Dr. Divya Sindhu Lekha

Assistant Professor
Head, Network Science research group
Associate Dean (Academic Affairs - PG)
Indian Institute of Information Technology Kottayam
Valavoor P.O, Pala, Kottayam - 686635, Kerala, India.
Senior IEEE Member, Senior ACM Member
Email: divyaslekha at iiitkottayam dot ac.in,divi.lekha@gmail.com
Hello at: 00 91 04822202161
Website: www.dslekha.com,https://netsci.iiitkottayam.ac.in/
LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/divyalekha
ORCID Researcher Profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6617-5378
Google Scholar Profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=R0GF24UAAAAJ&hl=en
Honours and Achievements :

Academician with 13 years of experience in professional education, 3 years of post-doctoral research experience, and 2 years of industrial experience. Senior IEEE and ACM member and a qualified engineering postgraduate with a graduation in Information Technology, a Masters in Technology Management and a Ph.D. in Graph Theory and Algorithms. The broad area of research includes Network Science and Graph Theory. Recipient of the University Post-doctoral Fellowship (2019–2020) from Cochin University of Science and Technology; and the National Post-doctoral Fellowship from DST-SERB (2017–2019). Handling administrative responsibilities as Head, Network Science Research Group, and Associate Dean (Academic Affairs, PG).

Experience:
  • JULY 2020 – PRESENT
    Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Information Technology Kottayam, India
  • JULY 2019 – JUNE 2020
    Post-doc Fellow, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, India
    Project Title: NAVIGATION IN BRAIN NETWORKS.
  • APRIL 2017 – APRIL 2019
    SERB National Post-doc Fellow, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, India
    Project Title: MEDIAN IN LARGE NETWORKS.
  • AUG 2013 – MAY 2019
    Assistant Professor, Department of Information Technology, College of Engineering and Management Punnapra, Alappuzha, India.
  • JULY 2012 – AUG 2013
    Assistant Professor, Department of Information Technology, College of Engineering Trikaripur, India.
  • JAN 2011 – JUNE 2012
    Research Fellow, DAE-NBHM Project, Department of Futures Studies, University of Kerala
    Project Title: On l1-graphs and the remoteness function on l1-graphs.
  • JULY 2010 – DEC 2010
    Administrative Assistant, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.
  • SEPT 2006 – SEPT 2008
    Member Technical Staff, HCL Technologies Ltd., Chennai, India.
Education :
  • Aug 2017
    Ph. D., Graph Theory and Algorithms, University of Kerala,
    Title: STUDIES ON SOME PROBLEMS AND RELATED ALGORITHMS OF MEDIAN AND ANTIMEDIAN SETS AND FUNCTIONS ON SOME CLASSES OF GRAPHS
  • Aug 2010
    M. Tech., Technology Management, University of Kerala (Topper, First class with distinction, 84%)
  • May 2006
    B. Tech., Information Technology, University of Kerala (First class with distinction,79.67%)
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Journal and Conference Articles:
  1. K Mallouk, DR Riley, and DS Lekha (2025): Social Connections Formed from Engaging in a Faculty Development Workshop. 2025 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference, June 22-25, Montreal, Canada.
  2. LS Vignesh, N Rajesh, SP Singh, J Paul, DS Lekha (2025): Enhancing Phishing Detection Using Generative Adversarial Networks. 2025 11th International IEEE Conference on Smart Computing and Communications (ICSCC)
  3. NS Nair, JM John, DS Lekha (2025): An Analysis of Vaccination Strategies on Epidemic Spread in a Friendship Network. 2025 11th International IEEE Conference on Smart Computing and Communications (ICSCC)
  4. KS Sruthi, DS Lekha, A Sreekumar, K Balakrishnan (2025): Predicting Stability of Community Members in Complex Networks using profile closeness. Utilitas Mathematica
  5. JM John, M Bellingeri, DS Lekha, D Cassi, R Alfieri (2025): Impact of Weight Thresholding on the Robustness of Complex Networks to Central Node Attack Strategies. Proceedings of NetSci-X 2025, International School and Conference on Network Science, Indian Institute of Technology Indore (India), 15-17 Jan 2025.
