Honour and Awards

* National Scholarship in Higher Secondary School( & All Round Best prize)

* 1st class First in Master of Science

* AvH Fellowship

* NASA Fellowship

* Max-Planck Research Fellowship

* TWAS Fellowship

* JSPS Fellowship

* Fulbright - Nehru Fellowship

Research Interests

Colloids and interfaces, Nanofunctional materials, Directed electron transport in functional amphiphiles corroborated through ab-initio electronic structure calculations, Molecular modeling and dynamics for controlled aggregate curvature and dynamics.

Projects

Completed several sponsored projects from DST, DRDO, CSIR and DAE.

The latest project being " Molecular scale interface engineering with self-organized donor-bridge-acceptor structures: Electron transport in single molecular junctions".

Sponsor :Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi.

Human Resource Trained

* Advised 15 Ph.D and 25 M.Sc Students and 5 Post-dopctoral Fellows.

Details of Doctoral Theses Supervised

1999 - Ion-beam induced Synthesis of Conducting Substrates from Polymer bases: Their Microstructure and the Associated Charge Transport.

2003 - Positrons as Microprobes in Structure -Property Correlations in Chemical Systems.

2003 - Physico-Chemical Interactions in Surface Functionalized C¬60 -terminated Self-assembled Monolayers and Tritium Encapsulated C60.

2006 - Fullerene C60 Didodecyloxybenzene Dyad: Structure, Dynamics and Self-Organization

2007 - Supramolecular Architectures of Functional Amphiphiles: A Two and Three Dimensional Approach

2009 - Hybrid Gold Nanoarchitectures for Directed Electron Transport

2010 - Molecular Self-assembly from Fullerene C60 - Surfactant Interactions

2011 - Structure - Property Relationships in a Fullerene C60-N,N-dimethylaminoazobenzene Dyad

2015 - Structured interfaces of a membrane lipid: molecular recognition and molecular tilt dependent electron transport

2015 - Hydrogen bond directed functional materials at modulated interfaces

2017 - Dimeric Conformation Dependent Molecular Aggregates of Acenes: Deviation from Classical Behavior

2017 - Chemically Directed Fullerene-C60-Gold Nanocomposites as Functional Materials

2017 - Characteristic Charge Transfer and Self-Assembly in Substituted Terpyridine Complexes of Fe(II)

2021 - Structured Interfaces of High-Performance Elastomers: Experimental and ComputationalApproaches

2022 - Structure-directing viologen-based functional Amphiphiles: Controlled Aqueous Phase Assembly and Stimuli Responsive Aggregates.

Invited Lectures

~ 50, the latest being ' Structured Interfaces of Functional Amphiphiles: Intramolecular Electronic Communication in Oriented Assemblies': Courtesy: Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, IISc. Bangalore and Royal Society of Chemistry ( Deccan Section)

Additional Professional Activities

* SERB Expert Committee Member in Chemical Sciences for ECR and N-PDF Schemes - 2015 - 2018

* Member, Subject Expert Committee (SEC) – Chemical Sciences, Women Scientist Scheme (WOS-A) – DST - 2013 - 2016

* Research proposal reviewing for the Department of Science and Technology ( Chemical Sciences (Phyical Chemistry), Materials Science and Condensed Matter Physics divisions), and UGC's DS Kothari Schemes.

* Selection Committee Member for Faculty Recruitment at various academic institutions in India

* Examiner for Ph.D. theses of varied academic institutions in India

Teaching

Theory Courses

B. Tech.

* Microscopic and Macroscopic Properties of Chemical Systems

* Equilibrium and Dynamics of Chemical Systems

* Structure, Bonding and Reactivity

o Module 1- Physical Chemistry

o Module 2- Inorganic Chemistry

* Molecular Architecture and Evolution of Functions

* Instrumentation

* Preparatory Course Theory

M. Sc.

* Concepts in Inorganic Chemistry

* Analytical Chemistry

* Electrochemical Approaches to Functional Supramolecular Systems

* Advanced Analytical Chemistry

Ph.D

* Ion - Beam Techniques

* Electrochemical Approaches to Functional Supramolecular Systems

* Advanced Analytical Chemistry

* Research Methodology

Laboratory Exercises

*Instrumental Methods and Qualitative Analysis

*Physical Chemistry- I

* B. Tech Laboratory

* Preparatory Course

Biography:

Archita Patnaik joined IISER Berhampur as a Visiting Professor in August 2024. She has been a Professor in the Department of Chemistry, IIT Madras since 2006 after joining the institution in 1992.

