Sarmila Bose is a journalist, academic and lawyer. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Calcutta, India, returning to the US to attend college and university. Her regional specialisation is South Asian politics and public policy. She has a particular commitment to independent journalism and access to justice for all. She has lived and worked in the US, UK, Hong Kong and India. She combines academic and practitioner work in her professional life.

Sarmila went to school at Modern High School for Girls, Calcutta. She did her undergraduate studies at Bryn Mawr College in the United States, majoring in History. She earned the two-year Masters in Public Administration at the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, followed by the PhD in Political Economy and Government at Harvard University. She received the GDL and LPC (in law and legal practice) from the City Law School, University of London and the LLM from Columbia University Law School. She is admitted to the New York Bar and admitted as solicitor in England & Wales.

Sarmila was a political journalist in India for a number of years, primarily with the Ananda Bazar Patrika Group of newspapers, writing in Bengali and English. She also contributed to a number of other newspapers and magazines in India, the US and the UK, and appeared on radio and television. She held teaching and research positions at Harvard University, Warwick University, George Washington University, Tata Institute of Social Sciences and most recently at the University of Oxford, where she also served as the inaugural director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. She is the author of three books, several book chapters and journal articles and numerous media articles.

Sarmila has a keen interest in Indian music and is an accomplished singer. She received the Gitabharati from Gitabitan, Calcutta and trained in Rabindrasangeet with Suchitra Mitra, and the music of Atulprasad, Dwijendralal and Rajanikanta with Krishna Chattopadhyay. She has given many recitals in Calcutta to critical acclaim.