  6. JM John, M Bellingeri, DS Lekha, D Cassi, R Alfieri: Robustness of Real-World Networks after Weight Thresholding with Strong Link Removal, Mathematics 2024, 12, 1568. DOI: 10.3390/math12101568
  7. JM John, M Bellingeri, DS Lekha, D Cassi, R Alfieri: Effect of Weight Thresholding on the Robustness of Real-World Complex Networks to Central Node Attacks, Mathematics 2023, 11, 3482. DOI: 10.3390/math11163482
  8. A S. Babu, D S. Lekha: Network Science and Climate Dynamics - A Mini Review, Proceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence & Software Engineering, ICAISE 2023 Kochi 15-17 March 2023, Pages 49-52, ISBN: 978-81-961282-0-3
  9. K. Balakrishnan, M. Changat, A M. Hinz, D S. Lekha: The Median of Sierpiński Graphs, Discrete Applied Mathematics (Elsevier), Volume 319, 15 October 2022, Pages 159-170, DOI: 10.1016/j.dam.2021.02.005.
  10. R T. Paul, D S. Lekha: Network Representation Learning: A Survey, International Conference on Mathematics of Intelligent Computing and Data Science ICMICDS-22, 2022/9/16
  11. N. Krishna, D S. Lekha: Climate Change Misinformation, International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT) ICCIDT – 2022 (Volume 10 – Issue 04), 2022.
  12. K Balakrishnan, Divya P.B., DS Lekha, T.P. Johnson: Vulnerability of link-weighted complex networks in central attacks and fallback strategy, Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications (Elsevier), Volume 590, 15 March 2022, 1266672021
  13. M. John, D S. Lekha: Need for a Realistic Measure of Attack Severity in Centrality Based Node Attack Strategies, In: Benito, R.M., Cherifi, C., Cherifi, H., Moro, E., Rocha, L.M., Sales-Pardo, M. (eds) Complex Networks & Their Applications X. COMPLEX NETWORKS 2021. Studies in Computational Intelligence, vol 1015. Springer, Cham, 857-866, 2021. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-93409-5_70.
  14. JM John, DS Lekha: Attack Vulnerability of Complex Networks: A Bibliometric Analysis, The 8th Satellite on Quantifying Success, NETWORKS 2021
  15. D S. Lekha, K. Balakrishnan: Central attacks in complex networks: A revisit with new fallback strategy, Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Volume 549, Pages 124347, DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2020.124347.
  16. K. Balakrishnan, D. S. Lekha, Sunil Kumar R.: Analysis of Co-authorship Network Based on Some Betweenness Centrality Concepts. Inderscience International Journal of Data Science IJDS 4 (2), 162-179, DOI: 10.1504/IJDS.2019.100322.
  17. P B. Divya, D S. Lekha, K. Balakrishnan: Complex Networks as Hypergraphs - A Survey, International Conference on Emerging Trends in Graph Theory (ICETGT-2019), 27-28, February 2019, Department of Mathematics, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, INDIA.
  18. M. Changat, D. S. Lekha, S. Mohandas, H. M. Mulder, A. R. Subhamathi: Axiomatic characterization of the median and antimedian function on a complete graph minus a matching. Discrete Applied Mathematics, Volume 228, 10 September 2017, Pages 50-59 DOI: 10.1016/j.dam.2016.04.013.
  19. M. Changat, D. S. Lekha, A. R. Subhamathi: Algorithms for the remoteness function, and the median and antimedian sets in l1-graphs. International J. of Computing Science and Mathematics IJCSM 11/2015; 6(5):480-491, DOI:10.1504/IJCSM.2015.072962.
  20. M. Changat, D. S. Lekha, I. Peterin, A. R. Subhamathi, S. Špacapan: The median game. Discrete Optimization (Elsevier) 08/2015; 17, DOI: 10.1016/j.disopt.2015.05.002.
  21. M. Changat, D. S. Lekha, H. M. Mulder, A. R. Subhamathi: Axiomatic Characterization of the Median and Antimedian Functions on Cocktail-Party Graphs and Complete Graphs. In: Ganguly S., Krishnamurti R. (eds) Algorithms and Discrete Applied Mathematics. CALDAM 2015. LNCS, vol 8959. Springer, Cham., DOI: 10.1007/ 978-3-319-14974-5_14.
Paper Presentation
  1. Security of Cyber-Physical Systems Under Budget-Constraints – A Complex Network Approach in the International Conference on Discrete Mathematics and Its Application to Network Science (ICDMANS-2018), July 7-10, 2018, BITS-Pilani, Goa Campus, Goa, India.
  2. Axiomatic Characterization of the Median and Antimedian Functions on Cocktail-Party Graphs and Complete Graphs in First International Conference, CALDAM 2015, February 8-10, 2015, IIT Kanpur, India.
