Looking forward to building a scientific team of highly motivated and innovative researchers. If you have your own independent Ph.D./PostDoc fellowship or want to explore such options — you are welcome to get in touch with me via email.
Research Group Members: (Dr. Gaurav Zinta, Komal Goel, Pravesh Kundu, Madhushree Dutta, Vidhi Raturi, Surbhi Mali, Shiwali Thakur, Dr. Asha Kiran, Sanjeet Kumar, and Narender Kumar)
1) Komal Goel is a Ph.D. research scholar. She has qualified CSIR-NET-JRF 2019 with an All India Rank (AIR) of 83. She did her schooling at St. John’s School, Faridabad, Haryana. She did B.Sc. Botany from the University of Delhi, and M.Sc. in Botany from Dolphin Institute of Biomedical & Natural Sciences, Dehradun. Her dissertation work was on "Phytochemical and antioxidant activities of citrus fruit juices." Also, she worked as a trainee for three months in the project entitled "Propagation and management of bamboo" under the Green Skill Development Program of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, GOI.
The key area of her research interest includes climate change biology, plant stress physiology and plant reproductive biology. In her Ph.D., she is exploring the thermosensitivity of C3 and C4 pseudocereals of Amaranthaceae by implementing microscopic, transcriptomics and molecular biology tools.
Her hobbies include trekking, reading, cooking, dancing, and exploring unexplored areas.
2) Pravesh Kundu is a Ph.D. research scholar. She qualified for CSIR-UGC-NET-JRF in 2019 with an All India Rank (AIR) of 94, and qualified for other national exams (GATE and CUCET) as well. She did her schooling at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Kaithal, Haryana. She did her B.Sc. and B.Ed. at Kurukshetra University, Haryana. She did her M.Sc. Botany from Punjabi University, Patiala. Her dissertation work was on "Taxonomic study on hyphomycetes of Chunni Kalan (Punjab)."
The key areas of her research interest include plant stress physiology and plant molecular biology. In her Ph.D., she is conducting nutritional genomics studies in pseudocereals of Amaranthaceae and will use approaches from metabolomics, transcriptomics and molecular biology.
Her hobbies are reading, cooking and trekking.
3) Madhushree Dutta is a Ph.D. research scholar and holds a UGC-JRF fellowship and qualified for other national exams (GATE and CUCET) as well.
She earned M.Sc. Botany (Hons.) from the University of Calcutta with a specialization in plant physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology. Her M.Sc. dissertation was on “Regulation of carbohydrate metabolism by arsenic in two rice cultivars and their possible alteration by phosphate.” After M.Sc., she worked as a Project JRF for two years on a UGC-sponsored project, “Utilization of brassica seed meal as a bioherbicide for weed management in wheat.” So far, she has published one research article and a review article.
Madhushree received the Honorable Dr. Parimal Kumar Roy Memorial Award and Dr. Ramendra Krishna Sarkar Memorial Award for her academic records.
The key areas of research interest include plant stress physiology, genomics, and climate change biology. In her Ph.D., she is dissecting molecular mechanisms underlying high temperature responses in potato with emphasis on tuberization process.
During her leisure hours, she devotes time educating the upcoming aspirants preparing for various life science exams by incorporating smart strategies into the education system and making learning more exciting and fun. She also loves to write and currently working on a memoir.
4) Vidhi Raturi is a Ph.D. research scholar and has qualified for Joint CSIR-UGC NET JRF 2019 with an All-India Rank (AIR) of 83 and GATE-XL in 2020.
She did her schooling at Saraswati Vidya Mandir Inter College, Avas-Vikas, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. She did her M.Sc. in Botany from Pt. LMS Govt. PG College, Rishikesh (affiliated to HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal), Uttarakhand. Her dissertation work was on “Jatropha curcas: A Future Sustainable Fuel”. Also, she has done a 7-week course on "Understanding Plant I- What a Plant Knows" & a 4-week course on "Understanding Plants II- Fundamentals of Plant Biology", delivered by Prof. Daniel Chamovitz of Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Vidhi received the Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) component under INSPIRE SCHEME of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) for 5 years during her graduation and post-graduation for her excellent academic records.
The key areas of her research interest include plant signaling & behavior, sensory plant biology, molecular plant stress biology and climate change biology.
In her Ph.D., she is elucidating high-temperature sensing and signaling networks in Arabidopsis thaliana. Also, she will dissect the adaptive mechanisms underlying recurrent heat stress exposure (heat stress memory).
