I joined SNU in December 2014, from the RIKEN Wako Institute, Japan, where I started after receiving the prestigious Foreign Postdoctoral Researcher (FPR) Fellowship of RIKEN. Prior to that, I was a Post-doctoral Research Fellow (with part-time appointment as Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow) in the renowned group of Prof. G. A. Sawatzky at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, with a brief stint as a Visiting Research Associate in the Department of Condensed Matter Physics & Material Science, S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata, in between.

I did my M.S. and Ph.D. in the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, under the Integrated Ph.D. program. I am a Theoretical Condensed Matter Physicist, specializing in the field of Strongly Correlated Electron Systems, where electron-electron interactions cannot be treated as a perturbation to its motion in the crystal potential, resulting in the breakdown of conventional band-structure description for such systems, at least in the rigourous sense. On one hand, this field helps us to better understand the exotic phenomena that can emerge out of strong, non-perturbative interactions between electrons in a narrow-band solid, like compounds of transition metals, rare-earths and actinides. On the other hand, a basic understanding of the physics of these materials helps to design “smart materials” with advanced and energy-efficient functionalities.

I have been working in this field for more than a decade, trying to model the ground state (low-energy) as well as the spectroscopic (high-energy) properties of correlated electron systems, under the mentorship of and in collaboration with leading international experts in the field. More specifically, my research interests lie in the Modeling of Electronic and Magnetic properties of Strongly Correlated Systems, X-ray Spectroscopies, Spin & Orbital Magnetism and Magneto-crystalline Anisotropy in Nano-structured materials, and development of New Computational Tools for Correlated Systems. Our work has been published in leading International Journals and is well-cited.

Educational Qualifications

• 2007 Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) [Specialization : Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics] Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India (Integrated Ph.D. Program).
• 2000 M.S. (Physical Sciences). Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India (Integrated Ph.D. Program).
• 1997 B.Sc. (Physics Hons.) St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, India (University of Calcutta).

Work Experience

• 12/14 – Present Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, School of Natural Sciences (SoNS), Shiv Nadar University (SNU), Dadri, (Gautam Buddha Nagar), Uttar Pradesh, India.
• 01/13 12/14 RIKEN FPR (Foreign Postdoctoral Researcher) Fellow, RIKEN (Computational Condensed Matter Physics Laboratory, ASI/CEMS), Wako, Japan.
• 03/12 12/12 Visiting Research Associate, Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Material Science, S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata, India.
• 03/08 02/12 Post-doctoral Research (and Teaching) Fellow, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, BC, Canada.
• 01/07 02/08 Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Material Science, S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata, India.

Awards(Selected):

• 2019 NORDITA Academic Visitor in the Astrophysics Group of Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics (NORDITA), Stockholm, Sweden (June, 2019).
• 2016 Early Career Research Award, SERB (DST), India.
• 2012 Selected for the prestigious RIKEN Foreign Postdoctoral Researcher (FPR) Fellowship, RIKEN, Japan (about 20 candidates selected Internationally every year, including the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Medicine and Engineering)
• 2007 Spontaneously offered a Post-doctoral Position in the renowned Sawatzky Group, at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, after receiving a exceptionally good Ph.D. Thesis Report from Prof. G. A. Sawatzky, a father figure in the field.
• 1997 Selected for the Integrated Ph.D. Fellowship/Program of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. Followed by the IISc JRF and SRF Fellowships in 1999 and 2002.
• 1997 National Merit Scholar (1997) (Govt. of India) on the basis of B.Sc. (Hons.) results.
• 1994 National Merit Scholar (1994) (Govt. of India) on the basis of XII std. results (ranked 40th in the state).