Ashwani's Research Page

Education
       
 Sep. 2018-Feb. 2022    Ph.D. in Chemistry (Inorganic Materials Chemistry), Sungkyunkwan                                                     University Natural Science Suwon Campus, Republic of Korea
                                       (GPA: 4.40/4.5)      (2021 QS world ranking: 88)
                           (SKKU President’s Award for best Ph.D. thesis and outstanding research achievements)

           2012-2017           Integrated BS-MS in Chemical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science
                                       Education and Research, Kolkata (IISER-K), India (CGPA: 8.66/10; CGPA
                                       (Major Courses): 9.1/10)                  (2021 Nature Index Global ranking: 310)
                         
           2009-2011           Higher Secondary, Central Board of Secondary Education, Kharagpur, West                                           Bengal, India (83.8%)       
                                  
           2007-2009           Secondary, Central Board of Secondary Education, Kharagpur, West Bengal,                                           India (85.8%)           
 
Positions Held / Research Experience 
 
    Jan. 2024-Present   Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of
                                     Heterogeneous Catalysis, Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung,  
                                     Germany [with PD Dr. Harun Tüysüz and Prof. Dr. Ferdi Schüth (Director)]. 
                                           Related publications: Advanced Materials, 2024, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024

 Mar. 2022-Dec. 2023   MPI-KOFO Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Heterogeneous 
                                      Catalysis, Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Germany (with PD Dr.
                                      Harun Tüysüz). 
                            
 Sep. 2018-Feb. 2022   Graduate Research Assistant, Creative Research Institute (CRI), CINAP-IBS, 
                                      Sungkyunkwan University, Natural Science Suwon Campus (with Prof. 
                                      Hyoyoung Lee). 
                                      Related publications: ACS Nano, 2022; ACS Energy Letters, 2021; Nature Communications,
                                                                              2021 ; Energy & Environmental Science, 2021; ACS Energy Letters,
                                                                              2021; Chemical Science, 2021; Energy & Environmental Science, 2020;                                                                                Chemistry of Materials, 2020
                                                                                                                                                
  May 2017-July 2018   Research Assistant, Advanced Functional Materials Lab, IISER Kolkata
                                      (with Prof. Sayan Bhattacharya). 
                                      Related publications: Chemistry An Asian Journal, 2021; Chemical Science, 2020; Journal of                                                                                Materials Chemistry A, 2018
                                                                               
  May 2016-April 2017   Master’s Dissertation, Designing Porous Non-Noble Metal-Based Materials for
                                      Water Splitting, IISER Kolkata (with Prof. Sayan Bhattacharya). 
                                            Related publications: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2017

   May 2015-July 2015   Summer Internship, Defect Induced h-BN for Electrochemical applications,                                               IISER Kolkata, India (with Prof. Sayan Bhattacharya).

   May 2014-July 2014   Summer Internship, Design, and Synthesis of Biologically Active Heterocyclic 
                                      Compounds, University of Delhi, India (with Prof. Satish K. Awasthi). 

Scholastic Achievements 
 
          May 2024   1st prize for oral-presentation at the MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH AND
                             CURRENT CHALLENGES FOR SUSTAINABILITY (MACCS-2024) organized by 
                             G H Raisoni University, Amravati, India,17th May 2024.

        March 2023   Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship for Postdocs, awarded the                                          prestigious Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to continue unraveling                                        exciting single-atom catalysts for energy applications at the Department of                                                Heterogeneous catalysis, MPI-KOFO, Germany, 14th March 2023.

           May 2022   Bronze Prize for outstanding performance in the 7th China International College                                      Students ‘Internet+’ Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition (Establish a safe                                and Efficient Solid Energy Systems), Ministry of Education, China, 20th May 2022.

           Feb. 2022   SKKU President’s Award, Graduate School of Natural Sciences President’s Award                                  for best Ph.D. thesis and outstanding research achievements (8 first author articles                                  with IF: 152.53 out of 18 papers) SKKU, Republic of Korea, 16th Feb. 2022.

           Feb. 2022    Grand Best prize in the category of students pursuing Ph.D. degree                                                          (Oral presentation: Outstanding paper and thesis award): 2022 BK21FOUR                                              Symposium on Chemical Science HRD Center for Student Success, SKKU,                                               Republic of Korea, 10th Feb. 2022.

            Jan. 2022    Graduate Students Grand Best Ph.D. Thesis Awards for year 2021, 2022                                            BK21FOUR, Chemistry department, SKKU, Republic of Korea, 26th Jan. 2022.

            Nov. 2021    MPI-KOFO Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Department of Heterogeneous 
                                Catalysis, Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Germany, 25th Nov. 2021.

            Nov. 2021    Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Department of Chemistry, University of
                                Virginia, USA, 20th Nov. 2021.

            Nov. 2021    Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Department of Chemical Engineering and
                                Materials Science, Wayne State University, MI, USA, 15th Nov. 2021.

            July 2021    Excellent research paper award in XAFS field (Korean Synchroton User's                                             Association: KOSUA), Synchroton Radiation Science and Technology (Summer                                       2021)

           Feb. 2021    Songcheon Grand prize in the category of students pursuing Ph.D. degree 
                               (Oral presentation: Outstanding paper and thesis award): 2021 BK21FOUR                                              Symposium on Chemical Science HRD Center for Student Success, SKKU,
                               Republic of Korea, 18th Feb. 2021. 

           Jan. 2021    Graduate Students Grand Best Ph.D. Thesis Awards for year 2020, 2021                                             BK21FOUR, Chemistry department, SKKU, Republic of Korea, 21st Jan. 2021.
 
          June 2018    Selected for Ph.D. Programme in the Metallurgical Engineering and Material Science
                               Department of the Institute under the Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship
                               (PMRF) Scheme at IIT Bombay.    (offer declined)

         May 2018     Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF) to pursue Ph.D. from any of the
                               Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in the
                               broad discipline of Material Science and Metallurgical Engineering. (among only 25
                               students to get PMRF fellowship in the broad discipline of Material Science and
                               Metallurgical Engineering) 

         May 2018    Doctoral (Ph.D.) position at Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea, (2021 QS world                                 ranking: 88; 2021 Times Higher Education World Rankings: 101)     (offer accepted)
         
           Feb. 2018    Attended Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology graduated admission
                               workshop held from February 13 to 15, 2018, Okinawa, Japan
       
           Jan. 2018    Doctoral (Ph.D.) position at Ariel University, Israel (offer declined)

          June. 2017   Secured prestigious rank in JOINT CSIR-UGC TEST FOR J.R.F AND ELIGIBILITY
                               FOR LECTURESHIP (NET) in chemical sciences (CSIR-UGC NET-June 2017) (All 
                               India Rank-CSIR-107; JRF)

           May 2017    American Chemical Society (ACS) Best Poster Award at the Asian Meeting on
                               Metal Oxide Assemblies (AMMOA 2017), IISER Kolkata, India, 9-10 May 2017. Only
                               undergraduate to have received the award amongst a participant pool of 22
                               graduate students.

           April 2017    ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces Best Poster Awards sponsored by the
                               American Chemical Society at the Smart Materials: Methods and Applications
                               (SMMA-2017), IISER Kolkata, India, 20-22 April 2017.

 Aug. 2012-May 2017   Recipient of the “Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research” (INSPIRE)
                               Fellowship instituted by the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India
                               to “attract talent for the study of basic sciences at an early stage”

              2012         Secured prestigious rank in IIT-JEE (Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance 
                               Exam-2012)