Author: G V Pavan Kumar

He is a physical chemist and a senior professor at IIT Bombay. https://www.adufd.com/people/current-group

He and his research group have made significant contributions to the understanding of the fluorescence dynamics of molecules and nanomaterials.

In this episode, we discuss

• his journey from his early education at institutions like Presidency College and the IACS, lecture at Raidighi, postdoc at Iowa State University, scientist at RRCAT and finally to his current role at t IIT Bombay.
• His experience of learning and interacting with stalwarts of physical chemistry such as Mihir Chowdhury and Kankan Bhattacharyya.
• Experiences as a researcher and educator, discussing his thoughts and motivations.
• Exciting research is being conducted in his lab, where scholars are pushing the boundaries of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and ultrafast dynamics in nanomaterials.
• Many related strands…

Watch as we humanize science.

References:

1. “UFD Lab.” Accessed September 23, 2024. https://www.adufd.com/.
2. “UFD Lab – Courses.” Accessed September 23, 2024. https://www.adufd.com/courses.
3. “UFD Lab – Current Group.” Accessed September 23, 2024. https://www.adufd.com/people/current-group.
4. “UFD Lab – Research.” Accessed September 23, 2024. https://www.adufd.com/research.
5. X (formerly Twitter). “Anindya Datta (@anidchemiitb) / X,” August 23, 2024. https://x.com/anidchemiitb.
6. “Kankan Bhattacharyya.” In Wikipedia, February 27, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kankan_Bhattacharyya&oldid=1210682961.
7. “Mihir Chowdhury.” In Wikipedia, April 23, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mihir_Chowdhury&oldid=1220427522.

Anindita is an Ecologist and an Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research in Kolkata: https://www.iiserkol.ac.in/~abhadra/Anindita.html.

She and her research group study the ecology of dogs in an urban environment. She is also an actress who uses theatre to express intellectual thought.

Added to that she has been an excellent diplomat of science, making a case for science and its interface with society.

What is her intellectual journey?

Watch (listen) as we humanize science.

References:

1. “Dog Lab.” Accessed September 18, 2024. https://www.iiserkol.ac.in/~abhadra/Anindita.html.
2. “Dog Lab, IISER Kolkata – People.” Accessed September 18, 2024. https://sites.google.com/view/doglabiiserkolkata/people.
3. The Life of Science. “Finding My Foothold in Academia,” April 23, 2019. https://thelifeofscience.com/2019/04/23/finding-my-foothold-in-academia/.
4. “Anindita Bhadra.” Accessed September 18, 2024. https://www.sciencediplomacy.org/author/anindita-bhadra.
5. “Anindita Bhadra | WEF,” January 25, 2019. https://www.wef.org.in/anindita-bhadra/.
6. “‪Anindita Bhadra – ‪Google Scholar.” Accessed September 18, 2024. https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=Pg-UqF4AAAAJ&hl=en.

Urbasi Sinha is a Professor at Raman Research Institute, India and Canada Excellence Research Chair, iPhotonic Quantum Science and Technologies in the University of Calgary, Canada: https://sites.google.com/site/urbasisinha/

She and her research group are working at the cutting edge of quantum science and technology.

In this episode, we discuss her intellectual journey across three continents and how she got interested in quantum science and tech. There are many interesting strands and lessons to explore in this episode.

Watch as we humanize science.

