Yeah, sure.

Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia

OK, so. I have completed my. PhD from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Where I actually. Worked on excited state photon transfer. Dynamics. Non adiabatic dynamics. In some. Small or medium sized molecular systems.

Right, so you focused on excited state photon transfer and non-adiabatic dynamics at IISc. What drew you to that area of research initially?

So excited state dynamics. Is mainly uh. Sorry, repeat. OK, so. The excited state proton transfer dynamics is basically. Uh, non adaptive dynamics is basically uh. So, uh. When a molecule absorbs light, it goes to the excited things if the molecule has proton donor and acceptor at the same like in the nearby locations inside the molecular systems. Then, uh, it actually. The proton transfer can happen when. Uh, absorb slide. And this excited state phenomena are unique and interesting because they. Have some unique characteristics of dual fluorescence and that also happens in ultrafast time scale. So this also brings another. Diabetes character here. So when the molecule comes back to the ground state. And from excited state. Then there are some. Crossings of excited state as well as with the ground state. So in that case it. The non adiabatic dynamic study becomes important for this kind of system. So that's what I have actually studied in my UH. Work during my PhD.

Professor, when you first start teaching an undergraduate chemistry course, what's one foundational concept you always emphasize in your first few lectures?

So, uh, undergase weight level. For chemistry. I uh, so I will talk about, uh, physical chemistry.

No, mainly. So in. Physical Chemistry.

Alright, you were about to talk about how you'd approach physical chemistry at the undergraduate level. Go on. Mm-hm.

Okay, so for physical chemistry—what's one specific concept you make sure students really grasp early on?

OK.

You seem to be thinking through how you'd introduce physical chemistry concepts, but I need you to pick one—what's a fundamental idea you make sure your students understand in those first lectures?

So in the. Physical Chemistry. So what? We initiate, uh, like. Yeah, students. Fundamental idea of physical chemistry is like. How, uh, we can physically interpret 1? Even or one. Chemical reactions. That's what actually in physical chemistry, we we study. And this. Physical chemistry include thermodynamics, then the. Electrochemistry. Then. Spectroscopy as well. So this thing. Basically gives us an idea about. How we? Actually physically interpret or we give a quantitative idea about what the reaction is doing or what. It is. That's what.

Alright, so you're saying you want students to grasp how physical chemistry lets us quantitatively interpret chemical reactions—using thermodynamics, electrochemistry, and spectroscopy. How do you check whether students actually understand that concept in your early classes?

Yeah, So the approach to this. This subjects. Uh, textbook based and concept based. This are slightly different. So I will actually. Try to make them understand what the concept. The fundamental concept of any. Uh, reactions like if we, if I'm talking about the how to measure the concentration smaller, uh, conductivity, all these topics, then I. First, try to make them understand the concept.

You published a paper in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics in 2025 titled "Excited state proton transfer in 2-(oxazol-2-yl)-3-hydroxychromone"—when you've taught advanced undergraduates or mentored students, how did you use insights from that research to make the topic accessible for them?

And and I will. Actually. One to give them a. Concept based assignment or concept based umm. Classwork. To to so. The. I can make a guess that they have actually understand. Yeah, OK. So. 1st the basic idea I have to make them understand. So the basic idea of my work is that excited state proton transfer. So first I have to make them understand what is excited state. So today undergraduate student who doesn't have much idea about the potential energy surface, what is ground state? What is excited state? So I have to make them understand actually what is potential energy surface?

You mentioned needing to explain potential energy surfaces to undergraduates before discussing excited state proton transfer. Can you share a specific technique or analogy you've used in class to make potential energy surfaces intuitive for students who've never seen them before?

I, I I want to. Now make them understand in a very simple language like. Yeah, I'll say that the molecule at. Yes.

Alright, you were about to explain how you simplify potential energy surfaces for students—how do you actually describe the concept in plain language so they can picture it?

So my. Uh, idea will be. So the. Yes, that's what I am saying, that the potential energy surface is basically a surface or landscape. For the molecule where actually molecule sits. So like. We are on the art. So this is also a landscape. We are in underground state and we are saying. Exactly like that. The molecule also stays in a surface or in a landscape. For where its energy is stabilized, it's the molecule is stable in that condition. But there are some incident that happens actually. Where molecule absorbs light. It gains energy. And it gets exciting then this excited energy, actually with this excited energy, the model. Both to the a high energy surface. That means. The molecule where actually it was. The energy was. Stable that landscape. It is. The molecule is no more in that landscape after absorption or light or something. And it travels to an excited state where energy is higher.

