio-Economic Challenges and Opportunities
             Presented by Artificial Intelligence},
  journal = {IJRASET},
  volume  = {13},
  number  = {7},
  year    = {2025}
}
[3]
Published 2024 [econ.GN]
How Economics Runs the World Arbitrage · Finance & Investment Journal, IIM Rohtak

Analysis of global economic structures, monetary policy transmission, regulatory architecture, and capital market dynamics, with proposed improvements to international financial governance. I was the only high school student published in the journal.

[4]
Completed [q-fin.RM]
Black Swan Research Indian School of Business and Finance · Under Prof. Kritika Soni

Investigation into the effects of multi-dimensional low-probability, high-impact risk events on global financial markets, drawing on historical crises and tail-risk modelling frameworks.

[5]
Shelved [econ.GN]
NEP 2020 Impact Research Independent · India

An independent study of the effect of India's National Education Policy 2020 on graduate employability, skill development, and the structural transition of the labour market, with a focus on vocational and higher education pathways. Set aside rather than carried to a conclusion.

Note [1] MuRIL and XLM-RoBERTa are multilingual language models. Indian social media is heavily code-mixed, with Hindi and English inside a single sentence, which English-only models handle poorly. BFI-2-XS is a 15-item personality inventory; the FoMO scale measures fear of missing out.
Note [2] Prof. Surbhi Goel is a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania. The paper appears in IJRASET (Vol. 13, Issue 7, 2025) and was presented in New York.
Note [3] Arbitrage is the Finance & Investment Journal of IIM Rohtak, one of India's premier management schools.
Note [4] Research mentored by Prof. Kritika Soni at the India School of Business and Finance.
§2 Programmes & Fellowships 3 entries
[6]
Concluded · 15th May – 20th Jun 2026 [math.NT]
Number Theory Research, Lodha Genius Undergraduate Research Mathematics Apprenticeship Ashoka University · LG-AUP · Paid research programme

Original research in algebraic number theory under Professor Shanta Laishram (Head of the Theoretical Statistics and Mathematics Unit (Stat-Math Unit) at Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Delhi).

[7]
Completed Fall 2025 [cs.CY]
New York Academy of Sciences, Junior Academy NYAS Junior Academy · Fall 2025 Challenge · Energy Infrastructure

Selected into the NYAS Junior Academy in August 2025. Completed the Fall 2025 Challenge on Energy Infrastructure in collaboration with a global cohort of secondary students, developing science-backed policy and engineering solutions.

[8]
Completed 2025 [math.HO]
Lodha Genius Programme, Pure Mathematics Ashoka University · ≈3.2% acceptance · Fully funded residential

Completed university-level pure mathematics, Number Theory, Group Theory, Linear Algebra, and Geometry, alongside Great Ideas Seminars with Nobel laureates. One of fewer than 30 students admitted nationwide.

Note [6] Prof. Shanta Laishram is the Head of the Theoretical Statistics and Mathematics Unit (Stat-Math Unit) at Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Delhi, working in algebraic number theory.
Note [7] The NYAS Junior Academy is a global STEM research programme for exceptional secondary students. nyas.org ↗
Note [8] The Lodha Genius Programme at Ashoka University is India's most selective mathematics enrichment programme for school students.