Professor Purnima Singh completed her undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the University of Allahabad, India. She completed her D.Phil. in Psychology in 1985 from the University of Allahabad. She then joined as a Faculty at the University of Allahabad in 1985, where she taught till 2005. She later moved to IIT Delhi in 2005, where she is currently teaching. At IIT Delhi, she was awarded the institute chair professor position in 2020. Her research interests include Group Processes, Justice, Identity, and Intergroup Relations in Organizational and Social contexts.

She has published several articles in national and international journals and book chapters. She is the elected President of the Psychological and Societal Development Division. She is also the president (2022-2026) of the International Association of Applied Psychology-2020-2022-President Elect, 2022-2026 President. Apart from that, Professor Singh is also the Editor -in -Chief of the journal Psychological Studies ( Springer).