Vishal Gajjar

Astronomer, SETI Institute 
Visiting Researcher, University of California, Berkeley

Mobirise

I am a full-time Astronomer at the SETI Institute and Visiting Researcher at the University of California, Berkeley interested in developing novel algorithms to search for the evidence of technologically advanced extraterrestrial life, studying Fast Radio Bursts, and understanding radio emission mechanism of neutron stars. I am a radio astronomer with a Ph.D. in Physics from National Center for Radio Astrophysics, a Tata Institute of Fundamental Research center in Pune, India. I am also Principal Investigator for four research grants at the SETI Institute, spanning efforts from developing SETI-focused curricula for community colleges to detecting anomalies in exoplanet transit light curves.
(vgajjar AT seti DOT org)

Current Projects as a Principal Investigator and Project Scientist

Breakthrough Listen International Collaborations 

MORE

Breakthrough Listen is humanity’s largest and most comprehensive initiative dedicated to the search for technologically advanced extraterrestrial life. As a Project Scientist for Breakthrough Listen, I collaborate with multiple leading radio observatories around the globe to facilitate technosignature searches. These include the Sardinia Radio Telescope (Italy), LOFAR-SE station (Sweden), LOFAR-IE station (Ireland), FAST telescope (China), and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (India). 

ARISE: Designing SETI-focused curriculum for community and 4-year colleges

In collaboration with the SETI Institute and with support from Amateur Radio and Digital Communication (ARDC), the ARISE curriculum brings hands-on, skills-focused learning to classrooms. Designed for courses in astronomy, digital communication, signal processing, and electronics, ARISE uses the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) as a gateway to explore real-world applications with GNU Radio and data from world-class telescopes like the Allen Telescope Array. This project-based approach equips students to problem-solve, collaborate, and think critically while engaging with authentic scientific data. By bridging theory and practice, ARISE inspires curiosity and prepares students with job-ready skills.

Quantifying Stellar Activity Effects on Narrowband Radio Technosignatures

Narrowband technosignatures passing through an exoplanetary plasma environment (Exo-IPM) can suffer spectral broadening and scintillation, reducing their detectability. While interstellar scattering is well studied, the effects of stellar winds, flares, and CMEs remain poorly constrained. Using turbulence scaling laws extended to active M-dwarfs, in this project we show that Exo-IPM broadening can reach 10–100 Hz at low frequencies, severely impacting narrowband SETI searches. Survival-function analysis across stellar and orbital parameters suggests these effects may contribute to the “Great Silence,” underscoring the need for mitigation strategies in future surveys such as SKA-Low.

Project Tarang: Searching for anomalies and megastructure in transit light-curves of Kepler and TESS 

Machine learning (ML) is transforming exoplanet discovery, moving beyond traditional transit methods to identify anomalies in stellar light curves. One exciting possibility is detecting alien megastructures—large, irregular constructs whose transits would leave distinct, non-spherical signatures. This project will develop an ML tool to infer object shapes directly from light curves and rank candidates based on deviations from circular forms. Applied to Kepler and TESS data, the approach will flag highly irregular shapes as potential megastructures. By systematically exploring these anomalies, the work broadens technosignature searches and contributes to answering the fundamental question: Are we alone in the universe?

Research Interests

Searching for Technologically Advanced Extraterrestrial Life

Following are some of my past and ongoing projects on the quest to answer humanity's most fundamental question; are we alone in the Universe? 

Fast Radio Bursts

Fast Radio Bursts are enigmatic and the most mysterious objects in modern astrophysics. Following are my past and ongoing projects to understand nature and origin of FRBs.

Pulsars and Magnetars

Neutron stars are some of the most extreme astrophysical objects. My PhD thesis focused on understanding pulsar emission physics. Following are my past and ongoing research projects on this subject. 

Machine Learning

Radio Astronomy must contend with large data volumes and a complex background of radio frequency interference of anthropogenic origin. Here are some of my projects to tackle these challenges. 

Instrument and Software development

I closely work with engineers to deploy novel digital hardwares to various radio telescope. Here are some of my commissioning projects. 
I also have a passion for building automated signal processing pipelines. 

Science Popularization

Astronomy is fun! I truly enjoy sharing this joy and discussing wonders of cosmos. Here are some of my public talks and engagements.

Make a web page with Mobirise