Follow the links below to a description of the project, identify the appropriate project based on your interest, knowledge and skills, and enter the faculty name and project code on the web registration form

You can find more information on the research interests of each faculty member on their IISER-Pune web pages

Some of the faculty are offering more than one project

We may add more projects here even while the application process is open.
Should you wish to change your choice for this, or any other, reason just apply once more on the registration page.
We will only consider your last entry.

CODE:  BIO-01
SUPERVISOR: Ghose, Aurnab
PROJECT: Mechanisms of axonal pathfinding
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: The project will investigate cytoskeletal processes underlying accurate pathfinding by neuronal processes
DURATION: Upto 10 weeks. Has to end by July 24.
KNOWLEDGE: not applicable
SKILLS: not applicable
more info

CODE:  BIO-02
SUPERVISOR: Krishnan, Anand
PROJECT: Avian acoustics and sound propagation
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: This project aims to understand sound propagation in natural environments, using birds as an experimental subject, and integrating acoustics, computation and behavioral analysis.
DURATION: 1 May - 20 June
KNOWLEDGE: B.Sc 2nd year physics, and B.Sc 3rd year or M.Sc first year Ecology, Environmental Sciences or Wildlife Biology
SKILLS: MATLAB coding, acoustics and acoustic data analysis, field identification of birds, formal field experience (preferred), skill with sound recording and/or videography (preferred).
more info

CODE:  BIO-03
SUPERVISOR: Dey, Sutirth
PROJECT: Effects of dispersal evolution
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: In this project, we are going to assay various life-history and behavioural traits in Drosophila melanogaster.
DURATION: 8 weeks
KNOWLEDGE: Basic biology and willingness to work with flies.
SKILLS: None
more info

CODE:  BIO-04
SUPERVISOR: Dey, Sutirth
PROJECT:
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: Microbial experimental evolution
DURATION: 8 weeks
KNOWLEDGE: Basic biology
SKILLS: basic microbiological techniques
more info

CODE:  BIO-05
SUPERVISOR: Pananghat, Gayathri
PROJECT: Cloning and overexpression of proteins
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: The project will involve making relevant constructs for protein purification, and protein structure analysis.
DURATION: 25th May to 15th July
KNOWLEDGE: BSc level Biochemistry
SKILLS: Nil
more info

CODE:  BIO-06
SUPERVISOR: Ratnaparkhi, Girish
PROJECT: Drosophila Developmental Genetics
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: Use Drosophila genetics to address biological problems in development and disease
DURATION: 6-8 weeks May - July
KNOWLEDGE: None
SKILLS: None
more info

CODE:  BIO-07
SUPERVISOR: Matange, Nishad
PROJECT: Selection properties of pellicle forming mutants of E. coli
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: During a screen for mutants that survive better under low drug conditions, we previously isolated a mutant of E. coli that forms pellicles through the production of typeI fimbriae. This project invovles an investigation of the selection properties of fimbriated E. coli over non-fimbriated E. coli using a competetive growth paradigm. More details regarding the isolation of this mutant can be found at the following link: https://0-www-ncbi-nlm-nih
DURATION: eg. 5 weeks, during 25th May - 10th July
KNOWLEDGE: Basic microbiology and molecular biology
SKILLS: You'll learn on the job.
more info

CODE:  BIO-08
SUPERVISOR: Rajamani, Sudha
PROJECT: Prebiotic processes and the emergence of life
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: Project 1: Oligomerization of activated nucleotides under prebiotic conditions. Objectives: 1. Check for the stability and nonenzymatic oligomerization of activated nucleotides under lab simulated wet-dry cycles. 2. Check for the effect of amphiphiles as a co-solute on the aforementioned process. Project 2: Role of compositional heterogeneity on prebiotic self-assembly processes. Objective: 1. Delineating physico-chemical properties of mo
DURATION: 5-6 weeks, between 6th May 6 - 16th June
KNOWLEDGE: Minimum qualification: B.Sc 2nd year, a penchant for both Chemistry and Biology will be highly preferred.
SKILLS:
more info