Okay, so you use the analogy of a landscape to make potential energy surfaces more relatable for students, comparing the molecule's stable and excited states to moving across different terrains. When you introduce non-adiabatic transitions—where the molecule hops between these surfaces—how do you help students visualize or grasp that part, especially if they're struggling with the concept?

So that is called excited state landscape. Excited State Landscape also has same features. Like in the ground state. So that is basically the molecule travels in that landscape. These landscape are. Potential analysis. Yeah, so. As I have already mentioned the molecule, when it absorbs energy, it goes to the excited state. That excited state is also a surface landscape. Where molecule travels for some time, but ultimately the molecule doesn't. So any molecule when it gets energy. Then it doesn't want to be in that excited. My state for all the time. Ultimately, the landscape. Of this excited state has to come back, there should be a part. That actually brings spectrum molecule to the. Ground state. That means where the molecule was stable. Energy was stable. So that. When this excited state landscape. And the ground state landscape cross at some point and. Through which the molecule can easily comes from the excited state.

Professor, given your work on excited state proton transfer dynamics, where do you see the most promising and fundable research directions over the next three years? Which grants or funding sources would you pursue to support that work?

Tutta State. Does those flows? There's those reasons. Where this excited state NRZ and the ground state energy? I.

Right, let's shift to teaching. Suppose you're running a session on quantum chemistry for 200 undergraduates, and you can't use slides or a traditional lecture. How would you make sure students are actively engaged and actually grappling with the core concepts?

OK. So I have to. I will I if I am. Uh, not allowed to use uh, any slides. Or traditional lecture I have to speak.

OK. So I have to. I will I if I am. Uh, not allowed to use uh, any slides.

Okay, so if slides are off the table, what's one active learning technique you'd use—maybe small group discussions, a physical demonstration, or something else—to make quantum chemistry concepts stick for a big undergraduate class?

You mentioned concept-based assignments and classwork earlier,

And say the Quan uh. OK. So my belief is that concept face. Education is still a very. Underrated in our education culture. So concept based to have a good concept as you have mentioned. This group discussion. Then a research paper study as. A group, Uh. And both experimental research paper theory research paper discussed in a. Group and. Have like discussed about the problem in depth is very important. So The thing is that. We have to start from the very basic, fundamental thing. But we have to show. Other students the idea. That it's not only the, uh, the. Textbook based or whatever written in the paper is important. We have to show them how to think about that problem and. What direction or what logic we have to apply to solve that problem in that direction if we. Teach them in that direction during undergraduate or masters level students also. Then I think research will be in a good directions in any institute.

You emphasized concept-based education and deep group discussions, which is great for student engagement. But for accreditation, you need tangible evidence—like consistent rubrics or learning outcomes across courses. What's your first practical step to get faculty aligned and ensure assessment data is reliable?

So The thing is that I actually. In that case. Yeah, I know that they we need the, it's not like only the concept development. So we have to see how much developing. How much they are actually getting what we are or what is written or what the concept we are trying to deliver. To that so in that case actually we. This marks base like this MCQ type or this type questions are not very. Full according to me. So. 2 concept based I. Thus group uh. Group project. Group project. This I think a great idea. We can we can ask the student to develop a problem.

Simple problem. But at least. At that by. That they will get how to think about a problem by reading.

You’re saying group projects are a better way to measure real understanding than MCQs or rote marks, and you’d have students develop their own problems. But when faculty are used to traditional assessments,

Alright, so you'd want students to create simple problems themselves to help them learn how to approach and think about chemistry challenges. How would you document or track the effectiveness of this method for accreditation purposes—is it just student feedback, or is there a specific system you'd use?

OK, so this. The online feedback is not sufficient. According to me, so uh. The uh, so when? If student decide one problem. Then we can actually make a guess that how much the student have studied about that. That problem? How much research work research. Much paper or how much textbook pick knowledge he or she has, uh, regarding that problem?

So you'd look at the depth of student-generated problems as evidence of their learning and research engagement, rather than just relying on online feedback. That makes sense for tracking conceptual growth. Beyond teaching and research, what role do you see yourself playing in department-level governance—curriculum committees, program reviews, that kind of thing?

That comes from that point. So I can I can make assessment that yeah does this students is. Doing this much of the giving this much of. Yeah. I actually the program reviewed our curriculum activity. I can get engaged and I have that actually also helped me to. Get. Uh, like involved in? Development of. Also. So and make. A department held for further developing. New weekend. We uh, all the faculties can get together. Think about some new ideas that we can imply on the students and that's how we can develop our teaching procedure as well as our other, like how to evaluate. Does students. Capable, I mean the students, how they are doing during the academics. That's why I think.

