When she joined the mathematics department, it was a ‘service’ department that focused on equipping researchers from other departments with mathematical tools to aid their research. Taking this into account, when Chanchal Uberoi had to teach mathematics to students of other departments with little background in the discipline, she was careful to make several pedagogical interventions to make the study material more accessible.
Later, she took forward her research at IISc to the University of Cardiff and to the Harvard Observatory. She was also a founding member of the Joint Astronomy Programme which helped foster collaboration between the Indian Institute of Science and other institutions.
In 1999, she was offered the position of Dean of Science at the Institute, making her the first female Dean in the history of IISc. She found that female students found it easier to open up to her about the concerns, which goes to show the importance of women in positions of leadership and decision-making.
Even after retirement, she continued to attend lectures and events at the IISc.
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