CODE:  BIO-09
SUPERVISOR: Nadkarni, Suhita
PROJECT: Modelling synaptic plasticity
CATEGORY: Computational
DESCRIPTION: The project would involve writing computer programs to simulate mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity and its modifications in Alzheimer's Disease
DURATION: 8 weeks
KNOWLEDGE: Students pursuing Biology, Physics, Mathematics and Engineering are welcome to apply
SKILLS: Interest in Neuroscience, Scientific programing, Aptitude for quantitative methods
more info

CODE:  BIO-10
SUPERVISOR: Shashidhara, LS
PROJECT: Fly genetics and developmental biology
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION:
DURATION: 5 weeks, during 25th May - 10th July
KNOWLEDGE: B.Sc 2nd year Biology or 2-4 years of Integrated BS-MS
SKILLS:

CODE:  BIO-11
SUPERVISOR: Barua, Deepak
PROJECT: Functional Plant Ecology
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: The project will entail quantifying photosynthetic responses to increasing temperatures in plants grown in the greenhouse.
DURATION: 4-8 weeks, during 15th May - 15th July
KNOWLEDGE: B.Sc 2nd year Biology
SKILLS:
more info

CODE:  BIO-12
SUPERVISOR: Sengupta, Kundan
PROJECT: Nuclear architecture in cancer cells
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: Mechanisms of genome organization and function in cancer cells
DURATION: 15th May - 15th July
KNOWLEDGE: B.Sc 3rd Year
SKILLS: Cell culture, cloning, basic molecular and cell biology would be preferable
more info

CODE:  BIO-13
SUPERVISOR: Hazra, Amrita
PROJECT: Probing the source of microbes and their dynamics in a natural microbial community
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: Microbial communities play an important role in several processes in our environment and our everyday lives. However, little is known about the mutualistic interactions among the microbes and the biochemical reactions that occur in the community. In the first part of this project, we wish to identify the microbial members in a natural fermentation culture of dosa batter and study their dynamics. We will then isolate the dominant microbes in this
DURATION: 1st May to 7th June
KNOWLEDGE: B.Sc./ BTech 3rd Year or higher in any field of Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, etc.
SKILLS: Experience with microbiology
more info

CODE:  CHEM-01
SUPERVISOR: Mukherjee, Arnab
PROJECT: De novo drug design
CATEGORY: Computational
DESCRIPTION: I am looking for a student willing to program a part of my denovo drug design project.
DURATION: minimum 4 weeks
KNOWLEDGE: Require strong programming knowledge
SKILLS: C++ programming
more info

CODE:  CHEM-02
SUPERVISOR: Khan, Shabana
PROJECT: Synthesis of silver complexes of saturated silylene
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: This project involves synthesis of saturated silylene and its silver complexes. Being good sigma-donor and pi-acceptor silylene should complex silver in cationic form. These complexes will be used for catalytic applications.
DURATION: 8 weeks (15th May to 15th July)
KNOWLEDGE: Minimum B.Sc 2nd year Chemistry
SKILLS: Synthetic chemistry knowledge would be advantageous
more info

CODE:  CHEM-03
SUPERVISOR: Khan, Shabana
PROJECT: synthesis of pyrene substituted silylene
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: This project involves synthesis of pyrene substituted silylene which will be used for photophysical study.
DURATION: 8 weeks, during 15th May - 15th July
KNOWLEDGE: B.Sc 2nd year Chemistry
SKILLS: Synthetic chemistry knowledge would be advantageous
more info

CODE:  CHEM-04
SUPERVISOR: Srivatsan, SG
PROJECT: functionalized nucleoside as probes and self-assembling systems
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: The intern will synthesize modified nucleoside analogs and study their photophyscial properties. If time permits the modified nucleoside will be incorporated into DNA and RNA by chemical and enzymatic methods.
DURATION: May 15-July 15, 2019
KNOWLEDGE: Should have completed two years of B. Sc. majoring in Chemistry Masters students majoring in Chemistry Some basic knowledge of Biology is also good.
SKILLS: Laboratory experience in Chemistry and or in Biology
more info

