Hi, Arjun Are you there?

Yeah, I'm here. Just making sure we're both set. Can you walk me through a research project you've led that you believe best demonstrates your expertise in theoretical physics?

Yeah, I have. Basically worked in. Magnetic materials. That that are applicable for various applications. The defense and automobile applications. So. So in order to. Uh, study those materials We need to do experiments as well as DfT calculations. Which allows us to correlate the magnetic properties and understand them. How it is happening at the atomic level? And the spin spin level. So in order to do that, we accommodate both experimental and theory.

Okay, so you combined density functional theory with experiments to connect atomic-level structure with magnetic properties, especially for defense and automotive applications. When you ran into discrepancies between your DFT predictions and your experimental results, how did you approach resolving them?

OK if there are any discrepancies between DfT predictions and experimental. So. First, what we do is we do DfT. We do iterations. Several iterations. Then uh. Whatever, uh. Experimental results We are cap. Getting it. We tried to correlate it. Why the experiment is coming this way and why the VFP calculations is going in another way? And we try to resolve if there is. Minority. Of discrepancies in our experience. Experiments. Then we we try to redo the experiments again.

Alright, so you rerun both your experiments and your DFT calculations iteratively to track down the source of any mismatches. Can you give me a concrete example where this process led you to discover something unexpected about the material's magnetic behavior?

Yeah, actually I was studying some alloys. In which I have doped. Some interstitial atoms like boron and all. Then in that my. Thermal hysteresis has reduced a lot. So I my. Name was to reduce the thermal hysteresis, so after doping boron. It has really reduced a lot. So whatever I was expecting, so that was coming. So then after the calculations. Through several Exadi refinement and also through DFP calculations, we came to know that. This is due to the interstitial occupancy which is altering the. Atomic distances. Which is why the magnetic properties are getting tuned.

Okay, so after doping boron into those alloys, you saw a big reduction in thermal hysteresis, and your calculations pointed to interstitial occupancy changing atomic distances — that’s a nice connection between theory and experiment. If you were to teach this finding to an advanced undergraduate class, how would you break down the link between interstitial doping and the observed changes in magnetic properties?

OK. So you have a crystal structure. So what happens if you uh, when I, uh, take any magnetic material? So. In a magnetic material. An alloy behaves in a certain way. And it it shows high magnetic properties or any of the exotic properties it shows. Based on its atomic distance, lattice configuration, etcetera and all. So when you dope something into it. So in order to students to understand, I would draw the crystal structure and I would make them understand that how this interstitial atom is going and altering the. Atomic distance between 22 atoms occupied at several sites. And then make them understand that what is that? Atomic distance uh uh. What is the importance of that atomic system is uh. Atomic distance. So if you take the Slater calling curve. So in that. There is a relation between the atomic distance and exchange coupling. So if you vary the atomic distance, the exchange coupling also varies. And it goes from positive to negative. So in this way, in this exchange, coupling is strongly correlated to the magnetic systems. So it can. Make the ferromagnetic system to antiferromagnetic system. So that's how I'll make students understand by using several Slater, polling curve, etc.

Alright, you’d use the crystal structure, Slater-Pauling curves, and the idea of atomic distance changes to help students visualize why magnetic properties shift with interstitial doping. If a student challenged your explanation and suggested that other factors—like electron correlation or sample purity—could also affect the magnetic transition, how would you address that in class?

Yeah, definitely. There are certain other factors also which affect the purity of the sample etcetera. But first we will make sure. First thing when we prepare an alloy or something. First thing is that we check the face purity. And the other things and then only come to the this. Clarification that it depends on the atomic distance. Of course, electronic configuration also matters a lot.

So you make sure you’ve checked phase purity and other variables before drawing conclusions about atomic distance effects—makes sense. When you present these findings at a conference, how do you tailor your explanation differently for a room full of experts compared to teaching undergraduates?

OK. When it is showing on the conference, I would also. Present some of the. A substantiating results with these. Which see, when I'm presenting the conference, I would want everybody to understand like who doesn't have a knowledge of the subject also should understand. So I would rather start from the basics and go towards the high end telling that. What is the Slater calling curve and how it? Impacts and how? Here I have arrived at this conclusion. So like that in. In that manner I would like to, but I won't take much time. I would maybe talk about that for one minute or so. Whereas in the classroom I would go in the detail so that the students may understand and visualize it. Practically.

