Dr Shibani Das, P.M. Greenbaum and E.P Abraham Curator of the Scientific Revolution and Industrial Age(s)
My work at the History of Science Museum, University of Oxford, brings together my interests in the global everyday histories of science and technology and museum outreach. Through research, collections-based practice, and public engagement, I explore how instruments connect people, ideas, and wider social and cultural histories across the world.
My work at the History of Science Museum, University of Oxford, brings together my interests in the global everyday histories of science and technology and museum outreach. Through research, collections-based practice, and public engagement, I explore how instruments connect people, ideas, and wider social and cultural histories across the world.
Research summary
Dr Shibani Das, P.M. Greenbaum and E.P Abraham Curator of the Scientific Revolution and Industrial Age(s)
I am particularly interested in how scientific knowledge is produced, communicated, and experienced, and in how museum collections can reveal histories that extend beyond the objects themselves.
This theme formed the core of my doctoral research at the University of Exeter which examined the social history of telegraphy in colonial India between 1920 and 1950. Supported by an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Collaborative Doctoral Partnership studentship, the project explored the relationships between class, race, nationalism, and everyday life in the Indian Telegraph Department and beyond. Working with BT Group Archives, I investigated how communications technologies were shaped by the experiences of the people who maintained, operated, and used them. This was then curated into India on the Line: Communicating in Colonial India, an exhibition hosted in London and Exeter.
At the History of Science Museum, my curatorial work currently focuses on the P.M. Greenbaum and E.P. Abraham collection of historic microscopes. I am interested in what these instruments can tell us about the history of craftsmanship, scientific knowledge production, and the globalised trade in materials and ideas. In addition to viewing the microscope as an instrument, foundational to all scientific exploration, my curatorial praxis views it as an icon of civility and a scientific and rational bent of mind to the 19th and 20th century observer. What has this meant for who we perceive as a scientist, who has access to science and technology and who creates the knowledge that is eternalised while others are forgotten?
My wider interests include decolonising the histories of science and technology, developing inclusive approaches to collections and interpretation, and using creative and participatory methods to bring research into conversation with diverse audiences. I am particularly interested in how museums can connect the histories of scientific practice with the lives, experiences, and aspirations of the people behind it, in the past and across the world today.
CV
Shibani Das completed her PhD in History at the University of Exeter, where she was supported by an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership studentship in collaboration with BT Group Archives. Her doctoral research examined class, race, nationalism, and everyday life in the Indian Telegraph Department during the first half of the twentieth century. She was awarded her PhD with no corrections on 23 April 2026.
Her public history practice includes curating India on the Line: Communicating in Colonial India, an exhibition presented at BT Group Archives in London from July to August 2025 and at the University of Exeter from April to August 2026. The exhibition brought together archival research, multilingual audio, digital interpretation, interactive activities, and creative installations to explore the histories of telecommunications in colonial India.
Before and during her doctoral research, Shibani worked across heritage, museum, and research institutions in the UK and India, including the Exeter Underground Passages; Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter; Sahapedia, the Ministry of Culture, Government of India; the National Museum New Delhi; The Handicraft and Handloom Museum New Delhi and the Heritage Transport Museum, Manesar. Her experience includes archival research, heritage interpretation, exhibition development, editorial work, and public programming.
Shibani is the founder of Researcher’s Wellbeing Through Art (RWTA), an initiative promoting researcher wellbeing through creative practice and community building, which has delivered two UK festivals between 2023 and 2025. During her doctoral studies, she was invited to participate in the AHRC TV PhD programme (2023), GW4 Connect (2024), and AHRC Impact Legacy workshops (2025), and received the Dean’s Commendation in 2025. She also has a strong understanding of the Research Excellence Framework (REF).
