Our interdisciplinary research group is generally interested in
materials relevant for devices like solar cells, LEDs, sensors,
detectors, and transistors and the methods of fabricating such
devices that are inherently low cost, on a variety of substrates.
While we are primarily an experimental group, we also do a small
amount of work on developing theoretical and numerical
methods for understanding the behavior of these materials and
devices at multiple length scales. Further, we are primarily an
engineering group, which means that all the interesting science
that you do in the lab should result in a workable and useful
device, or process, as a part of your research. Less commonly, we
are also interested in some important questions in
the science of disordered materials at nanoscale.
We are located on the campus of Indian Institute of Technology
Delhi (Google
Map), which is located in the Hauz Khas area of south New
Delhi.
We accept applicants with backgrounds in chemistry, materials
science, electrical engineering, physics, and perhaps even
mathematics, and allied areas. The precise title of your degree is
not very relevant to the group, but your intellectual preparation,
and passion for research is. If you have a background in, and
are interested in surface physics and chemistry, condensed matter
physics, low dimensional systems, device processing, light-matter
interactions, material chemistry, thin-film growth,
self-assembly of nanoscale materials, chemical synthesis, material
and device characterization, devising new material and device
measurements, instrumentation, etc., this group may be a good
choice for you. Particularly welcome are talented tinkerers with
hands on experience with fabricating laboratory jigs, tools,
electronic interfacing, etc.
Regardless of your background, you need to be a careful and safety-conscious, methodical, ethical, intellectually curious, academically serious, hard working, patient, and self-motivated person by nature, possessing good communication skills, and capable of working effectively in collaboration with your colleagues, to be a good personality fit for the group.
If you are interested in joining us, you must satisfy the grad level
admission requirements of the Department of Electrical
Engineering (IEC group) or the VDTT
program. Admission to Electrical Engineering is quite competitive,
and the Departmental requirements for admission tend to be more
stringent than any Institute requirements. Candidates may apply,
depending on their qualification and specific situation, to the MS
or Ph. D. program. Admission to the MS
program generally requires a GATE score in either of
EC/PH/IN/MA/EE. The Ph. D.
program through SiRE,
does not have this requirement, though your application must
persuasively demonstrate a defensible link to the research areas
of the lab, as well as the Department.
Prior research experience in a relevant area is strongly preferred, as are self-funded students who hold valid national level fellowships, such as CSIR or UGC, or are eligible for the DST INSPIRE fellowship for Ph. D.. Applicants who need financial support must note that vacant positions either on Institute fellowships, or fellowships funded by Department of Electronics and Information Technology, or one of my projects, must exist for me to accept them in my group, regardless of the criteria above.
For the purposes of admission to Ph. D., the five years of study involved in earning an M. Sc. degree are considered equivalent to a four year B. Tech or B. E. degree. Students with a three year B. Sc. degree are not eligible for admission to the Ph. D. program according to the academic rules. Regrettably, the academic rules do not currently permit admission of B. Sc. students into the MS program without the GATE discipline requirement above, and completion of minimum 4 years of coursework after 12th grade. The number of years of study preceding admission to the Ph. D. program determine the number of credits a student needs to earn prior to the comprehensive examination, which formally admits a candidate into the Ph. D. program phase involving full-time research. For 4 years of prior study (such as for entry with B. Tech or M. Sc.), this number is 24, while it is 12 for 6 years of prior study (such as for B. Tech + MS). Students with M. Sc. degrees in allied science areas (such as Chemistry and Physics) listed above are encouraged to apply to the Ph. D. program directly as long as they agree to undertake some coursework in EE to satisfy the transition requirements. Depending on the goodness of fit of their preparation in their B. Sc. and M. Sc. degree coursework, they are likely to be well-suited for interdisciplinary research in our group.
Undergraduate preparation for research in our
group requires a rich and extensive background in the areas
mentioned above. Several undergraduate programs in EE/ECE do not
regularly contain the relevant coursework, in some cases,
lacking even a single dedicated course on semiconductor devices.
This would be to your disadvantage during the application
process for a research degree. In such a circumstance, the
coursework oriented M. Tech (equivalent to an MS by coursework
degree) programs at IIT Delhi (in IEC
or in VDTT)
may be a better bet for you, especially in the Micro and Nano
Devices stream. If the content of your IIT Delhi M. Tech
preparation (as evidenced by the choice of electives) is a good
fit for research in FMDL, you could be well placed to apply
subsequently for an MS or Ph. D. admission. While this route may
delay onset of full-time research work, it would better prepare
you for it.
There is also the possibility of conversion of
the student's initial program (M. Tech or MS) into MS or Ph. D.,
provided the student completes a certain number of credit hours,
and maintains a certain minimum CGPA. Details regarding this are
decided by the Departmental Research Committee, and the Dean's
office. Finally, both full-time and part-time routes to a grad
school degree exist at IIT Delhi. Since we are primarily an
experimental group, continuation after end of coursework in a
part-time Ph. D. degree, or a part-time MS degree is likely to
be logistically complicated for most applicants, and is not
encouraged.
If you interested in joining the group as a postdoc, please apply
for an
Institute position, an SERB-funded postdoctoral
position, a DST-funded
KIRAN fellowship, a DBT-funded
Bio-CARe grant, or one of the many UGC opportunities,
etc., and send me an application below (after applying for, or
receiving one of these or other grants).
Please note that KIRAN and Bio-CARe opportunities are available
only for female candidates.
Students interested in an internship should consult a) Summer Research Fellowship Program (Indian Academy of Sciences), b) GIPEDI program, c) SURA program, or d) DISA program before sending in an application.
If you are an undergraduate student at IIT Delhi (any Department)
interested in doing your B. Tech project with me, and are a decent
fit to the above, you are welcome to contact me by the month of
May at the end of your junior (3rd) year. You may need
to work in the summer to get started.
If you are an undergraduate student at IIT Delhi interested in a
mini project, or a self-study course, please understand clearly
that your grade in such a course will depend on serious hard work,
where you will be judged on the progress made. Students with other
motivations are encouraged to seek alternative opportunities.
Rarely, depending on our funded project needs, I may hire
temporary (1-3 month) project workers at grad level or above
(generally through advertisement). Any appointments to these kind
of temporary positions come with no implications for any degree,
or admission to the Department (or housing on campus). However,
the expectation for grad level applicants here is that in case of
a good fit, you should be able to qualify for grad level
admissions described above.
Please understand that student applicants who have completed
their undergraduate education (B. Tech, BE, BS, etc.) or certain
graduate degrees (M. Sc.) are expected to join the group for an MS
(preferable) or a Ph. D. (in some cases). If you are merely
looking for a temporary position (2-6 months) to buttress your CV
before you go into industry or grad school elsewhere, your
application for a project position would be generally unwelcome
unless I have advertised for temporary position explicitly.