Home Institution India: Panjab University

Charu Sharma

Ms. Charu Sharma is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Botany, Panjab University, Chandigarh, with expertise in plant tissue culture, cryopreservation, and the production of secondary metabolites. Her research focuses on high-altitude medicinal plants, with the primary aim of developing robust conservation protocols. By integrating molecular insights and antioxidant profiling, she investigates changes in cryopreserved tissues to ensure long-term viability.

Charu holds a bachelor’s degree in science from Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, and a master’s degree in Botany from Punjabi University, Patiala. During her PhD, she contributed to peer-reviewed publications that integrated methodological precision with conceptual clarity. Her passion for science goes beyond experimentation; she excels at translating complex research findings into visually compelling and academically rigorous outputs. She brings in a thoughtful balance of analytical detail and narrative coherence, reflecting her commitment to conservation-driven research.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow, Charu is currently advancing a pioneering study on cryopreservation of avocado at The Huntington. The project aims to optimize tropical germplasm conservation through vitrification-based techniques, contributing to broader ecological restoration efforts and sustainable agricultural practices.

Stuti Benal

Ms. Stuti Benal is a teacher of foreign languages and has been teaching French at Alliance Française de Chandigarh. She recently completed her master’s in English from the department of English and Cultural Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh. In addition, she also holds a master’s in journalism and mass communication from the School of Communication Studies, Panjab University.

Ms. Benal has worked in France as an English language assistant as a part of the prestigious Asisstant de Langue program for two years where she taught high school and college students while sharing her culture with them and developing her teaching methodologies. She has written for magazines and university newspapers in the past and continues to be an avid writer. Passionate about languages, she is currently learning Spanish and also working towards perfection in her native language, Pahari.

As a Fulbright Foreign Language Assistant and cultural ambassador at the University of Notre Dame, Ms. Benal aspires to share her language with the students through innovative teaching strategies while incorporating the culture of her country in the classroom through music, food, literature, and films. She looks forward to enhancing her understanding of this increasingly multicultural world, which for her finds its reflection in the manifoldness of the Indian experience.

Neetu Goel

Dr. Neetu Goel is Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Panjab University, Chandigarh. She completed her Ph.D. in 2005 with a concentration in theoretical chemistry under the supervision of Prof. B. M. Deb. Dr Goel’s research area is theoretical and computational chemistry that focuses on the structure-property relationship of clusters and nanomaterials. Her research endeavors rely on density functional theory to understand/tailor materials at atomic scale and to design efficient heterogeneous catalyst for reactions of industrial importance.

Dr. Goel has established a strong research group at her home institute that is actively engaged in scientific pursuits of varied dimensions. Dr. Goel has in the past collaborated with Prof. Michael Springborg from the University of Saarland, Saarbrücken, Germany. She was also awarded the Mercator fellowship for a project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Dr. Goel’s Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence fellowship project is a combination of teaching and research with clearly defined goals. Her project is aimed at bioconjugated nanomaterials for application in health-related areas. She is investigating the structure and dynamics of biomolecule/nanosurface interface through quantum mechanical and atomistic simulations. Through successful execution of this project, Dr. Goel strives to make an enormous economic impact as the computational modeling of bioconjugated nanomaterials saves plenty of time, effort, and cost involved in the trial-and-error approach employed in laboratories. State-of-the-art computations envisioned in the project seek to provide reliable pointers for successful culmination of derived outcomes into successful clinical trials. Dr. Goel is also teaching a course on quantum mechanics and numerical/theoretical methods in computational physics to the students at MTU, with the goal of developing synergy between teaching and research, and strengthening teacher-student relationships.