Abhijnan (“Abhi”) REJ is an Indian scientist, researcher, and writer. He is the Founder & Chief Scientist of Tarqeq Research LLP, a research and advisory firm focusing on mathematical and 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 course of a unique 20+ years’ career that sets him apart from his peers globally. He is the author of more than 30 research papers, reports, and briefs and more than 340 essays and media articles. Among other academic honors, 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 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 also 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 work has appeared in The Washington Quarterly (thrice), the US Army War College’s online journal War Room, War on the Rocks, The Interpreter, Africa Portal, The Diplomat Magazine, National Interest (online), Journal of Physics: A and in the Contemporary Mathematics book series, among other publications. He has also published in virtually all major Indian English-language media outlets, including Times of India, Hindustan Times, Hindu, Firstpost, and Open. Rej has been quoted by the Economist, Reuters, Voice of America, CNBC, The Nation, The Australian, South China Morning Post, Deutsche Welle and Dawn, 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 involving a cross-section of stakeholders. 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’s avocational interests include astronomy, natural history, and sustainable living. He is married and lives in Gurgaon.
Abhijnan Rej 