Alright, so even at conferences you start from the basics for clarity but keep it brief, while in the classroom you go into more depth so students can really visualize the concepts. Shifting gears, Dr., tell me about a time when you had to revise your research approach significantly due to unexpected results or limitations—how did you handle that?

OK.

Right, so you’re saying you’ve had to adjust your approach before, but I’d like to hear more about the specifics. Can you walk me through a particular project where you faced results that didn’t match your expectations and what exact changes you made to your research plan?

OK. So I was dealing with the rare earth permanent, rare earth free permanent magnet. So in that, it was a very crucial system. So obtaining single phase was. Very important for that. In order to get. The desired uh. Desired magnetic properties. So in that sample I have at least spent. Few months 7 to 8 months in obtaining the. Face in certain through. Low low ball milling. I mean. Ball Millet, for one. One minute and or so so in the literature it was reported the. You can volume it for half an hour or so. But it was not that. Easy. So I had to reiterate. I formed the system and I. I used to observe and I. You should follow the literature trend. I used to observe that. My magnetization is drastically dropping down, so we have invented a method in which. We were giving. Pause time so that the heat generates. It would not alter the magnetic properties in that. And also we were doing wet milling during our phase. And we have also optimized. That at what temperature and time? We can get the single phase and it can be retained.

Alright, so you spent months iterating on the synthesis with ball milling, even introducing pause times and wet milling to prevent heat-induced property changes, which led to successfully retaining the single phase. Stepping back, how did you decide when to pivot your methodology versus persisting with the established literature protocols?

Yeah, because it was not at all giving us any magnetic properties, which was reported in the literature. Then I was thinking that maybe the Wiles may be the problem the contamination is happening or so. But then when I took the phase diagram. And understood the crystal structure. Time temperature graph. I understood that. Then I came to know that it is a. It is a single line compound. Even if you deviate slightly. Also you may land up in different phases. Which are not magnetic. So I wanted that particular phase, so in order to make it happen that a single phase. So I need to follow these procedures. So that's how I landed up in following my own technique, and that has been reported in literature, I think, which would be useful for the. Upcoming researchers.

So you realized the phase diagram was key, and only by digging into the time-temperature relationship and understanding the narrow stability of that compound could you adjust your process and get the right results. Switching gears, can you describe a time when you collaborated with industry—say, for a consultancy project or applied research—and how you balanced academic rigor with industry needs?

I did not. To collaborate with the industry, I always collaborated with the academic institutes, of course. So I worked in an industry. But that was on a different topic. I have never. Collaborated with an industry.

Alright, so your collaborations have mostly been with academic institutions, not industry. Let’s talk about teaching—can you give an example of how you’ve adapted your teaching style to help students struggling with a core physics concept?

Yeah, coming to the. Example I would like to start from the basics to the students like giving day-to-day life example and giving them the key insights about the topic. For example, if you take a magnetic material, I would like to emphasize them, think them, make them think that what is that? Why is magnetic material so important? So I would. Like to ask them. Can you list out the magnet? Uh. The places where magnet is being used. Like right now, you're sitting in the room, you're with your mobile phones. So it has a magnet inside it. So that way, can you tell me certain examples where in an household outside you would like? You would uh, uh. Encounter magnets. So from there I would start and I would tell them what what are the magnetic. The materials and. What are the important terms in magnetic materials? Like magnetic permeability susceptibility? Coercivity. And how does this magnetism arrives? At all. So this arrives due to the spin orbit coupling the. The spin and it revolves around the orbit as well as it the spins around itself. So that is the basic origin of the magnetism. And also I would like to emphasize that is. That this is a not very new phenomena. This is a way old phenomena wherein. People have observed this phenomenon in lodestone. And then it has. Uh, various stages. So I would like to emphasize that. Magnetic materials have. Various applications not only in automobiles in. Biomedical Applications. And in. In other applications also. And coming to magnetic materials, I would like to tell them. What are the key insights? What are the important terms? And how the domains exist. And what is the? The root cause of the existence of domains. And how there are various types of magnetic materials. Like ferromagnet, anti ferromagnet. Ferrimagnet para and diam. Materials. And how they behave. Etc and all. And at last I would uh. Make sure that they would have their answers on that tongue tip. Not only by heart. They they would remember it so. They can never forget.