CODE:  CHEM-05
SUPERVISOR: Majumdar, Moumita
PROJECT: Metal-free Catalysis
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: Developing efficient catalysts devoid of toxic and expensive transition metals is the target of this project. We will skillfully utilize low-valent main-group elements for this purpose.
DURATION: during 20th May - 15th July
KNOWLEDGE: B.Sc. in Chemistry
SKILLS: basic experimental knowledge
more info

CODE:  CHEM-06
SUPERVISOR: Venkatnathan, Arun
PROJECT: Molecular Simulations of Clathrate Hydrates
CATEGORY: Computational
DESCRIPTION: Prediction of clathrate hydrate nucleation and growth from Molecular simulations. The effect of guest molecules, temperature and pressure will be examined. Creation of Ice-Water, Water-Clathrate slabs. Design of force-field parameters for water molecules in Clathrate structures.
DURATION: 1 June to July 15
KNOWLEDGE: First year undergraduate knowledge of Physical Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics.
SKILLS: Prior programming knowledge and experience with running calculations or simulations will be useful.
more info

CODE:  CHEM-07
SUPERVISOR: Gnanaprakasam, Boopathy
PROJECT: Design of Continuous Flow Process for Pharmaceutical Drugs
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: Main goal of the project is to develop continuous flow process for the pharmaceutically important molecules. In this aspect, flow set up will be established to execute the process. Further, this process will be studied in scale up in multi-gram.
DURATION: 8 weeks, May-July
KNOWLEDGE: M. Sc chemistry or M. Tech Chemical engineering
SKILLS: Basic laboratory skills
more info

CODE:  CHEM-08
SUPERVISOR: Nag, Angshuman
PROJECT: Semiconductor Nanocrystal
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: Synthesis and optoelectronic properties of nanocrystals
DURATION: 8 weeks, during 15th May - 15th July
KNOWLEDGE: B.Sc 2nd year onward. Chemistry and Physics.
SKILLS: Basic Physical Chemistry understanding.

CODE:  CHEM-09
SUPERVISOR: Hazra, Partha
PROJECT: Synthesis and Photophysical Studies of Novel Multi-stimuli Responsive Material
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: Light is highly important to the human beings; as reflected by the scriptural description in genesis that the first creative act of God was to generate light. Light is one of the most mysterious things to the mankind, which has stimulated much effort from the early stage of civilization to decipher the light-emitting processes. Spectroscopist already invested much effort behind the classic studies of organic luminescence mainly in the solutio
DURATION: eg. 15th May - 15th July
KNOWLEDGE: eg. B.Sc 2nd year Chemistry/M.Sc 1st year and 2nd year Chemistry
SKILLS: Knowledge of Chemistry is sufficient to implement this proposal

CODE:  CHEM-10
SUPERVISOR: Chaudhury, Srabanti
PROJECT: Self assembly of polyelectrolytes
CATEGORY: Computational
DESCRIPTION: We are interested in studying charges systems and apply it to investigate the self-assembly of block polyelectrolytes in aqueous solutions. We would perform molecular dynamic simulations to investigate the formation of micelle structure in block copolymers. The simulations will be utilized to make comparisons with theories and experiments.
DURATION: 15th May - 30th June
KNOWLEDGE: minimum B.Sc 2nd year Chemistry and Biolog
SKILLS: programming in C, C++
more info

