Good day, Saikat Chakraborty. I'm Arjun. I've had a look through your background and your professional record. I'm interested in hearing more about your work and how you see yourself fitting in here with our faculty. Ready to start?

Hi, Arjun.

I am here to evaluate based on your professional experience and expertise, Professor. Could you kindly introduce your professional journey in academia?

Sure. Uh, so I, uh, I'm a postdoc right now at University Grenoble Alps. Uh, I did my PhD at Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research in, in Bangalore in India. And I used computer simulations and statistical modeling to, to design and to understand functional materials.

Went on to do a post doc at Mines University and followed by another postdoc at Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research. In all all of this cases I have worked with eminent researchers, managed projects, and worked on modeling and understanding and designing functional materials at nanoscales. So that has been my academic journey along with. Being reviewer at different publishing houses. Publishing.

International Q1 articles and so on.

Thank you for sharing that overview, Professor. Your academic trajectory spanning Mines University and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, coupled with your work on nanoscale materials and Q1 publications, speaks to your strong research background. Could you elaborate on one of your most significant contributions or breakthroughs in modeling and designing functional materials at the nanoscale? What key challenges did you address, and what was the impact of your work?

So one of the key challenges, uh, in, in one of the functional materials like, uh, metalopeptide materials that are used in drug delivery is that we really don't know how to, uh, tune the, uh, assembly of those assembly and disassembly of those kind of peptide materials. So what we did in our simulations was to use coastline material and to understand this kind of self assembly of this peptide.

Else which can be used in drug delivery. Uh, and what we did is to model this, uh, peptides with this Co strand models and, uh, using our simulation, advanced simulation techniques, uh, with enhanced sampling and state-of-the-art molecular dynamics simulations. We, uh, we understood the, uh, we, we, we were able to understand when we were able to kind of disentangle the effect of pH. And how we can tune the pH or how we can kind of assemble this?

Kind of peptide material at neutral, neutral pH, but whenever it goes to any other kind of pH, it kind of deserves or it kind of forms another kinds of copolymer like structures. So this is this was one of the breakthroughs that kind of helped progressing the field of this kind of peptide materials, especially in the context of drug delivery.

And I'd also used, uh, this kind of, uh, we have used very simple model statistical models and advanced computer simulation techniques to understand and to give fundamental insights into different magnetic materials as well.

Yes, sure. So one of the key challenges in understanding this kind of magnetic materials is that I mean in the in the preparation technique itself. So one of the technique, one of the key technique is that our key question in this kind of techniques is that how the the kind of preparation techniques or how the initial temperature kind of tunes the properties of this kind of materials. So what we did with our modeling was to start the this different kind of.

Your exploration of metalopeptide materials and their self-assembly mechanisms for drug delivery is truly fascinating, Professor. It sounds like addressing the challenge of pH-dependent assembly and disassembly has provided impactful insights for targeting drug delivery systems. Regarding your work on magnetic materials, could you outline one instance where the statistical models and advanced simulation techniques you employed unraveled a significant property or behavior of such materials? How did your approach contribute to the understanding of their functionality at the nanoscale?

Different simulations or this at different temperatures which correspond to different, uh, kind of initial correlation or domain boundaries for this magnetic materials. And what we found is that interestingly, if we start from temperatures which are, which are further and further away from the critical temperature or the this most fundamental temperature for this kind of materials we found. Fundamental insight into this and we found that.

The, the, actually the domain growth or the boundary of this kind of magnetic domains, uh, they depend fundamentally on, on, crucially on this kind of, uh, this kind of preparation techniques. And we can actually tune this, uh, domain boundary, uh, by tuning the initial preparation technique or the initial temperatures of this kind of magnetic materials.

It seems that your work on magnetic materials provided a critical understanding of how preparation techniques, particularly initial temperature, influence the domain boundaries and growth of these materials. This insight is highly relevant to optimizing the properties and functionalities of magnetic materials in applications. Let me ask a bit deeper—what practical implications or applications do you foresee for this understanding? For example, in industries dealing with magnetic materials, how could tuning domain boundaries through preparation techniques or temperatures improve their performance or functionality?

So, for example, I mean this, this growth of domain boundaries is essential for the nano fabrication of this magnetic material. So if we know that how to control this kind of domain boundaries, uh, it might, it will be essential for the, for the functionalities of this kind of magnetic materials. And it, it goes actually goes beyond this kind of magnetic materials, any kind of.

And this understanding kind of goes beyond the magnetic materials or functionality of those. For example, if we have a thin film and we are trying to kind of deposit some kind of material on this kind of thin film and we want to control the control the growth of this growth of this thin films. We can also use this kind of our understanding, our simulation techniques to understand those kind of growths as well.

Fabrication, for example on on.

