The Catalysis Group
IISER Berhampur
Principal Investigator
Shikha was born in Punjab, India and did her Masters from Panjab University, Chandigarh in 2004. She subsequently joined the group of Prof. Vinod K. Singh at IIT Kanpur and graduated with a doctoral degree in 2009. She then moved to the Max Planck Institute fur Kohlenforschung, Germany to work in the group of Prof. Benjamin List for her postdoctoral stint. In 2013, she took up the position of a scientist at Piramal Healthcare Ltd. Subsequently she moved to IISER Bhopal in 2015 to join as a Visiting Faculty. She joined IISER Berhampur as Assistant Professor in March 2017. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Sciences at IISER Berhampur.
Awards and Honors:
2019: Thieme Chemistry Journal Award
2010: Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for postdoctoral research
2009: Max Planck Fellowship for postdoctoral research
2004: CSIR Fellowship for doctoral research
2004: Qualified Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering
2002: MPA Silver Medal for holding one of the top three positions in Panjab University in B.Sc.
Graduate Students
Subhamoy Mukhopadhyay
Fellowship: Institute
Graduate Student: Pre-synopsis completed
M.Sc. (Chemistry): Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam, India
B.Sc (Chemistry): Netaji Mahavidyalaya, Burdwan University, West Bengal, India
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Chhanda Debnath
Fellowship: Prime Minister's Research Fellow (PMRF)
Graduate Student (June 2021-)
M.Sc. (Chemistry): University of Kalyani, West Bengal, India
B.Sc (Chemistry): Kanchrapara College, University of Kalyani, West Bengal, India
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Bhavya Khaitan
Fellowship: Institute (iPh.D.)
Graduate Student (June 2023-)
B.Sc (Chemistry): Zakir Husain Delhi College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
Alumni
PhD
Sibasis Sarkar
Graduated: April 2025
Thesis: [3+3]-Annulations using NHC and Lewis Acid Catalysis
BS-MS Project
Saswat Ranjan Bhoi
BS-MS project: 2022-23
Current position: PhD student: Dept. Chemie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany
Meghana P M
BS-MS project: 2021-22
Current position: Ph.D student, Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany
M Siva Prasad
BS-MS project: 2021-22
Current position: Project Asst., IIT Jodhpur
Abhishek Bissoyi
BS-MS project: 2020-21
Current position: Ph.D student, Charles University, Czech Republic
Sangram Keshari Panda
Fellowship: Institute
Graduate Student (July 2024-)
M.Sc. (Chemistry): Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University, Mayurbhanj, Odisha
B.Sc (Chemistry): Bhadrak Autonomous College, Bhadrak, Odisha
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Post-doctoral Fellows
Dr. Arpan Pal
Ph.D: The University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Post-doc: Sept. 2019-May 2021
Current position: Postdoc- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
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Dr. Abhisek Midya
Ph.D: IISER Bhopal
Post-doc: Sept. 2020-Aug. 2021
Current Position: Scientist, TCG Lifesciences