Avantika Singh is a PhD student in Political Science at the University of Minnesota, where her research examines the spatial and structural dimensions of violence through mixed‑method approaches. Beginning Fall 2026, she will continue her doctoral studies at the University of Michigan. Born and raised in India, she brings a global perspective to her work, shaped by academic and professional experiences across the United States, Papua New Guinea, Germany, Nepal, France, Switzerland, and India. She recently completed an MA in International Human Rights at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver. During her time there, she served as Project Lead for the Perceived Mass Atrocities Dataset Project at the Pardee Institute for International Futures and as a Graduate Research Assistant at the Sié Chéou‑Kang Center for the Inclusive Global Leadership Initiative. At the Pardee Institute, she led a U.S. State Department–funded project to build a global dataset on mass atrocities integrating qualitative findings into a standardized quantitative framework and developing systematic coding across 196 countries. At the Sié Center, her work included coordinating research for a book project on care and resistance during genocide, supporting feminist peacebuilding initiatives, and organizing convenings that brought together frontline activists, policymakers, and scholars. Previously, at the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, she monitored and reported on rights violations across seven South Asian countries, including documenting the Taliban’s 2021 takeover of Afghanistan. Her research portfolio includes investigations into genocidal rape and forced impregnation in Bosnia, contributions to policy proposals for the rehabilitation of trafficking survivors, and support for migration policy development at the UN–IOM in Papua New Guinea. In 2019, Avantika was awarded the ThinkSwiss Fellowship to conduct independent research at the Graduate Institute, Geneva. Her work there explored the sociopolitical and psychological drivers of armed group identification during the Bosnian civil war and examined the use of surveillance and spyware targeting Palestinians in occupied territories. She holds an MA in Development and International Studies, an Advanced Diploma in International Humanitarian Law, and studied at Sciences Po, Paris, as an exchange scholar. Across her academic and professional trajectory, she has remained committed to understanding how violence is structured, experienced, and resisted, and to developing interdisciplinary approaches to documenting and mitigating harm.