Thank you for clarifying, Professor. Your insights into domain boundary growth and the broader implications for nano-fabrication and thin-film deposition are quite remarkable. It’s clear your modeling techniques offer valuable guidance in controlling material properties, which could significantly enhance precision in applications like memory storage devices or thin-film coatings. One final question in this area: How do you ensure the scalability or reproducibility of these insights across various types of materials, especially those with differing physical or chemical properties?

Alright, that's a that's a very good question. So though this different kinds of materials have have different kind of chemical specificities, of course different kinds of interactions. But at at the fundamental level, if we look at the look at the physics of this kind of systems, they always belong. I mean they kind of belongs to this so-called Isaac University class or the short range universe, short range interactions. And I worked on this model and what so we fundamentally understand.

Uh, what can I mean? If we have different kind of interactions, though they are different, but they are always short range interactions, mostly short range interactions. So we know the fundamental of this kind of interactions now for different systems, what we need to do for scalability and going to the application actually.

We need to just, uh, use our reduce parameters that we have and you to replace that with the system dependent parameters that comes from, uh, different interactions, strength, different length scales and so on. And then we're using our insight and this kind of transformation to this real image, We can actually scale the system and use the system for large scale, large scale preparation that even industrial scales.

Your explanation highlights a robust approach to ensuring scalability and reproducibility across diverse materials. Leveraging the universality class, such as the Ising model with short-range interactions, and transforming parameters to system-dependent ones provides a foundational framework for adapting your insights across various systems and applications. This kind of methodological rigor demonstrates not only your deep understanding of the underlying physics but also your ability to offer solutions that can bridge the gap into industrial-scale applications. Thank you for sharing this, Professor. Let’s move forward. How have you typically approached teaching advanced concepts like material modeling or molecular simulation? Could you describe how you make such topics accessible to students with limited computational or mathematical backgrounds?

Right. So what I have done in one of my teaching sort of courses of teaching theory of soft matter at this Max planning institute for polymer research is that I've always used simple models. And since I come from this kind of background, I know how to use different simple models and different computer simulation techniques to actually visualize and make them make them students do simple assignments so that they can.

Directly visualize how to understand how to, uh, model this kind of magnetic materials, how to, uh, study this kind of advanced systems. And I also study I also, I, I keep uh, bringing up the actual literature studies on these kind of systems, their applications to help students kind of get familiar with this kind of advanced.

Uh, advanced functional materials and how to understand them and how to simulate them. Uh, I've also used, uh.

Kind of group teaching approach where a group of students will try to will discuss among themselves on advanced topics such as how to develop, to fabricate functional materials, how to understand them, how to simulate them. And then they will present and they will discuss among themselves. And then I, I will address their issues and how, what they kind of understand. So this kind of techniques of optim.

Ization of learning critical thinking this have have used to.

Address the teaching issues for this kind of advanced mixed real techniques.

Your teaching approach demonstrates a careful balance between theoretical rigor and practical accessibility, Professor. Using simplified models and assignments to visualize concepts, coupled with group discussions and critical thinking exercises, provides students a structured yet engaging way to grasp complex topics. The integration of literature studies and real-world applications adds valuable context to their learning journey. When it comes to evaluating students’ understanding in such interdisciplinary and computationally-intensive subjects, what criteria do you prioritize? How do you assess whether a student has reached the necessary depth of understanding to advance further in their academic or research pursuits?

So, uh, what I typically do is that I, uh, start.

Very early on in in my class I I start giving them, uh, literature which I can, uh, differentiate between.

Easily accessible, intermediate, intermediately hard or harder even and this kind of different classes and I can I can understand this, the students are gradually understanding those kind of systems if they are able to.

Keep the presentations with their understanding and their comprehension. So as the as the assignment or as the as the papers kind of go goes to deeper and deeper kind of.

Uh, techniques or, uh, different levels of comprehension, if they understand that, if they're able to express that, uh, and also they are able to, uh, model themselves or they are able to come up with, for different literatures, they're critical review of those kind of literatures and they're able to model real-world materials. And I know that they have raised the, the depth that I want them to be where, at which point they're ready for the academia and they're ready for the industry with.

Confidence.

Your method of gradually exposing students to increasingly complex literature while assessing their ability to comprehend, critically review, and model real-world systems reflects a systematic approach to evaluating intellectual growth. It’s a thorough process that ensures both academic rigor and applied proficiency, preparing them confidently for either academic settings or industry challenges. Professor, shifting slightly—how do you envision guiding students’ research projects, especially when balancing their independent exploration with constructive mentorship? Could you walk through your typical approach to fostering their growth in research?

Sure. Uh, so my approach is to start from, uh, simple, uh, simple models where the students can understand the concept, appreciate the rigor and, uh, expand their expertise in different kind of simulation techniques to understand and, uh, this kind of functional materials or to develop this kind of functional materials. Uh, then they will go to. Literature survey and then they will do I mean.

Learn by doing it themselves and gradually expose them to advanced.