You mentioned getting involved in program reviews and curriculum activities, and helping the department develop new teaching and evaluation ideas. That's important for governance. When it comes to meeting accreditation standards, how would you ensure that your contributions in these areas are documented and recognized during official audits?

I want. To involve on those things so that we can help the students to. Mode and we. Will have a. Better future for our. Official audience.

Professor, picture this: you’re guiding a student project, and the student comes to you with experimental data that looks a bit too perfect—almost like it’s been tweaked to fit the expected results. Meanwhile, the department is pushing for higher student research output to boost rankings. How do you handle the situation?

So documented and. Those things we actually this is not. This will not be my personal. Team so we have to like make. OK. So this is actually a. When the data is. Too much perfect and we have to evaluate the data. And if it is going for a research. Journal. Then we have to we cannot ignore this kind of things, like if there is a mistake, some or something. So we have. To actually evaluate those data, whether it is a very pressure. Conditions or something like that, but we cannot. Uh, misconcept give. Society A. Miss or it uh. Incorrect data. So we have to look into that data.

It may be a quick review, but we have to look into the data and. We have to make sure that the data we are. Providing is actually correct. Or there is no. Incorrect data we are providing.

Professor, thinking about your background in excited state proton transfer and computational chemistry,

You’re saying you’d review the data carefully and make sure nothing misleading gets published, even if the department’s under pressure. Thinking about your experience—have you ever collaborated with industry partners or companies where students could get hands-on experience or internships in chemistry?

Have I have not collaborated with any industry?

Understood. Let’s shift gears a bit. Professor, you’ve worked extensively in theoretical and computational chemistry. Imagine you’re designing a new elective course on hydrogen storage—how would you balance teaching the fundamental theory with hands-on lab or simulation activities for students?

In my in my career right until now. And. I have. For intensive.

You mentioned you haven't collaborated with industry. For the hydrogen storage elective, how would you make sure students still get practical exposure—would you use simulation software, lab experiments, or maybe invite guest speakers from industry?

OK, so lab experiments also we have to set up along. That it will be great if we can also bring some, uh, guest lecture from the industry. So that people. But students can have a better idea about the the. Uh, no about the this things. And lab experiments, Yes, we have to, actually. Ma'am, make this to make the students understand we have. To prepare the students for this lab experiments because that is also important and that's how it I think. We can make the students also grow as well as. We can. If I don't have much idea about this topic, then we have to. My guest lecturer from the industry to make the student under students understand. About that. About a talk.

You emphasized the importance of reviewing data carefully and not letting anything misleading slip through, even when things get busy. Switching to your teaching style—how do you make sure your lectures and lab sessions are structured so that even the students who struggle can follow along and engage with the material?

Yeah, and and for sure I have to read.

You said you'd need to read and prep before teaching, which is fair. When you’re explaining a tough chemistry concept—like molecular orbital theory—to students who are struggling, how do you break it down so they actually get it?

OK.

Alright, so when you're teaching molecular orbital theory, what's your go-to analogy or explanation that helps students who are really struggling to visualize the concept?

So to get. The So this is when teaching some. Tough comput. Yes, so this when we have to discuss about like this topics where molecular orbitality, although I am currently doing research and I have not gone through molecular orbital theory for a long time, but when we have. When I first thing will be that I have to revise those concept very clearly. And KEF. They like like. I very clearly so that I can deliver. Properly. And starting from the basic stuff, so. This from atomic. Level 2 This molecular orbital. I have to start from the basic things. Then I have to take a talk about how the overlap of this molecular orbitals actually takes place. What molecular orbitals basically. Uh, tails? And what are the bigger pictures from the? Orbital weekend. So then. We have I have to give. So now I have to teach them with some examples of. Molecule where? We can explain this molecular orbital theory. So basically if we. Start from an. Uh, start from a very basic. Uh, this complicated problem A complicated topic, but if you start from it. Explaining the simple thing then. Simple concept and then give start giving example and then. That steadily increase the level of the. Concept and. Make them understand grabs these things like this. The hierarchy of. The, uh, hot map. Thinking harder about that problem also. Increases steadily. Then I think students can get those topics.

You said you'd start from basic atomic concepts and build up step-by-step, using simple examples to help students grasp molecular orbital theory. That's a thoughtful approach. Shifting focus, can you share a bit about your experience with student evaluation—how do you make sure exam questions truly test understanding, not just rote memorization?