References:

1. “Urbasi Sinha.” In Wikipedia, January 10, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Urbasi_Sinha&oldid=1194745669.
2. “Urbasi Sinha.” Accessed September 12, 2024. https://sites.google.com/site/urbasisinha/.
3. “Urbasi Sinha | Institute for Quantum Computing.” Accessed September 12, 2024. https://uwaterloo.ca/institute-for-quantum-computing/contacts/urbasi-sinha.
4. “Urbasi Sinha | Raman Research Institute.” Accessed September 12, 2024. https://www.rri.res.in/people/faculty/urbasi-sinha.
5. “Urbasi Sinha – About Me.” Accessed September 12, 2024. https://sites.google.com/site/urbasisinha/about-me.
6. DHNS. “Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar for Raman Research Institute Professor Urbasi Sinha.” Deccan Herald. Accessed September 12, 2024. https://www.deccanherald.com/india/karnataka/bengaluru/rashtriya-vigyan-puraskar-for-raman-research-institute-professor-urbasi-sinha-3143264.
7. Fascinating World of Photons, Superposition and Entanglement by Urbasi Sinha, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg0np3AJt-Q.
8. QIQT23 | Prof. Urbasi Sinha – Quantum Experiments with Satellite Technology, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmAb-nTPl7Q.
9. “QuIC Lab.” Accessed September 12, 2024. https://wwws.rri.res.in/quic/.
10. Sinha, Urbasi. “A Key Milestone for a Secure Quantum Future.” Nature India, May 9, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1038/d44151-023-00049-5.
11. Sinha, Urbasi, Christophe Couteau, Thomas Jennewein, Raymond Laflamme, and Gregor Weihs. “Ruling Out Multi-Order Interference in Quantum Mechanics.” Science 329, no. 5990 (July 23, 2010): 418–21. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1190545.
12. The Nobel Prize in Physics 2022 by Prof. Urbasi Sinha- WOPI 2022- 06/12/2022, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9NydtyPlMo.
13. “‪Urbasi Sinha – ‪Google Scholar.” Accessed September 12, 2024. https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=Lbwit3MAAAAJ&hl=en.
14. “Urbasi Sinha on LinkedIn: #quantum #quantumtechnology #ecosystem | 14 Comments.” Accessed September 12, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/urbasi-sinha-0969567_quantum-quantumtechnology-ecosystem-activity-7128405359345487873-SmUr.
15. X (formerly Twitter). “Urbasi Sinha (@SinhaUrbasi) / X,” September 8, 2024. https://x.com/sinhaurbasi.

Sunil Nair is a condensed matter experimentalist and a Professor of Physics at IISER Pune https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/physics/people/faculty/regular-faculty/sunil-nair/307

He and his research group explore various topics, including Multiferroics | Transition metal oxides | Unconventional superconductors | Low-temperature instrumentation | Non-linear magnetic susceptibility | Spin Caloritronics.

In this episode, we discussed:

• His intellectual journey
• Growing up in Pune
• Student days at Pune University
• His experience of working in Indore, Dresden and Oxford
• Jugalbandi of experiments and theory in physics
• Elements of a good talk and good writing
• Big science from small labs
• Quantum ihub at IISER Pune
• New development in spintronics, including superfluid state
• other explorations

Watch (listen) as we humanize science.

References:

[1]“Sunil Nair – IISER Pune.” Accessed: Sep. 05, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/physics/people/faculty/regular-faculty/sunil-nair/307

[2]“‪Sunil Nair – ‪Google Scholar.” Accessed: Sep. 05, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=XnMfVtUAAAAJ&hl=en

[3]“Dr. Sunil Nair.” Accessed: Sep. 05, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/connect/explore-the-humboldt-network/singleview/1122885/dr-sunil-nair

[4]“Sunil Nair (@DrSunilNair) / X,” X (formerly Twitter). Accessed: Sep. 05, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://x.com/drsunilnair

[5]“Strongly Correlated Electron Systems.” Accessed: Sep. 05, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://sites.google.com/students.iiserpune.ac.in/strongly-corr-electron-sys/home

[6]“I-Hub Quantum Technology Foundation.” Accessed: Sep. 05, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.quantech.org.in/

[7]A. De, A. Ghosh, R. Mandal, S. Ogale, and S. Nair, “Temperature Dependence of the Spin Seebeck Effect in a Mixed Valent Manganite,” Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 124, no. 1, p. 017203, Jan. 2020, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.017203.