Poster Presentation
  1. Social Connections Formed from Engaging in a Faculty Development Workshop in ACM Compute 2024, Seventh Annual Conference on Computing Education, 5th to 7th December at IIT Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India.
  2. Budget Constrained Security Model in Power Grids in Workshop on Women in Cybersecurity Research (WCR ’18), May 25-26, 2018, IIITM-K, Kerala, India
Expert Sessions
  1. Complex Network approach for Recurrence analysis of Time Series, DAY1- 05.06.2025, as part of ADMA-ICDM 2025 PRE- CONFERENCE WORKSHOP ON NETWORK ANALYSIS, St. Paul’s College, Kalamassery.
  2. Graph Theory Based Data Analysis, 14th August 2024, Mathematics in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science ( MINDS’24) Webinar, IIIT Kottayam. https://youtu.be/oMojPE1s92M?si=7nby8IrZsquPz-Oa
  3. Introduction to Network Science, 24 July 2023, as part of Five-day workshop & FDP on “Data Science with Complex Networks”, DataNetWork-2023 at IIIT Kottayam.
  4. Network Visualization Tools, 25 July 2023, as part of Five-day workshop & FDP on “Data Science with Complex Networks”, DataNetWork-2023 at IIIT Kottayam
  5. Multilayer Network Analysis, 20 October 2022, as part of BiWeekly seminar series, IEEE Malabar Subsection.
  6. Research Writing, 25 March 2021 as part of Online FDP on Research Tools – Online Hands-on Training, NSS College of Engineering Palakkad.
  7. “Story of Unexplored Networks” (Research Explorations on Graphs and Complex Networks), 12 March 2021 – Online - as part of WOMEN on SCIENCE - Lecture Series 2021, St Teresa’s College, Ernakulam.
  8. Bibliographic Data Analysis as part of Refresher Course in Data Analytics and Machine Learning, 02 March 2021 – Online - UGC-Human Resource Development Centre, University of Kerala.
  9. Citation Networks as part of Refresher Course in Citation Network Analysis and Exploratory Data Analysis Using R, 20 February 2020, UGC-HRD Centre, University of Kerala, Karyavattom, Thiruvananthapuram.
  10. Research Methodology as part of Faculty Development Programme on Computer Science for Higher Secondary School Teachers, 13 February 2020, Department of Computer Applications CUSAT Kochi.
  11. Hands-On: Network Analysis Using Python as part of National Workshop on Graphs and Complex Networks WGCN-2020, 03-07 February 2020, Department of Computer Applications CUSAT Kochi.
Invited Talk:
  1. Robustness and vulnerability assessment of multilayer networks in Focus session1: On Multilayer and Temporal Networks, NetSci-X 2025, International School and Conference on Network Science, Indian Institute of Technology Indore (India), 15-17 Jan 2025.
  2. Resilience of Complex Networks under Targeted Attacks as part of the International WORKSHOP ON DISCRETE STRUCTURED DATA (DSDATA - 2024), University of Kerala, Karyavattom, May 20, 2024.
  3. Resilience of Complex Networks under Targeted Attacks as part of the International Conference on Theoretical and Applied Computing (ICTAC 2024), Amal Jyothi College of Engineering, Kanjirapally, February 15, 2024.
  4. Networks in real world as part of Department of Computer Applications Students Association inauguration, St. George's College, Aruvithura, September 15, 2023.
  5. Multilayer Network Analysis at the two-day International Conference, "INTELLIGENT TECHNIQUES IN COMPUTER AND ENGINEERING SCIENCE (ITCES-2023)", College of Engineering Perumon, June 15- 16, 2023
  6. Multilayer Network Analysis at International Seminar on Algebra and Discrete Mathematics (INSADM 2022), as part of Centenary Celebrations, St Berchman’s College, Changanassery, 14 December 2022.
  7. Complex Networks: underlying patterns in every system at National Conference on EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, NCETCS-2019”, Science, Sree Ayyappa College, Eramallikkara. India, 9 February 2019.
  8. Finding Center of Outer Planar Graphs: A Dynamic Graph Approach at Seminar for Discrete Mathematics, Institute of Mathematics, Physics and Mechanics, University of Maribor, Slovenia,18 June 2012.
Popular Science
Institute Visits
Academic Visits
  • Visited Institute of Mathematics, Physics and Mechanics, University of Maribor, Slovenia in the period June 15th to 29th 2012, as part of bilateral Indo-Slovenian project on Graph Theory.