So you start by grounding physics concepts in everyday experiences, ask students to identify where they encounter magnets, then build up to the core physical principles and terminology, making sure they remember rather than memorize. How do you handle a situation where, despite your efforts, a few students still struggle with the foundational math behind these concepts?

Maybe I can ask them to come to me separately where I can dedicate more time to them and help them to understand it. If they're not following in one class, I may split the class and I. And moreover I am. The ready to impart my knowledge and. Ask them to come whenever they are free so that I can make them understand, sit and understand in a manner which they want. They would like to. Hello.

Maybe I can ask them to come to me separately where I can dedicate more time to them and help them to understand it. If they're not following in one class, I may split the class and I. And moreover I am. The ready to impart my knowledge and. Ask them to come whenever they are free so that I can make them understand, sit and understand in a manner which they want. They would like to. Hello. Are you there?

So you're open to meeting students one-on-one or in small groups and adapting your explanations until the math makes sense for them. Can you share a specific instance where this approach led to a turnaround for a student who was really struggling?

Yeah, I’m here. So you’re willing to spend extra time with students outside class and even split the group to target their specific needs—can you share a concrete example where a student you worked with one-on-one made a noticeable improvement in understanding or performance?

Yeah, during my tenure at year CIA, I had one student. He was a PhD student. So nobody was willing to take him for register him. With him for PhD or guide him for PhD? Uh, because his concepts were not so clear and he he was. Finding it difficult to follow the subject. So I have helped him in understanding the subject. Involving in. In my work and understanding. How how we can work? Together and. Get the work done. Understand the concepts of. The work which are which we are doing. Later on, he submitted his thesis. Uh. Uh, with me. As a Co guide. And my and the main guide was my. Director at that time. So that is how high health. My student in understanding the basic concept and not only this. I have. Trained and mentored various Mtech. And embassy students. Masters students. For their uh projects.

Okay, so you served as a co-guide for a student who was struggling, invested the time to help him grasp the fundamentals, and he was ultimately able to complete and submit his thesis—that’s a real impact. Let’s pivot to something more research-focused: suppose you’re tasked with developing a new course module that integrates machine learning into advanced physics topics. How would you design an assignment that helps students connect the theory of machine learning to a real-world physics application?

See, I don't have any. Uh, experience and uh. Machine Learning. So what I understand is that maybe I will also sit with them and 1st I'll try to understand what. How we can interpret Machine Learning into our research? By collaborating with the various colleagues at VIT Vellore. Or VIT Chennai. And then all my academic institutes. And then? Together with my student, I can ask them to learn. And based on our subject and our samples, we can, uh. We can design the course. Like generate a library? Of the samples. With their properties. And how these materials will behave? And at what temperature it would be required? What phase is required for getting the? For getting the properties that. We desire.

Alright, you’d approach it as a shared learning journey with your students—working with colleagues to design a dataset from your own physics samples and properties, then using that as a bridge to machine learning. Given that, what do you see as the biggest challenge in getting physics students comfortable with computational tools like machine learning, and how would you help them overcome it?

Set Machine Learning is a new subject for me so. Maybe what I understand is that first you need to have that software. Then you need to get hands on on that software. So, uh. Maybe a little bit of training would be required for me and the students also. To come over it and start. Uh, start with it. Are you there?

Right, so you see hands-on software training as the first hurdle, and you’d invest time learning alongside your students. Considering your approach, how would you assess whether students are actually gaining confidence with these computational tools during the course?

I would give them a timely assignments. So that and monitor them whether they are completing in time and follow up with them.

So you’d use regular assignments and track completion to monitor confidence with computational tools. If a student consistently struggles to finish those assignments, what steps would you take to help them get back on track?

If you're struggling with that. I would also ask him. I would also ask the student. What is the problem that is that he is struggling with that and try to help him. Make it easy for him. And make him understand. That why it is important and why it is uh. Crucial for our. Uh, research topic or for his uh. Curriculum. To understand that. Topic SO. Basically, I would sit down and crack it. And help out. Because I cannot. Just like that clip and. Skip the portions.

Alright, so your focus is on understanding the student’s struggle and working through it together, rather than skipping material. Shifting to research for a moment—how do you decide which topics to pursue for publication, especially when balancing novelty, feasibility, and the potential for real-world impact?

