STORY CREDITS
Writer: Vanajakshi B.H.
Photo: IITGN Photos
We are delighted to announce that Professor Pankaj Khanna and Professor Rusa Mandal from IIT Gandhinagar have been honored with the prestigious selection as associates of the Indian Academy of Science in Earth Science and Physics.
Professor Pankaj Khanna’s research group has made significant discoveries, including identifying the first modern stromatolites in the Red Sea, which are critical for understanding signs of early life on extraterrestrial planets. He has also discovered decadal to century-scale punctuated sea-level rise events during the last deglaciation, crucial for modelling future sea-level rise. Representing India on IODP 389, he sailed offshore for 64 days, drilling coral reefs off Hawaii to provide insights into sea-level fluctuations, paleoclimate, and seasonality
In addition to these discoveries, he is advancing research on carbon storage in basalts, with potential pilot-scale applications, and developing AI workflows for smart farming using drone datasets, having completed a project with L&T. His contributions include training over 70 individuals in drone data handling, organizing the first Knowledge Summit on Lakshadweep, and developing 3D virtual field trips. Integrating field and laboratory investigations, Professor Khanna has conducted fieldwork on three continents and in over ten countries, with research spanning carbonate sedimentology, carbon capture and storage in basalts, and geothermal energy.
“It is a privilege to be selected as an Associate of the Indian Academy of Science. I thank Dr. Pramod Kumar from the University of Delhi, Prof. Dr. André Droxler from Rice University, and Prof. Volker Vahrenkamp from KAUST. I thank all my mentors and current lab members, without whom this achievement would not have been possible. I would also like to thank IIT Gandhinagar, especially Prof. Vikranth Jain, for providing an excellent research environment that has greatly facilitated my work.” By Prof. Pankaj Khanna, Assistant Professor, Earth Science, IIT Gandhinagar.
Prof. Rusa Mandal’s primary research interests are in high-energy particle phenomenology. Particle physics aims to identify matter’s microscopic constituents and their fundamental interactions. Global experimental and theoretical efforts have explored nature at the smallest scales for decades, culminating in the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. Despite its success, the SM is not a universal theory due to several unresolved observations.
Prof. Rusa Mandal’s research focuses on understanding strong interactions among hadrons by accurately estimating parameters involved in their decay processes. These theoretical predictions are compared with experimental data from ongoing collider experiments at LHC (CERN, Geneva) and Belle II (KEK, Tsukuba). Accurate estimates of these parameters are crucial for confirming or falsifying the existence of new particles or interactions.
One of the universe’s major mysteries is Dark Matter. Prof. Rusa Mandal’s research also addresses the limitations of the SM, such as Dark Matter and its nature, through minimal theories.
“In describing what the world is made of and how its components interact, I am guided by the principle from Richard P. Feynman: “No matter how beautiful your theory is, if it does not match with the experiment, it is wrong.” Said Prof. Rusa Mandal. Assistant professor, Physics, IIT Gandhinagar.
We congratulate Professor Pankaj Khanna and Professor Rusa Mandal for their remarkable scientific achievements and contributions. Their dedication and innovation continue to inspire and advance the frontiers of knowledge.