Giridharan Ramasubramanian is a doctoral candidate who commenced his PhD in 2015 with an Australian Postgraduate Award. In 2018, he received an Endeavour Research Fellowship and was based at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in Princeton University. Previously, he completed his Master of Arts (International Relations) with Honours and Master of Diplomacy from the Australian National University. Prior to that, he did his Bachelor of Arts (Honours) with First Class Honours from Melbourne University.

His research project investigates the mechanics of institutional evolution in the Asia-Pacific within a complex institutional landscape. By focusing on trade governance and climate change governance, his thesis explores how the architecture of existing institutional arrangements has shaped the negotiations of regional institutions and how these institutions, in turn, have shaped that architecture. Through his study of the diplomatic processes leading to the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris Agreement, he hopes to explain the emergence and impact of catalytic institutions.