Bharath completed his five-year Integrated Master's program in Chemistry from National Institute of Technology Rourkela, India (NITR) in 2018. His background is a conjunction of materials and physical chemistry along with fundamental knowledge in biology, chemical engineering, mathematics, physics, and programming (C, C++, R, FORTRAN).

Research Experience

• M.Sc. thesis-Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) & Gold nanorods (Au NRs) nano-conjugates for Photothermal (PTT) therapy applications (Jul '16- May '18, Supervisor: Dr. Supratim Giri)

• Kupcinet-getz summer science school at Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel - worked on Selective self-assembly of photoresponsive gold nanoparticles (Jun '17- Aug '17, Supervisor: Prof. Rafal Klajn )

• Indian Academy of Science Summer Research Fellow (IAS-SRFP) - performed the design & synthesis of two tri-peptides and investigated their self-assembling properties in solution phase at Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Kolkata (May '16- Jul '16, Supervisor: Prof. Arindam Banerjee )

• Summer research fellow at CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar-conducted synthesis of Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles and investigated its application towards photoelectrochemical water splitting to produce H₂ from H₂O (May '15- Jul '15, Supervisor: Dr. Yatendra Singh Chaudhary )

Accomplishments

• Institute Gold Medal for the Best Postgraduate with Integrated M.Sc. Degree (Jan '19)

• Institute Medal for Branch topper in Integrated M.Sc. Chemistry (Jan '19)

• Academic Excellence Award on NITR Foundation Day (Aug '17, '16, '15, '14)

• Summer research fellowships (IAS & Feinberg graduate school, WIS)

Mass spectrometry is an excellent tool for identifying the presence of proteins but it is noticeable that in more degraded samples, many fewer of the queries result in identified peptides. What are these missing fragment scans?

ModProD seeks to explore this phenomena of the unidentified fragment scans by degrading a simple model protein lysozyme. Lysozyme and its peptides will be degraded and the products of degradation analysed by three complementary analytical strategies (i) conventional proteomics (LC-MS/MS), (ii) FT-ICR-MS and (iii) chiral HPLC. ModProD will therefore generate data on the products of the decay of a simple model protein at an unprecedented level of detail. I will (a) analyse at three pH values in order to more fully understand (by comparison) the underlying mechanisms driving degradation and (b) will include a selection of mineral phases which have been postulated to retard (or catalyse) decay.

The data will be analysed using a range of statistical and mathematical approaches. A first attempt will be to model the decay process by an ODE system. The main aim of the statistical approach is to able make inference on the composition of the original sample through the composition of the degraded sample. For this, high quality experimental data is required.

I aim to broaden my research skills covering theoretical chemistry and pursue a research career focusing on proteomics. By adding the computational and mathematical techniques to the project, I will increase my competences and raise my international profile. TALENT doctoral fellowship program at the University of Copenhagen will provide a unique and challenging opportunity to carry-out cutting edge research in multidisciplinary fields like proteomics, nanoscience, and archaeology. Furthermore, it would enhance my capabilities to perform high quality research and inspire students to do the same.