Easily instead. Credit offers giving. The topic understanding 1st and then examples later so I believe that. Exam questions should be actually very conceptual concept basis. So I strongly believe in this that this that memorizing. Type like when the student had. Student. One student has to memorize something. That kind of questions are not very uh. Fruitful, I think. That's how we cannot. Does a student work? Which which ones? Which students?

Is. Meritorious. Or which one is doing actually hard working on? On that particular whatever topic.

You’re pretty clear that conceptual questions are the way to go for exams and that memorization doesn’t really help students understand chemistry. Now, in your own research—especially around excited state proton transfer—have you published any work in reputed journals, and if so, which area did your papers focus on?

Alright.

My my papers has gone for PCCP, Physical chemistry and Chemical physics and in ZPCA. And all the. All the research of my research paper from my PhD work are very conceptual basis based. And I uh, the concept is very simple. But we are trying to model to find out a very fundamental problem, that is the proton transfer problem. What's this happening on the excited state? Photon transfer is a very fundamental thing. A fundamental problem when donor. Molecule. Present near 10 acceptor molecule. Then the proton can easily goes from the donor side to the acceptor side. That is a very fundamental problem, but. When this happened? In the ultra first time scale and when this happened, the excited state. How does dynamics propagate? How the molecule behaves in the excited state? How the molecule decides to comes from the excited states to the ground state?

Okay, so your papers are in PCCP and ZPCA, and you’re tackling the fundamental dynamics of excited state proton transfer.

And why coming? Why the molecule is taking only that part? Not the other part. So first thing will be that we. My students, I have to give them. A very basic research paper where actually. The very simple concept. Uh, what is happening? They like proton transfer and what is excited state dynamic, how it is happening. It's the simple concept. I will give some research paper to them. Right. Ask them to try to make them try to understand those. Few simple concepts. I'll help them to understand those. Then I'll explain what is actually happening and how. We are a. Like how the problem is evolving during the research work, only how they have. Actually studied. How they find out the problem and then that's how how? A step they have. They have gone to the. Ending of the order conclusion part. So I will make them understand that. That first then. I give I. Ask them or I will tell them a broader idea.

Taking that research paper as as a broader review like. We can do this kind of. The thing in other molecules also. Then I.

You said you'd give students foundational papers and help them understand the basics before laying out the broader research idea. When a student gets stuck midway through their project—maybe struggling to interpret simulation results or connect theory to experiment—how do you support them without giving away the answer?

You’re thinking about expanding the research topic to other molecules, which makes sense for guiding student projects. Switching gears, have you had any experience consulting for industry or working on applied chemistry projects outside academia?

No, I don't have any experience. Working in industry.

No worries, not everyone has industry experience. For your teaching, do you feel comfortable designing and running laboratory courses alongside theory, or would you need support setting up practical experiments?

For practical experiments, I. I have during my masters and Bsci have also, uh, gone uh, like I have also done uh.

So you've handled practical experiments during your master's and bachelor's, but I'm curious—are you comfortable designing new lab modules for advanced courses, or do you mostly stick to established protocols?

Practical for. Although I during my PhD I have only my focus was only for. I I will definitely. Try to make new module. The old modules that actually, uh. No, in the lab. UH students are. The doing is a. Are not very efficient, I will say so. I want to give it a try to give some new technique or new. A chemistry experiment so that. Actually, we can. Uh, that can help. To grow the students as well.

You want to introduce new techniques and experiments to make lab work more effective for students, which is great. When you design those new modules,

And this experimental laboratory. The thing is that starting from the. Uh, very basic concept. So the problems happens. Uh, when, uh, as a teacher, I think the problems happens when we. Do not sit in the students position and see how actually the problem. Or or how can? How is? New student or a? New Press. Phase that kind of problem. So. The first thing will be that I have to. See to them, talk to them what they are facing problem, What is the basic idea they have not understood. 1st I have to make them understand. Understand the those basic ideas. And then I have to. Ask them to what? In the laboratory or whatever they are doing, but. The thing is that first. The the basic. The basic chemistry we have to understand.

Basic chemistry we have to make them understand. And that's I think. Every teacher's responsibility. And I also.

Alright, we're wrapping up. Is there anything you'd like to ask about the role or the team?

Yeah, supporting students with basic chemistry is absolutely part of the job. Before we finish up, Dr., is there anything you'd like to ask about the position, the department, or the team?

Yes, I actu. I want to ask about SO. Uh. Yes, I want to ask about the. Yeah, uh, so we have to take. For faculty. Has to take classes as well as the. Research work also, we have to handle that. My role as assistant professor. That I think. Both role we have to handle. Ready. Prominently, I guess that's what.