In her spare time, she enjoys photography, watching cricket, reading books, and traveling. Apart from this, she likes to listen to folk music from different regions of India and explore various cultures and traditions of India.
5) Surbhi Mali is a Ph.D. research scholar in the lab of Dr. Gaurav Zinta at CSIR-IHBT, Palampur, H.P.
Surbhi qualified DBT-BET 2021 (Category-I) and ICAR-SRF 2021 with AIR-88 in Plant Biotechnology.
She did her schooling at Ascent International Senior Secondary School, Udaipur, Rajasthan. She did her B.Sc. in Agriculture (Honours) from Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Rajasthan and her M.Sc. in Agricultural Biotechnology from CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur, H.P. Her dissertation work was on “Identification and characterization of sugar transport genes in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)”.
Surbhi was a recipient of the Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) component under INSPIRE SCHEME of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and University Rank Merit Scholarship (for top rankers) for four years (2015-2019) during her graduation.
She also qualified DBT-JNU-CEEB in 2019 with AIR-27.
The key areas of her research interest include sugar signaling & metabolism, source-sink dynamics, epigenetic regulation and plant molecular biology.
In her Ph.D., she is dissecting the regulation of source-sink relations under environmental fluctuations in potato (Solanum tuberosum).
During her spare time, she likes to teach GAT-B aspirants. She also loves dancing, painting, crafting and traveling.
6) Shiwali Thakur is a Project Associate in the lab of Dr. Gaurav Zinta at CSIR-IHBT, Palampur, H.P.
Shiwali did her schooling at D.A.V Public School Gohju, Kangra, H.P. She did her M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Ludhiana. She was an ICAR nominee. Her M.Sc. dissertation work was on “Allele mining on phosphorus starvation tolerance (PSTOL1) in wild species of rice", which led to a publication in Frontiers in Plant Science.
The key areas of her research interest include plant stress biology, plant molecular biology and climate change biology.
While working as a project associate at CSIR-IHBT, she is exploring phosphate starvation stress responses in C4 pseudocereal grain amaranths (Amaranth spp.).
She enjoys reading novels, cooking different cuisines and playing badminton. She also likes to listen to the music of different genres like qawwali, rock, jazz, etc., and explore various cultures and traditions.
7) Dr. Asha Kiran is a SERB-NPDF (PostDoc) in the lab of Dr. Gaurav Zinta at CSIR-IHBT, Palampur, H.P.
Asha has qualified GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test Engineering) examination 2013.
She did an M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, Panjab. Her M.Sc. dissertation work was on “Studies on Genetic diversity of Jatropha curcas L. genotypes by RAPD and ISSR molecular markers”. She did her Ph.D. in Agricultural Biotechnology from CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur, H.P. Her Ph.D. dissertation was entitled “Elucidation of molecular mechanisms governing cold tolerance during the reproductive stage in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)”.
Asha is a recipient of the University Rank Merit Scholarship in her Ph.D. program. She is also a recipient of the UGC-Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship (RGNF) during her Ph. D. (2015-2019).
The key area of her research interest includes studying the impact of abiotic stresses on plant reproductive development biology and plant molecular biology.
In her post-doctoral program, she is dissecting the heat sensitivity of different species of C4 grain amaranths by using multi-omics approaches.
So far she has published papers in the Plant Cell & Environment, Environmental and Experimental Botany, Antioxidants, Journal of Genetics, etc.
8) Sanjeet Kumar (Lab Technician)
9) Narender Kumar (Lab Assistant)
ALUMNI of Integrative Plant AdaptOmics Lab (iPAL)
Name: Aryaman Dewan
iPAL, CSIR-IHBT tenure: 22nd March 2021 to 26th March 2021 (Trainee)
Research Topic pursued at iPAL, CSIR-IHBT: Basic hands-on training in plant molecular biology
Current Position: Research Assistant
Current University, Country: Purdue University, United States
Current Area of Study/Work: Biology (major) and Bioinformatics (minor). Researching on the protein expression of interleukin 27
Name: Paras Sharma
iPAL, CSIR-IHBT tenure:24th August 2021 to 14th June 2022 (Trainee)
Research Topic pursued at iPAL, CSIR-IHBT: Examine the physiological and molecular aspects of photosynthesis and tuberization processes in crops.
