Indian Institute of Science Archives

Ankita Nandi

Ms. Ankita Nandi is a Ph.D. scholar at the NeuRonICS Lab, Department of Electronic Systems engineering (DESE), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. She is interested in designing low power VLSI circuits using digital, analog and mixed signal techniques for error resilient applications. She takes keen interest in computations in the probabilistic domain and is developing circuits which accommodate them. Apart from these, she is also interested in approximate computing, image processing applications and error correction decoders. She has communicated and published her work in prestigious international journals and conferences.

Ms. Nandi has been the 5th rank holder in her pre-university board examinations. She received her B.Tech. in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Meghalaya with the President Gold Medal and the Institute Gold Medal. She completed her M.Tech. from the Electrical Engineering Department of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar. She has also been selected as the Prime Minister’s Research Fellow (PMRF) in August 2021 and is availing this scholarship instead of the institutional fellowship.

Ms. Nandi wants to design a low power Analog Neuromorphic Probabilistic Processor for real-time deployment in portable and hand-held products during her tenure of Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship.

Additionally, Nandi is an avid orator and holds a diploma in painting. Being a food lover, Nandi also enjoys cooking different cuisines and loves listening to music.

Apoorva Singh

Apoorva Singh is a Ph.D. candidate at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. His doctoral thesis focuses on understanding the charge transport and degradation mechanisms in perovskite based solar cells and devices incorporating device fabrication and advanced electrical, optical and materials characterizations. Apoorva has published academic papers and presented his work at various national and international conferences. He has collaborated with prominent international research groups and research facilities including ones at the University of Oxford and Soleil French-National Synchrotron Facility.

Apoorva holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from MJP Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, and a master’s degree in engineering by research from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru. After completing his master’s from JNCASR and prior to joining the Ph.D. program at IISc, Apoorva served as a senior project associate at the National Centre for Flexible Electronics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, Apoorva is studying perovskite solar cells, investigating the evolution in defects and recombination mechanisms at different stages of degradation through spectroscopic procedures. The insights gained from his research will contribute to achieving optimal device performance and stability in the field. Apoorva actively organizes and takes on leadership roles in various academic and cultural activities. He is a music enthusiast, with skill in live mixing, and he also enjoys reading, playing chess, and exploring new places.

Joel P Joseph

Mr. Joel P Joseph is a Ph.D. candidate at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, Karnataka. His doctoral thesis aims to develop a 3D bioprinted T cell culture platform to screen for novel immunomodulatory compounds and validate them using an in vivo mouse model of an autoimmune disease.

Before starting his Ph.D., Mr. Joseph was Junior Research Fellow at Manipal Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Bengaluru. Here, he investigated the roles of intracellular protein degradation and mitochondrial dynamics in the development of midbrain dopaminergic neurons in mice. Some of his research has been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences.

He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in biotechnology from Sir M Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, and a master of technology degree in genetic engineering from SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu.

Mr. Joseph is particularly interested in science communication. His written words have appeared in several science media and education websites based in India. He loves to engage with people from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to exchange ideas on science, society, and culture. When he is not in the lab, he can be found reading, writing, listening to music, or watching stories based on real events.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow, Mr. Joseph is designing nanoparticulate drug delivery systems for immunomodulatory compounds. He is also comparing their efficacies with the free form of drugs using his 3D bioprinted T cell culture platform and validating them using a relevant in vivo mouse model.

Utpalendu Haldar

Mr. Utpalendu Haldar earned his bachelor’s and master’s in geology from Jadavpur University and subsequently started his career as a doctoral candidate at the Centre for Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He is working under the supervision of Prof. Ramananda Chakrabarti and is exploring the chemical evolution of earth’s continental crust. Towards this end, he has been using novel isotopic tracers on unique archives, such as komatiites, loess and glacial diamictites. He has been working in collaborations with both national and foreign universities during his tenure as a doctoral candidate.

Mr. Haldar is enthusiastic towards promoting science in all sections of society and dedicates his leisure time towards this goal. He firmly believes that co-curricular activities help nurture the best in us and has represented IISc in cricket in multiple national events. Thus, he considers the Fulbright-Nehru fellowship an opportunity to learn about and cherish the culture of the American west coast.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow, Mr. Haldar is working to enhance the understanding of crust-mantle interaction and magma chamber processes. He is investigating fluid inclusions in basalts from the Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP) to further his doctoral work.

Upendra Harbola

Dr. Upendra Harbola is Associate Professor of Chemistry at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. He received his Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. He was a Marie-Curie Senior Fellow at the University of Freiburg, Germany. His research interests are aimed at formulating theoretical models to study transport processes in molecular junctions, photoionisation dynamics in molecules and quantum effects in supercooled liquids. He has authored more than 60 publications in internationally reputed journals.

Dr. Harbola’s Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence project focuses on understanding how and in what ways a quantum source of light can be used to control transport in molecular junctions. Quantum light consists of photons that are entangled with one another and has been used to explore non-classical responses from molecules at equilibrium. Interaction of quantum light with molecular junctions, which operate in out-of-equilibrium conditions, pose interesting challenges that are explored in this study.