CODE:  CHEM-11
SUPERVISOR: Hazra, Amrita
PROJECT: Investigating primary metabolism and biochemical activity in a natural fermentation microbial community
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: Microbial communities play an important role in several processes in our environment and our everyday lives. However, little is known about the mutualistic interactions among the microbes and the biochemical reactions that occur in the community. In the second part of this project, we will study the major biochemical reactions conducted by these dominant microbes in the dosa batter in the process of fermentation. Finally, we will study whether su
DURATION: 27th May - 15th July
KNOWLEDGE: B.Sc./ BTech 3rd Year or higher in any field of Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, etc.
SKILLS: Experience and interest in biochemistry, microbiology
more info

CODE:  CHEM-12
SUPERVISOR: Ballav, Nirmalya
PROJECT: Graphene-Based Supercapacitors
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: Synthesis of Graphene Oxide and Reduced Graphene Oxide by Chemical Method. Electrochemical Characterization of rGO. Fabrication of all-solid-state Supercapacitors.
DURATION: 12 weeks May-July 2019
KNOWLEDGE: B.Sc in Chemistry or allied subject.
SKILLS: Wet-chemical synthesis.
more info

CODE:  CHEM-13
SUPERVISOR: Vaidhyanathan, Ramanathan
PROJECT: Ultra-microporous water stable metal organic frameworks for gas separations
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: To develop water stable ultra-microporous (< 6A) metal organic frameworks using high valent metal ions. The idea is to use them as moleculear sieves for separating CO2 from several gas mixtures.
DURATION: 5 weeks, during 25th May - 10th July
KNOWLEDGE: B.Sc. Chemistry (Inorganic Chemistry)
SKILLS:
more info

CODE:  CHEM-14
SUPERVISOR: Vaidhyanathan, Ramanathan
PROJECT: Amine-functionalized micro porous metal organic frameworks for selective CO2 capture.
CATEGORY: SELECT
DESCRIPTION: The project focuses on developing metal organic frameworks functionalized with amine groups as a substitute for replacing the liquid amine based CO2 capture agents. Though it is fairly well understood, MOF with simultaneous CO2 capacity and selectivity towards CO2 are limited and still is an open challenge. Here, we will target this.
DURATION: 5 weeks, during 25th May - 10th July (Can be flexible)
KNOWLEDGE: B.Sc. Chemistry 2nd year and after.
SKILLS:
more info

CODE:  PHY-01
SUPERVISOR: Mahesh, TS
PROJECT: Quantum Information and Quantum Computing
CATEGORY: Theoretical
DESCRIPTION: To explore one of the following topics: quantum algorithms, quantum control, quantum correlations, quantum dynamics, NMR spectroscopy
DURATION: 4-8 weeks, during 10th May - 10th July
KNOWLEDGE: Quantum Mechanics (MSc level)
SKILLS: Matlab / C++ coding will be helpful
more info

CODE:  PHY-02
SUPERVISOR: Dube, Sourabh
PROJECT: Data analysis in experimental particle physics
CATEGORY: Computational
DESCRIPTION: The aim of this project is to get introduced to the basics of experimental particle physics, modern detectors, and data analysis techniques
DURATION: 15th May - 15th July
KNOWLEDGE: B.Sc 2nd year Physics, including some special relativity.
SKILLS: Programming, preferably C++ or C.
more info

CODE:  PHY-03
SUPERVISOR: Chikkadi, Vijayakumar
PROJECT: Micro-rheology of active suspension
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: Recent studies of active suspensions have shown that they exhibit novel rheological properties such as superfluid like behavior. The microscopic physics of this phenomenon is still unclear. The objective of this project is to build a micro-rheology set-up to measure rheological properties of active suspensions. This would allow us to measure macroscopic properties such as viscosity and shear modulus of active suspensions and also image the micro-
DURATION: 6-8 weeks, during 15th May - 15th July
KNOWLEDGE: B.Sc 3nd year Physics who has had an introduction to courses in optics and statistical mechanics.
SKILLS: Python or matlab programming.
more info