Current Position: Research Intern
Current University, Country: Plant Science Dual Master Program at the Université Grenoble Alpes, France and Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy.
Current Area of Study/Work: Chloroplast Biology.
Name: Roshankumar Namdeo Jadhav
iPAL, CSIR-IHBT tenure: 17th Dec 2021 to 24th Dec 2022 (Project Associate)
Research Topic Pursued at iPAL, CSIR-IHBT: Transgenerational heat stress adaptation in Arabidopsis Current Position: PursuingPh.D.
Current University, Country: University of Tasmania, Australia
Current Area of Study/Work: Circadian clock influencing stomatal movement in non-flowering plants
Name: Ayush Kumar
iPAL, CSIR-IHBT tenure: 7th Feb 2022 to 31st July 2022 (Trainee)
Research Topic pursued at iPAL, CSIR-IHBT: Molecular cloning of seed-shattering genes from pseudocereal of Amaranthaceae
Current Position: Pursuing M.Tech.
Current University, Country: National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Karnataka, India
Current Area of Study/Work: Industrial Biotechnology
Name: Dipanjali Kachhap
iPAL, CSIR-IHBT tenure: 3rd June 2022 to 3rd August 2022 (Trainee)
Research Topic pursued at iPAL, CSIR-IHBT: Molecular cloning of HY5
Current Position: 5th Year Integrated M.Sc., National Institute of Science Education and Research Bhubaneswar, Odisha
Current Area of Study/Work: Life Science
Name: Aman Thakur
iPAL, CSIR-IHBT tenure: 1st Nov 2022 to 30th May 2023 (Trainee)
Research Topic pursued at iPAL, CSIR-IHBT: Molecular cloning and characterization of squalene synthase from grain amaranth
Current Position: Research Intern
Current University, Country: Ariel University, Israel
Current Area of Study/Work: PursuingPh.D. on Grape Vine (Vitis vinifera)
Name: Anun Pandit
iPAL, CSIR-IHBT tenure: 13th July 2022 to 6th September 2022 (Trainee)
Research Topic pursued at iPAL, CSIR-IHBT: Cloning of Heat Shock Factor (HSF) of Amaranth Grain
Current Position: Recently completed M.Sc. Biotechnology, Maharaja Agrasen University, Solan, H.P
Current Area of Study/Work: Preparing for JRF and other exams
Name: Anusha
iPAL, CSIR-IHBT tenure: 6th June 2023 to 17th July 2023 (Trainee)
Research Topic pursued at iPAL, CSIR-IHBT: Heat Shock Factor A2 (HSFA2) from Potato: Expression analysis and molecular cloning
Current Position: B.Sc. 3rd year
Current University, Country: Panjab University, Chandigarh
Current Area of Study/Work: Biotechnology
Name: Shubham Sen
iPAL, CSIR-IHBT tenure: 3rd July 2023 to 13th September 2023 (Trainee)
Research Topic pursued at iPAL, CSIR-IHBT: Investigating the allelopathic potential of peppermint oil on Arabidopsis, and molecular cloning of MYB transcription factor
Current Position: 3rd Semester M.Sc. St. Thomas College, Bhilai, Chhattisgarh
Current Area of Study/Work: Biotechnology
Name: Kartikeya Dubey
iPAL, CSIR-IHBT tenure: 22nd December 2022 to 22nd March 2023 (Trainee)
Research Topic pursued at iPAL, CSIR-IHBT: Molecular cloning of cell death gene from Arabidopsis
Current Position: Completed M.Sc. Biotechnology from Shoolini Institute of Life Sciences & Business Management, Solan, HP
Current Area of Study/Work: Preparing for JRF and other exams
Name: Devashish Verma
iPAL, CSIR-IHBT tenure: 3rd July 2023 to 2nd August 2023 (Trainee)
Research Topic pursued at iPAL, CSIR-IHBT: Grafting of heat contrasting potato genotypes
Current Position: Pursuing M.E. in Biotechnology
Current University, Country: BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus, Rajasthan
Current Area of Study/Work: Applied Plant Biotechnology
Name: Rahul Sharma
iPAL, CSIR-IHBT tenure: 16th January 2023 to 12th June 2023 (Trainee)
Research Topic pursued at iPAL, CSIR-IHBT: Dissecting redox regulation under high temperature in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)
Current Position: Completed M.Sc. Biotechnology
Current University, Country: Chandigarh University, Punjab
Current Area of Study/Work: Preparing for exams