Research Internship
  • Internship under the guidance of Prof Subir Ghosh at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai in the period Jan 2010 to April 2010, as part of Master’s Thesis, Maximum Clique Problem in Visibility Graphs.
Funded Research
Grants received
  • 2024-2027
    Mathematical Research Impact Centric Support (MATRICS), Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Govt. of India, Fund: ₹6,60,000 (Fingerprinting and Communicability of Functional Brain Networks - A Graph Theoretic Analysis)
  • 2021-2025
    IIT Palakkad Technology IHub Foundation Doctoral Fellowship Grant for one PhD student, Fund: ₹8,49,000 (Vulnerability of complex networks)
  • 2017-2019
    National Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Govt. of India, Cost: ₹18,36,215 (Median in Large Networks)
Collaboration Projects
  • 2024-2025
    Research collaboration with Prof. Joaquín Goñi, Associate Professor, Head of the CONNplexity Lab, Purdue University, West-Lafayette, USA., Overseas Visiting Fellowship (OVDF) for research scholar, Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Govt. of India. (Fingerprints of functional brain networks in Alzheimer’s disease progression)
Consultancy Projects
  • 2022
    Development of E-learning content and conduct of the course, Fund: ₹33,650 (Workshop on Data Science with Complex Networks)
  • 2023-24
    Research consultancy in collaboration with Prof Kaitlin Mallouk, Experiential Engineering Education, Rowan University, USA, Fund: ₹3.3 Lakhs (Approx.), Duration: 1 year and 2 months. (Kern Family Foundation sponsored work on the project: The Social Nature of Instructional Change - The Case of Engineering Unleashed Faculty Development Workshops.)
Computational Projects
  • 2023-2024
    R&D Project collaboration with aiRender Technology Pvt Ltd, Cost: ₹46,600 (Deep Learning for 2D to 3D Reconstruction)
Teaching
Programme, Course name, Institution / University, Year
  1. M.Tech. (AI & Data Science) - Semester IV - DSC622 - Graph Algorithms and Mining, IIIT Kottayam (Aug-Dec 2024, Feb-June 2025)
  2. BTech (CSE) - Semester VII - CSE411 - Computer Graphics, IIIT Kottayam (Aug-Sept 2023)
  3. BTech (CSE) - Semester III - ICS215 - Data Structures II, IIIT Kottayam (Aug-Septr 2023)
  4. PhD Course work – Complex Network Theory, IIIT Kottayam 2021-2022
  5. B. Tech. (CSE) – IV Semester, ICS 221 Theory of Computation [3-1-0-4], IIIT Kottayam, 2021-23.
  6. B. Tech. (CSE) – III Semester, ICS 211 Design and Analysis of Algorithms [3-1-0-4], IIIT Kottayam, 2020-22
  7. B. Tech. (CSE) – VI Semester, IOE 321 Software Design Patterns [3-0-0-3], IIIT Kottayam, 2021
  8. B. Tech. (CSE) – V Semester, CSE 312 Software Engineering and Project Management [3-0-3-4], IIIT Kottayam, 2020-21
  9. M.Sc. (CS)- I Semester, CAM 2101 Mathematical Foundations for Computer Science, CUSAT, 2019
  10. B. Tech. (IT) – II Semester, CS100 Computer Programming, KTU, 2017
  11. B. Tech. (IT) – VIII Semester, 13.801 Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, University of Kerala, 2017
  12. B. Tech. (IT) – VI Semester, 13.602 Cryptography, University of Kerala, 2016
  13. B. Tech. (IT) – VIII Semester, 08.804 Software Testing, University of Kerala, 2016
  14. B. Tech. (IT) – VII Semester, 08.701 Software Project Management, University of Kerala, 2015
  15. B. Tech. (IT) – V Semester, 13.506 Software Architecture and Design Patterns, University of Kerala, 2015-16
  16. B. Tech. (ECE) – IV Semester, 13.403 Computer Organization and Architecture, University of Kerala, 2014
  17. B. Tech. (IT) – VI Semester, 08.604 Internet Technology, University of Kerala, 2014-15
  18. B. Tech. (IT) – VII Semester, 08.705 A Design and Analysis of Algorithms, University of Kerala, 2014
  19. B. Tech. (IT) – Combined I and II Semester, 13.109 Foundations of Computing and Programming in C (FR), University of Kerala, 2013
  20. B. Tech. (IT) – V Semester, IT 506 Knowledge Engineering, CUSAT, 2013
  21. B. Tech. (CS/IT) – VI Semester, CS/IT 604 Analysis and Design of Algorithms, CUSAT, 2012
