Renitta is from Kerala, India and received a Master’s degree in Chemistry from St. Thomas College Pala, Kottayam (Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala) in 2018. During her Masters, she worked with Dr Sunny Kuriakose’s research group on the Stabilization of metal oxide nanoparticles using macromolecules. She joined Dr Soumen De’s group in the Vasanth of 2020 at IISER Thiruvananthapuram as an INSPIRE fellow. She enjoys travelling in her spare time.

Email: renittabenny20@iisertvm.ac.in

Publications:

1. "Stimuli-Responsive Chiroptical Switching" Diptiprava Sahoo, Renitta Benny, Nithish Kumar KS, and Soumen De*ChemPlusChem. 2022, 87,e202100322.

2. "Biomimetic supramolecular coordination chemistry and molecular machines" Renitta Benny, Diptiprava Sahoo, Nithish Kumar KS, and Soumen De* Book Chapter, Elsevier, 2022, ISBN: 610995.

3. "Recent advances in fuel-driven molecular switches and machines" Renitta Benny, Diptiprava Sahoo, Ajith George, and Soumen De* ChemistryOpen, 2022, 11, e202200128 .

4. "Interplay between anti-anti and syn-anti conformation of thiourea modulating ON-OFF catalysis" Renitta Benny and Soumen De* Dalton Trans., 2023, 52, 16767-16772.

5. "Controlling the Chiroptical Properties of Pyrene-Based Tweezers by Conformation Locking" Renitta Benny, Nithish Kumar K S, Anshuman Bera, Rakshantha Srithar, Susnata Pramanik, Sivaranjana Reddy Vennapusa,  and Soumen De* ChemPhotoChem, 2025, e202400396.

6. "A Mechanistic Insight into the Emission Behaviour of Boron Difluorohydrazones (BODIHYs): Suppression of Kasha’s Rule" Rakshantha Srithar, Naveen Kumar M, Renitta Benny, Sudhakar Gaikwad, Soumen De,* Susnata Pramanik* Chem. Eur. J., 2025, 31, e202502168.

7. " Foldamer Engineering with Squaramide and Phenanthroline Motifs: Synthesis, Characterisation, and Structural Insights" Renitta Benny, Alex P. Andrews, and Soumen De* Chem. Commun., 2025, 61, ASAP.

Akanksha is from Uttar Pradesh, India, and she got her Master's degree in chemistry from IIT BHU, Varanasi, in 2022. During her master's project, she worked with Dr Indrajit Sinha on "Synthesis of core-shell nanoparticles Ni@Ag." She got a gold medal for her M.Sc. from IIT BHU in 2022. She joined Dr Soumen De's group in the Varsha 2022 as an institute fellow. She likes to cook, read books, and watch the news in her free time.

Email: akanksha22@iisertvm.ac.in

Publications:

1. "(Supra)Molecular Switches Controlled by Artificial Signaling Cascades" Jayashree Venkatesh, Akanksha Sharma, Soumen De,* Susnata Pramanik,* and Michael Schmittel* Synlett., 2025, 36, 1868-1888.

Mrinmoy is from West Bengal. He has done his B.Sc. from Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose College, University Of Calcutta, Kolkata and Graduated Master's degree in Chemical Sciences from Central University Of Gujarat, Gujarat in 2023. He worked with Dr Dhananjoy Mondal on 'Asymmetric Synthesis' during his master's project. He joined Dr Soumen De's group in the Varsha 2023 as a GATE- 2023 institute fellow. He likes to Cook, Teach and Play outdoor indoor games. 

Email: mrinmoymaity23@iisertvm.ac.in

Nithish is from Chennai. He received his bachelors degree from Madras Christian College, Chennai in 2019. He likes reading books and enjoy playing volleyball, Kabaddi during his spare time.

Email: nithish19@iisertvm.ac.in

Publications:

1. "Stimuli-Responsive Chiroptical Switching" Diptiprava Sahoo, Renitta Benny, Nithish Kumar KS, and Soumen De*ChemPlusChem. 2022, 87,e202100322.

2. "Biomimetic supramolecular coordination chemistry and molecular machines" Renitta Benny, Diptiprava Sahoo, Nithish Kumar KS, and Soumen De* Book Chapter, Elsevier, 2022, ISBN: 610995.

3. "Controlling the Chiroptical Properties of Pyrene-Based Tweezers by Conformation Locking" Renitta Benny, Nithish Kumar K S, Anshuman Bera, Rakshantha Srithar, Susnata Pramanik, Sivaranjana Reddy Vennapusa,  and Soumen De* ChemPhotoChem, 2025, e202400396.

I am Ritisha Srimany. I am from Chandannagar,West Bengal. I have completed my Bachelor's from Serampore College under the University of Calcutta. I joined IISER TVM as an IPHD student in Varsha  2023. I like cooking and listening to songs in my leisure time. 

Email: ritishasrimany23@iisertvm.ac.in

Varsha is from Thrissur, Kerala. She received her bachelor's degree from St.Thomas College (Autonomous), Thrissur, under the University of Calicut. She is an IPHD third-year student at IISER TVM. She joined this lab in June 2023. She has worked on Metal-stimuli responsive chiroptical switches and is now doing her major project on 'Synthetic studies of chiral hosts'.  

Email: varshacb23@iisertvm.ac.in

Myself Jerrin Jacob, BS-MS Batch 21. I'm from Kochi, Kerala. I joined this lab in March 2022, worked on photo-switchable tweezers and metal coordination-driven switching using Cu as an intern. Currently started working on my major project. 

Email: jerrinjacob21@iisertvm.ac.in

Lena Prasannan, from Kollam, Kerala, is a BS-MS (2021-2026) student . She is currently working on the project titled "Synthesis and Study of Chiral Metal Switches "

Email: lenaprasannan21@iisertvm.ac.in

Sakeena is from Sonipat, Haryana. She completed a bachelor's in chemistry from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak. She is an MSc second-year student at IISER Thiruvananthapuram. She joined the group in July 2025. Her work focuses on chiral sensing and host-guest binding studies. She likes to read books and enjoys yoga in her leisure time. 

Email: sakeena24@iisertvm.ac.in