Assistant Professor

Center for Sustainable Technologies, IISc Bangalore

Gulmohar Marg, Mathikere, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560012

Room: 405

Mobile: +91-80-2293-3046

Email: nkgupta@iisc.ac.in

Bhagirath Saini obtained his Ph.D. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur in 2024. His doctoral studies focused on the synthesis of nanomaterials and 2D layered catalysts for electrocatalysis (HER, OER, and CO2 reduction), photocatalysis (dye degradation and metal ion removal) and biomass to biofuel production (biodiesel and bio jet fuel). He previously worked as an assistant professor at Lachoo Memorial College of Science & Technology (Autonomous), Jodhpur.

His current research interest includes the upgradation of biomass-derived furanics.

Navya Subray Bhat received her Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Mangalore, India, in 2023. She then worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute for Catalysis, Hokkaido University, Japan, for 1.5 years. Her research areas are the chemistry of renewables, catalysis, and organic synthesis, especially the synthesis of furanics from carbohydrates and the synthetic upgradation of furanic platform chemicals to fuels and specialty chemicals.

Her current research area includes the synthesis of furanics and its upgradation to industrially value-added chemicals.

Saranya earned her PhD from the Centre for Sustainable Technologies, IISc Bengaluru, in 2021. Following her doctorate, she worked as a Research Associate at Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited for one year, before joining at Material Innovation Private Limited as Scientist-I for six months. Her research focuses on sustainability, with expertise spanning biofuels, platform chemicals, and enzymes.

 

Currently, her work centers on converting lignocellulosic biomass into value-added products, driven by a passion to develop advanced functional materials from agro-residues.

Ripsa completed her M.Tech. in Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology from NIT Kurukshetra in 2022.  Her master’s thesis work was focused on the green synthesis of semiconducting ZnSe-based nanomaterials by using organic wastes/plant extracts for environmental applications and dye degradation. Additionally she knows to operate the various characterization tools. She earned gold medal for being the topper during her MTech.

 

She is currently doing a Ph.D. on the design and development of catalysts for biomass conversion to value-added chemicals. Besides, she enjoys painting, hiking, and traveling. She is also in numismatics.

Hafila completed her Master of Science in Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology–Palakkad (IIT–Palakkad) in 2023. During her M.Sc. thesis, she investigated defects in materials utilizing Spectroscopic techniques for catalytic applications. Additionally, she focused on assessing the stability of metal nanoclusters using Molecular Dynamics (MD) tools for potential biological applications. Her outstanding academic performance earned her the distinction of being the Best Student in MSc Chemistry (Medalist), an honor bestowed upon her by Somanath, Chairman of ISRO.

Currently, she is pursuing her Ph.D. where she is engaged in functionalizing oxygenates derived from biomass into valuable chemicals using heterogeneous catalysts.

Beyond her academic endeavors, she finds enjoyment in playing volleyball, traveling, reading books, and watching movies.

Rajat received his M.Sc. in Chemistry & Environmental Science from Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur in 2023. His master's thesis centered on the in-situ synthesis of melem-based polymeric materials, designed to emulate half of the natural photosynthetic system. Rajat was honored with a Gold Medal by the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. Presently, his focus lies on catalytic bio-based aromatics production.

Outside of his academic pursuits, he enjoys traveling, playing cricket, and listening to music.

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Vismaya completed her Master of Science in Chemistry from the Central University of Kerala (CUK) in 2023 with First rank. During M.Sc. Thesis, she worked on the Synthesis of Cerium Oxide, Characterization and Its Catalytic Applications at Inorganic material synthesis and Heterogeneous Catalysis laboratory, CUK. She received INSPIRE (DST)  Scholarship for Higher Education (2018-2023).

Currently she is working on the Development of catalysts for the conversion of biomass-derived furanics into value-added products.

Beyond her academics, she enjoys wall painting, craft works and cooking.

Agrima completed her Masters of Science in chemistry from Uttaranchal University, Dehradun. For her M.Sc. thesis she worked on Electrochemical treatment of tannery wastewater at IIT Roorkee. She earned a Gold Medal for her exceptional performance in M.Sc. Chemistry, 2023. After that, she worked as a Project Associate at CSIR-IIP where she worked on Design and Development of Biochar supported nanocatalysts for Transfer Hydrogenation reactions and synthesis of pharmaceutical intermediates.

Presently, she is pursuing her Ph.D. on development of catalyst for biomass conversion to value-added chemicals.

Besides academia, she enjoys travelling, trekking, painting and writing.

Kaushik has completed his Masters degree from the Department of Chemistry from Gauhati University. He worked on the effect of solvation on the phenol ⇌ keto tautomerisation of an imine containing fluorophore. He has cleared the GATE-2025 with AIR 193, CSIR-NET 2025(LS) and NE-SLET 2025.

Currently he is working on the catalytic rare sugar production from the biomasses.​

Beyond academia he loves to sketch portraits , art and crafts, cooking and travelling.

Harinath is currently pursuing an M.Tech in Sustainable Technologies at the Centre for Sustainable Technologies, IISc Bengaluru. He holds a B.Tech in Biotechnology and has dissertation experience at CCMB-LaCONES, where he contributed to an ecological population genetics study under Project Gharial. He also worked on sustainability and life cycle assessment of the solid waste management system and a Bio-CNG plant in Puttur, Karnataka. 

At present, he is working on a master's thesis developing novel catalysts for CO₂ fixation to produce value-added products from amines.

Outside academics, he is passionate about sports—he enjoys playing badminton, cricket, table tennis, and chess. He is also an avid cinephile.

Thanish Nasir is currently pursuing an M.Tech at the Centre for Sustainable Technologies, IISc Bengaluru. He holds a B.Tech in Biotechnology and had completed his internship at Emirates airlines in the Engineering and Operations Directorate the goal of helping bring about Sustainability in the Aviation Industry. 

He worked on Climate Risk, Lifecycle Assessment and Non-CO2 impact of the airlines and is deeply passionate about Alternative Fuels especially SAF 

He is currently passionately working on his a master's thesis on Converting Plastics into Fuels and other Value added chemicals.

Outside academics, he loves heading to the gym, mountain biking and rock climbing.