  22. B. Tech. (IT) – VII Semester, IT702 Multimedia Computing, CUSAT, 2012
  23. B. Tech. (CS) – III Semester, CS305 Principles of Programming Language, CUSAT, 2012
Advising
Ph D Students:
  1. Jisha Mariyam John (Vulnerability of Complex Networks, 2020-Present)
  2. Rini T Paul (Multilayer Network Embedding for Recommender Systems, 2020-Present)
  3. Neethu Krishna (Misinformation Containment, 2021-Present)
  4. Julie Sara Benny (Graph Theoretic Analysis of Functional Brain Networks in Neurodegenerative Diseases, 2022-Present)
  5. Helena Thomas (Optimization of 2D to 3D Image Reconstruction Using Deep Learning, 2022-Present)
  6. Rintu Jose (Approximation Algorithms, 2024 - Present)
Undergraduate Students (Honors):
  1. Yemparala Venkata Gopi (Node Classification Using Graph Neural Networks, 2021-22)
  2. Abhijith S Babu (CLIMANET - A tool for climate network generation and analysis, 2022-23)
  3. Harsh Raj (Recommender System Based on Deep Learning and Graph Clustering, 2023-2024)
  4. Manne Harshitha (Advancing Space Debris Tracking: A Hybrid GNN-LSTM Approach for Enhanced Trajectory Prediction, 2025-2026)
Service
Institute:
  1. Associate Dean (Academic Affairs-PG), IIIT Kottayam
  2. Chair, Institute Research Committee, IIIT Kottayam
  3. Senate member of IIIT Kottayam
  4. Member, Board of Studies – IIIT Kottayam
  5. Coordinaor, Friday Seminar Series, CSE Dept, IIIT Kottayam
  6. Faculty-in-charge, PG Academics, IIIT Kottayam
  7. Faculty-Sponsor, ACM Student Chapter
Conference/Workshop Organization:
  1. IEEE sponsored International Conference on Innovative Trends in Information Technology, ICITIIT-25, 21-22 February 2025.
  2. ACM-India ROCS (Research Opportunities in Computer Science) at IIIT Kottayam, along with ACM India Council, 24th August 2024.
  3. A five-day workshop, Second Edition of DataNetWork organized jointly by the Network Science Research Group and the Data Science Research Group at IIIT Kottayam, 8 to 12, July 2024.
  4. A five-day workshop on Data Science with Complex Networks (DataNetwork 2023) was organised jointly by the Data Science Research Group and Network Science Research Group at IIIT Kottayam, 24 to 28, July 2023.
  5. IEEE sponsored International Conference on Innovative Trends in Information Technology, ICITIIT-23, 11-12 February 2023.
  6. Five-Day Workshop on Introduction to Transportation Network Science (Online), 1 - 5 November 2022 along with CiSTUP, IISc Bangalore.
  7. Five-day National Workshop on Graphs and Complex Networks, Sponsored by National Board of Higher Mathematics, February 3-7, 2020, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, India.
  8. 9th National Conference on Indian Language Computing (NCILC), March 15-16, 2019, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, India.
Reviewer (Journals):
  1. Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure, Taylor & Francis, Impact factor: 5.9
  2. Frontiers in Physics (Statistical and Computational Physics), Impact factor: 3.1
  3. Frontiers in Physics (Social Physics), Impact factor: 3.718
  4. 2022 IEEE HAC/SIGHT Projects - Call for Proposals Focused on Pressing Community Needs.
  5. IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, Impact factor: 4.332.
  6. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, Impact factor: 2.924
  7. Discrete Applied Mathematics, Elsevier, Impact factor: 1.041
  8. Journal of Complex Networks, Oxford University Press, Impact factor: 3.32
Reviewer (Conferences):
  1. 9th International Conference on Computer Vision and Image processing (CVIP 2024), IIITDM Kancheepuram- Chennai, 19-21 December 2024
  2. The Fourth International Conference on Emerging Techniques in Computational Intelligence, ICETCI 2024, Mahindra University, Hyderabad, India, from August 22 to 24, 2024
  3. 3rd International Conference on Innovative Trends in Information Technology (ICITIIT-22), IIIT Kottayam, 12-13 February 2022
Internship/Summer projects

Students interested in working with me can drop an email with a statement of purpose and research interests.