It was a summer afternoon at Cornell University: Prof. Carl Sagan had just finished his address to the community on ‘Galileo’: NASA’s space mission to planet Jupiter. I, as a research associate working with him was overwhelmed with his wit and wisdom. Following what happened, had further traced my academic career. An accidental meet with an aspiring Masters student of Computer Science at Cornell University, who hailed from IIT Madras, germinated in me a deep desire to be a part of this marvelous institution. Thus began the journey to IIT Madras which was not by design; joined in 1992 after obtaining a Ph. D degree from Banaras Hindu University, an Alexander von Humboldt fellowship, a NASA fellowship and a Max-Planck fellowship. Subsequent fellowships on behalf of TWAS, JSPS and Fulbright – Nehru were endowed during the faculty tenure at IIT Madras, reaching Professor (HAG).

Growing on one’s own soil gave a magical touch. Teaching B.Techs had transformed the persona; meeting and exchanging with the budding aspiring beings was hard work, but a perpetual joy and constant learning; in the process, got hard-wired to seek confirmation. Met excellent teachers and colleagues who inculcated the impression that ‘ice can be broken’ and days could certainly be better than ‘yesterday’s tomorrow’.

It was imperative to Do Good Science and Be a Good Scientist. Initially, the air seemed empty; the concept-maps were many, but the vision-plans needed precision. Then one was reminded of our heritage and its scientific beginnings. A far cry and a leap… manifested two frontier laboratories with cutting edge infrastructure (https://profarchita-sail.com/labs.html) and a prudent student research community. They became a part of me, a connect, much deeper than any academic output. Good Science was to inspire an Einstein in each of them; flawless and informal deliberations with brutal honesty became our forte. Science was contagious and distributed. Our primary research interest was targeted at ‘Molecular Self-assembly and Functional Materials’, a discipline within disciplines, reflecting radical new approaches to synthesis and processing of materials at structured interfaces, enabling higher functionality structures, pattern formation and devices. "Self-assembly is Creation and Creation manifests in Self-assembly". The Fibonacci Spirals on the Sunflower depict the Geometric Blue-Print of Evolution with juxtaposition of holistic Science expressed in Nature. Through ab-initio electronic structure calculations, molecular modeling and molecular dynamics simulations, spectro-microscopy and nanoscale electrochemistry of transport-active donor-acceptor dyads, bifunctional Janus clusters and functional amphiphiles, our group’s research culminated in bringing out a basic understanding of molecular-scale rectifiers and switches, nanoscale capacitors and structure and dynamics of stimuli-responsive, opto-electronically active, curvature controlled molecular aggregates (more at https://profarchita-sail.com/).While it was absolutely necessary to practice these, sometimes it became difficult to achieve the objective oriented goals in an almost subjective-success led science society. Even then, all was well that ended well.

Some events remained etched inside: the graduation days of my research students and a declaration from ‘2013 ACS on Campus’ as one of the 30 Indian Chemists publishing quality research. The organized 2008 International Conference on Functional Materials during IIT Madras’s golden jubilee year welcomed young and old, scientists and engineers, and science and art: a holistic disposition…and the outcome was knowledge accumulation and camaraderie. Joy knew no bounds becoming the advisory board member of the journals ‘J. Chemical Science (IAS/Springer) and J. Chemical Thermodynamics (Elsevier). Am ever indebted to DST/ SERB for having elated me as an expert committee member in very many of its schemes. It has been a revelation knowing the scientific might and spirit of the Country.

Realization is the goal of our efforts starting from conception to implementation. All that comes to us as efforts or struggle are not without the providence of Prayer. Let us keep in touch with the Nature: Flowers, the wordless prayers of Nature that signify a unique aspiration and vibration…The sun-kissed mornings of the ethereal campus with the bright Gulmohars constantly messaged that Life has a purpose and must blossom like a flower. Adulations to IIT Madras for providing that sanctity.

Success is vital, but need not be the ultimate goal. Cultivating an open mind to a greater wideness, humble and all-sharing scientific eloquence are probably the yardsticks for cultivating Science with par excellence. As an enthusiastic member of the human race, I am looking forward with immense excitement and hope for good science to emerge for the betterment of our civilization, necessitating mutual respect … a trajectory in achieving a Career in Totality.