Yeah, the topics which I would like to pursue is that see first. First I was following the. My PhD topic because I I was into. The magnetic material. So in that I would like to search who are the major people that are working and what is the novel? And how they are doing? So from that, what extra can I? Can be done. What is? Where is the gap in the research that can that I can fulfill? And either I can. Minimize the time. Temperature or. Reduce the cost. So in that way I would like to see. 1st I daily I would like to study the Scopus. And. The research articles which are there. Several research groups what they are doing. And I would also like. To put my research so that it can be applicable for the society also.

So you’re looking for research gaps by studying what leading groups are publishing, especially on Scopus, and aim to make your work both novel and socially relevant. When you identify a research gap, how do you ensure your proposed project is feasible within your available resources and time frame?

So when I identify a research gap. So I first I would like to see whether it is feasible or not, whether I have the infrastructure, proper infrastructure. Where I can? Follow up that research or not. Otherwise, I would like to collaborate with the people and approach. Collab the labs where these facilities are there. Talk with them. Discuss with them and come with a proper research plan.

So when I identify a research gap. So I first I would like to see whether it is feasible or not, whether I have the infrastructure, proper infrastructure. Where I can? Follow up that research or not. Otherwise, I would like to collaborate with the people and approach. Collab the labs where these facilities are there. Talk with them. Discuss with them and come with a proper research plan. Or I can also write a research proposal. Which can help me in developing the infrastructure. In the lab, which is not. Present to fulfill that research gap.

So you look at whether you have the infrastructure, and if not, you reach out to other labs for collaboration and build a plan together. When you do end up collaborating with another lab or institution for resources, how do you make sure your research goals and theirs stay aligned throughout the project?

See, that's very easy. That's mutual. Before discussing any research, that's how the researchers come to a discussion. That if at all it works out, you need to give them authorship and all. Prior to that, we would like to approach the institute. Also like wherever institute I'm working in, I would like to know the rules and policies. Whether so and so, I'm going to send my sample or I'm going to do the experiments there. Is it feasible? And if any good results come? So can we together publish or not? So these are the things which I would like to follow. First is the institute rules. The authorship. For authorship rules, how it? Volvo S etc and all. And if any patent? Etcetera is there then? We have to. We have to discuss with the Institute Dean. Or whoever tattoos this problem. So how how credit should be given?

Alright, so you’re clear that everything about authorship and credit gets discussed upfront, and you check your institution’s policies before moving forward. Now, when it comes to research publications, how do you ensure your work meets the ethical standards expected in peer-reviewed journals?

Yeah, we need to check it in plagiarism. So. There is a software which checks the plagiarism. And we go to the journal and we read all the scope and. The the rules and policies. So before submitting we we circulate the journal to all the authors. Get their consent that this is the final form of the publication. Are you ready? And we are going to submit it. And submit for the plagiarism check so that any plagiarism should not be there. And get the concern from the Institute. Also the director. The beam. Uh, to publish the result and uh. And that is free of cost.

Yeah, you make sure all authors give consent and run a plagiarism check before submission, and you’re careful about institutional sign-off. Looking back at your experience mentoring graduate students, what’s one way you help them avoid common pitfalls when writing their first research article?

The common pitfalls is that. They should. The message should be very clear. And it should not be over exaggerated or uh. It should be the. If a common man should also be able to understand the English, should be proper. And also the science. Depth should be proper. So that is how the common. Calls are. I would like to. There would be several rough drafts before coming into the. Final version.

So you emphasize clarity and accessibility in your students’ writing, making sure the science is sound but also that anyone can follow the argument, and you have them go through multiple drafts. When you’re helping a student revise their draft, how do you balance correcting their errors with encouraging them to develop their own scientific voice?

I will tell them what was my experience when I was writing my first paper. So that this happens with everybody, so. This is a learning state, so slowly, slowly when you become the corresponding author. Then in the next paper you would refine yourself more. Perfectly so that's how I would encourage them.

So you'd share your own experiences to normalize the early struggles and reassure them it's a process—encouraging, not just correcting. On the topic of teaching, Professor, how do you adapt your lecture style when you notice students are disengaged or not following the material?

OK, I would like to ask them why they are not. Following it and I would ask them the feedback. And I would like to ask them how they want me to. Teach and or. If it is a PowerPoint presentation. Or my talking. Or should I take them to lab? And make them more engaging so that they help. They they would like to understand the subject. Also I would like to take them send them to some summer interns and all. So that they. They can understand. Uh, topics very nicely.