Category: podcasts

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.

Hari is an organic chemist and a professor of chemistry at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune. His work focuses on the design and synthesis of organic compounds that can produce reactive species, which are crucial for biochemical and cell biological studies.

Apart from scientific research, Hari has a deep interest in science education and has played a significant role in interfacing with college teachers via various training programs.

He is also actively involved in mentoring students and fostering research in his laboratory.

For more information about Hari’s and his research, you can visit his lab’s webpage: https://www.hclab.in/

In this episode, we explore his intellectual journey until now..

References:

[1]“Harinath Chakrapani lab | HC Lab |IISER Pune,” Hari’s Lab. Accessed: Aug. 17, 2024. : https://www.hclab.in

[2]“Prof. Hari,” Hari’s Lab. Accessed: Aug. 17, 2024. : https://www.hclab.in/prof-harinath-chakrapani

[3]“‪Harinath Chakrapani – ‪Google Scholar.” Accessed: Aug. 17, 2024. : https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=va_MziwAAAAJ&hl=en

[4]“Harinath Chakrapani – IISER Pune.” Accessed: Aug. 17, 2024. : https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/chemistry/people/faculty/regular-faculty/harinath-chakrapani/248

[5]“iRISE – Outreach and Training – IISER Pune.” Accessed: Aug. 17, 2024. : https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/engage/outreach-and-training/irise

[6]“MS-DEED – Outreach and Training – IISER Pune.” Accessed: Aug. 17, 2024. : https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/engage/outreach-and-training/ms-deed

Joyee is an experimental optical physicist who explores Quantum Photonics

She is an associate professor of physics at IIT Delhi https://web.iitd.ac.in/~joyee/.

How did she get interested in optics? What is her intellectual journey?

We discuss many interesting aspects of her explorations in this episode.

Listen as we humanize science.

References:

1. “Joyee’s Webpage.” Accessed August 22, 2024. https://web.iitd.ac.in/~joyee/.
2. “‪Joyee Ghosh – ‪Google Scholar.” Accessed August 22, 2024. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7weUE7IAAAAJ&hl=en.
3. News from the Quantum Photonics Lab in IIT Delhi: Entangled Photons & Hot Atoms… by Joyee Ghosh, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xIMj5tid_k.
4. QIQT 23 | Joyee Ghosh – Entangled Photons — Experiments & Applications in Quantum Communication, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZhXLSjGDUU.
5. “Rupamanjari Ghosh.” In Wikipedia, February 18, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rupamanjari_Ghosh&oldid=1140131659.

Joy Mitra is an experimentalist who tinkers with interfaces at the nanoscale.

He is a professor of physics at IISER Tvm https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/j.mitra/personal_information

What motivated him to become an experimental physicist?

What motivates him to explore nano-junction and plasmonics?

These and many other aspects are part of the conversation.

Listen as we humanize science.

References:

1. “Prof. Joy Mitra – Personal Information | IISER Thiruvananthapuram, MoE, Govt. of India.” n.d. Accessed August 15, 2024. https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/j.mitra.
2. “Joy Group (SPMP).” Joygroup. Accessed August 15, 2024. https://jmitra.wixsite.com/joygroup.
3. “‪Joy Mitra – ‪Google Scholar.” Accessed August 15, 2024. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dChZK08AAAAJ&hl=en.
4. “Joy Mitra – Professor – Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram | LinkedIn.” n.d. Accessed August 15, 2024. https://in.linkedin.com/in/joy-mitra-459649176.
5. “Crucible.” Accessed August 20, 2024. https://sites.google.com/iisertvm.ac.in/crucible/.

Pramod is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at IISER Pune – https://www.pramodpillai.com/members

Pramod explores various aspects of chemistry, from physical and material chemistry to photochemistry and photophysics and prepares and studies a variety of nanomaterials from light-matter interaction and catalysis viewpoints.

How did he develop chemical intuition, and what has been his intellectual journey?

We discuss this and many more aspects in this video episode

Listen as we humanize science.

References:

Dr. P. Pillai Group. Accessed August 8, 2024. https://www.pramodpillai.com/members.

“Pramod Pillai – IISER Pune.” Accessed August 8, 2024. https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/chemistry/people/faculty/regular-faculty/pramod-pillai/314.

Demirörs, Ahmet F., Pramod P. Pillai, Bartlomiej Kowalczyk, and Bartosz A. Grzybowski. 2013. “Colloidal Assembly Directed by Virtual Magnetic Moulds.” Nature 503 (7474): 99–103. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12591.

Kashyap, Radha Krishna, and Pramod P. Pillai. 2024. “Plasmonic Nanoparticles Boost Solar-to-Electricity Generation at Ambient Conditions.” Nano Letters 24 (18): 5585–92. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c00925.

Pramod, Padmanabhan, and K. George Thomas. 2008. “Plasmon Coupling in Dimers of Au Nanorods.” Advanced Materials 20 (22): 4300–4305. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.200703057.

Whitesides, George M., and Bartosz Grzybowski. 2002. “Self-Assembly at All Scales.” Science 295 (5564): 2418–21. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1070821.

Jeevan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Kharagpur. 

⁠http://www.facweb.iitkgp.ac.in/~jeevanjyoti/⁠

He is an excellent teacher and mentor. He runs a very popular YouTube channel (>106k subscribers) that combines his pedagogy, mentorship and engineering: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@Prof_JC⁠

In this episode, we discussed about his motivation, teaching, research and his thoughts on education. There are also many interesting strands around these topics.

Listen as we humanize science.

References.

1.     “Jeevanjyoti Chakraborty.” n.d. Accessed July 26, 2024. ⁠http://www.facweb.iitkgp.ac.in/~jeevanjyoti/⁠.

2.   “‪Jeevanjyoti Chakraborty – ‪Google Scholar.” n.d. Accessed July 26, 2024. ⁠https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=C6Qb0s0AAAAJ&hl=en⁠.

3.     YouTube. Accessed July 26, 2024. ⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9xXDSEwLeBmT3B9ihxnoeg⁠.

4.     Learn All about Engineering Physics and Physics from IIT Prof (Ft. Prof. Nirmalya Kajuri). ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMcXrZBRiOo⁠.

5.     jc, dir. 2021. IIT Prof Reacts to His Own Student’s Video (Tharun Speaks)! ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaejuA5ZpIs⁠.