CODE:  PHY-04
SUPERVISOR: Chikkadi, Vijayakumar
PROJECT: Slow relaxation in dense active matter suspensions
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: Brownian suspensions are known to exhibit slow dynamics and disordered glassy state. However, the existence of such a glassy state, and the nature of transition in active systems (that are strongly out of equilibrium) remains an open question. In this project we will investigate and characterize the dynamics, structure and phase behavior of active colloidal suspensions, especially in the dense limit. We will measure relaxation times in the system
DURATION: 6-8 weeks, during 15th May - 15th July
KNOWLEDGE: B.Sc 3rd year Physics with an interest in statistical mechanics and optics.
SKILLS: Python or matlab programming is necessary.
more info

CODE:  PHY-05
SUPERVISOR: Nath, Rejish
PROJECT: Ultra cold atoms
CATEGORY: Theoretical
DESCRIPTION: We look at the properties of ultra cold atoms at various external conditions.
DURATION: 6-8 weeks
KNOWLEDGE: MSc physics or 4th-5th year engineering physics
SKILLS: good knowledge in programming, and analytical skills, in particular dealing with quantum mechanics
more info

CODE:  PHY-06
SUPERVISOR: Sharma, Seema
PROJECT: Identifying pions and electrons with high granularity CMS calorimeter
CATEGORY: Computational
DESCRIPTION: The CMS experiment is preparing for high luminosity operations of Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. One of the key components is to upgrade the endcap calorimeters with high granularity silicon based technology to be able to withstand the high radiation dosage requirements. At the same time, this configuration allows one to study three dimensional shower development of electrons and pions. The objectives of this project are to understand elect
DURATION: 8 weeks, May 15-July 15
KNOWLEDGE: Basic nuclear & particle physics, statistical methods
SKILLS: Python, C++

CODE:  EARTH-01
SUPERVISOR: Banerjee, Argha
PROJECT: remote sensing of Himalayan glaciers
CATEGORY: Computational
DESCRIPTION: We shall use the recent large-scale data on glacier loss, ice flow, and supraglacial debris extent from the Himalaya.
DURATION: 10 weeks
KNOWLEDGE: basic undergraduate physics, differential equations; numerical methods.
SKILLS: gis tools like qgis, gdal, google-earth etc; proficiency in any programming language.

CODE:  EARTH-02
SUPERVISOR: Banerjee, Argha
PROJECT: numerical modeling of glaciers
CATEGORY: Computational
DESCRIPTION: Investigating glacier-climate intearaction and glacier change using computer models.
DURATION: 10 weeks
KNOWLEDGE: basic undergraduate physics;
SKILLS: strong computational skill (c/c++/python)

CODE:  EARTH-03
SUPERVISOR: Mani, Neena
PROJECT: Understanding monsoon in past climate
CATEGORY: Computational
DESCRIPTION: Examining model simulations of past climate for understanding the modes of monsoon variability
DURATION: 4 weeks, during 1st June - 30th June
KNOWLEDGE: BSc level training in Physics and Mathematics is mandatory.
SKILLS: Programming skill in any C/Fortran/MATLAB/Python
more info

CODE:  EARTH-04
SUPERVISOR: Tripathy, GyanaRanjan
PROJECT: Estimation of Silicate weathering rates using river water chemistry
CATEGORY: Experimental
DESCRIPTION: This project will focus in estimating silicate weathering rates of Indian river basins. These estimations will be calculated from river water chemistry data. This project will have both experimental and literature review work.
DURATION: 6 weeks between 20th May and 1st July
KNOWLEDGE: Knowledge on basic inorganic chemistry and weathering processes will be useful.
SKILLS: should be comfortable in carrying out field and lab works
more info

CODE:  EARTH-05
SUPERVISOR: Rai, Shyam
PROJECT: Geophysical data modelling
CATEGORY: Computational
DESCRIPTION: To develop new approach for modelling of seismological surface wave data for earth model computation
DURATION: 6-8 weeks, during 15th May - 30th July
KNOWLEDGE: eg. MSc geophysics 2nd year or int MS 3 year, basic mathematical seismology
SKILLS: eg. any programming language