Ajit C. Balram
Faculty member in Theoretical Physics, July 2019 onward
The Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc),
IV Cross Road, CIT Campus, Taramani,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - 600113.
email: cb.ajit@gmail.com, ajit@imsc.res.in
Research interests:
Theoretical condensed matter, in particular the physics of the fractional quantum Hall effect and interacting topological insulators
Education:
Ph.D. in Physics, August 2011 - June 2016, Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University
Adviser: Jainendra K. Jain
Integrated BS-MS, August 2006 - May 2011, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune
MS thesis at the Department of Theoretical Physics (DTP), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai
Adviser: Deepak Dhar
Research Experience
Postdoctoral fellow, Niels Bohr International Academy and the Center for Quantum Devices,
Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, July 2016 - June 2019
Adviser: Mark S. Rudner
Publications available at:
60 in total including 1 in Physical Review X, 1 in Nature Physics, 10 in Physical Review Letters, and 1 in Nature Communication
Grants:
SERB Early Career Start-up Research Grant, 2020 for the project titled ``Novel partonic phases in the fractional quantum Hall effect"
SERB MATRICS Grant, 2024 for the project titled ``Collective excitations in interacting topological systems"
Royal Society International Exchange Scheme, 2020 (with Zlatko Papić, Theoretical Physics Research Group, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds) for the project titled ``Dynamics of strongly-entangled topological quantum matter"
Awards and honors:
Associate of the Indian Academy of Sciences (2022-2025)
Alumni Association Dissertation Award, Pennsylvania State University – 2016
David C. Duncan, Downsborough and Miller Graduate fellowships, Pennsylvania State University - 2013, 2014 and 2015
David H. Rank Memorial Physics Award, Pennsylvania State University - 2012
University Graduate Fellowship, Pennsylvania State University - 2011
Institute Gold Medal of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune - 2011
German Academic Exchange Service-Working Internships in Science and Engineering (DAAD-WISE) fellow – 2010 at the Max Planck Institute of Physics of Complex Systems (MPIPKS), Dresden
Kishore Vaigyanik Prothsahan Yojana (KVPY) (a national program of fellowship in basic sciences, initiated and funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India) fellow – 2007
Teaching Experience and Professional Activities:
Refereeing for Nature, Nature Physics, Physical Review X, Physical Review Letters, and Physical Review B from 2013 onwards
Instructor for the Advanced Condensed Matter course at IMSc - 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and Computational Physics - 2024
Physics Ph.D. admissions coordinator at IMSc - 2021-2024
Served as judge for the physics, math, and computer science units of the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Sciences (PJAS) – 2012-2016
Helped students in solving assignment problems in the pedagogical part of the ``Topological particles in condensed matter physics’’ workshop held in the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, India - 2015
Served as the group leader for Kids Day demos at the State College Arts Festival – 2015
Grading assistant for the course on Quantum Theory of Solids - Fall 2014 Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University
Organized the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC)’s ``Physics of Flatland” program at Pennsylvania State University – 2012: discussed my research with high-school students and created hands-on activities for them to learn about two-dimensional systems •
Students and postdocs
Graduate Students at IMSc
Koyena Bose (expected to graduate in 2026)
Rakesh Kumar Dora P (expected to graduate in 2025)
Sashikanta Mohapatra (expected to graduate in 2026)
Summer interns/MS thesis
Venkatavaradhan Sundararajan, IISER-Mohali (summer of 2023 to summer of 2024)
Trinanda Bhuyan, Tezpur University (summer of 2023)
Rishi Joshi, NISER-Bhubaneshwar (summer of 2023) [Indian Academy of Sciences's summer program]
Ashwathkumaran C, Lovely Professional University (Aug-Oct 2023)
Adishree Srinivasan, IISER-Bhopal (May-Aug 2024)
K Jayanth Raghav, IIT-Kanpur (May-Jun 2024)
Nachiket Girish, Cambridge (May-Aug 2024)