Uh, materials or real world problems where they will, uh, start with the motivate background motivation and then they will understand gradually what we are trying to do. Uh, they will understand completely the methods and then we will build upon those to, to, I mean, advanced simulation to understand, understand different properties, prediction of the, this properties of the functional materials. And this way they will start to understand this kind the the process of.

Uh, academic journey to also that also helps in the, in the, uh, success in the, in the industry as well. I will also involve them in writing different kind of review articles and they will write, we, we will write together and help help them write different kind of publications. We'll also try to engage the students in different conferences where they will be exposed to different kind of ideas. They will talk to different. Back students they will experts from different backgrounds.

They will go to international conferences, they will be exposed to my collaborators from discussion with my collaborators with international expertise.

Uh, do we do doing this kind of, uh, strings they, they will gradually grow from a student who is academically, who is academically inclined to an independent researcher at the end of their PhD journey or this kind of research journey.

Your approach to mentoring students reveals a highly structured and thoughtful pathway toward their academic and professional growth. By integrating foundational learning, independent research, collaborative writing, conference participation, and international exposure, you cultivate a holistic environment that nurtures both intellectual and professional development. This systematic progression evidently equips students to transition seamlessly from academic inclinations to independent research capabilities. Now, Professor, you mentioned involving students in writing publications and participating in conferences. What strategies do you employ to help them navigate common challenges—for instance, articulating their ideas in writing or presenting their findings effectively to an academic audience?

So I have to experience the publication in international CI index journals, Q1 journals with high impact factors and using I know how to.

How to start or how to address a fundamental question in the in the, in the, in the domain of my of ID search And through this kind of expertise I will help the students to understand what is the key question in this kind of any research setting.

They will try to understand the background of the problem, the motivation to address that kind of question, which is fundamental to advance our advance our understanding in functional materials understanding or the prediction of the properties of the functional materials. And then they will have the the capability of addressing, I mean this kind of question. And through gradual writing, I mean, of course, when the students are starting to write this kind of.

Publications for research. They're at their nascent stage of writing this research article, but gradual with the with the practice, the gradual writing, and my mentorship.

And thorough discussion with me and my collaborators at the at the international settings in Germany, France and Switzerland.

The students will be gradually able to write this kind of advanced technique, advanced ideas and articulate them properly on, on, on, on papers or on articles and we'll be able to publish in high impact Q1 channels.

Your strategy for guiding students in academic writing and presenting reflects a patient and comprehensive mentorship approach. By helping them identify fundamental research questions and gradually develop their articulation skills through consistent practice, collaboration, and international exposure, you set them on a trajectory for success in publishing high-impact work. Professor, let’s transition into a final topic. Given your background in research and mentorship, how do you balance the dual responsibilities of advancing your own research while providing adequate support and oversight for your students’ academic and research endeavors?

Sorry to interrupt, we're down to the last 5 minutes.

I don't think these are. Different things at all, because if my students understand the if my students do good academically and students do well in their research, that will also help me or or they go to different directions in research in, in different academic paths or in industry that will also build different collaborative environments within the within VIT and within other departments, other other institutes.

So I, I don't think that this advancement of my research and uh, uh, the, the, the, the.

The advancement of the, of the, of the students, uh, work are, are different at all. They are complementary to each other, uh, so the students understand the concept better, uh, the students will be able to do better research work and we'll be able to.

With this kind of complementary approach, we'll be able to do better research that will highlight Vit's role in advancing simulations or advancing techniques and theoretical techniques for functional materials as well.

Thank you, Professor, for sharing your perspective on integrating mentorship and research advancement. It’s clear you see these responsibilities as complementary, creating a collaborative ecosystem wherein your students’ progress can amplify your research contributions and elevate the institution’s stature in simulation and functional materials research. Is there anything further you’d like to add or clarify before concluding today’s discussion?

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to add, I mean show showcase my research work for this positions position in the functional material. I know the function material groups are already are already advancing different experimental techniques to fabricate to predict properties of.

Different materials like thin films, ceramics and other.

Advanced material studies. So what I'll be able to add to this group is my expertise in molecular simulation, molecular modeling and advanced simulation techniques that will be able to add impact to the to the to the advanced experiments and we'll be able to add atomistic understanding of what is going on inside this kind of experiments.

So with this integration of my simulation techniques, already existing advanced experiments will be able to bring this centre of functional material to the forefront of material research in India and globally. So that's what I would like to add.

Thank you, Professor. Your vision for integrating molecular simulations with advanced experiments to provide atomistic insights showcases your ability to contribute uniquely to the research group. The synergistic approach you propose could indeed elevate the center for functional materials, both nationally and internationally. If you're ready to conclude the interview, please confirm.

Yeah, sure. Thank you.

To confirm, Professor, are you requesting to end the interview now? If so, please confirm explicitly.

Yes, please.