About the Group Leader
About the Group Leader
Madhurima Jana is a Professor at the National Institute of Technology Rourkela (NIT Rourkela), India. She completed her doctoral studies in computational physical chemistry, focusing on carbohydrate dynamics, from IIT Kharagpur in 2012. Her thesis was awarded the Eli – Lilly & Company Asia Outstanding Thesis Award (1st prize). In 2011, she joined the Department of Chemistry at NIT Rourkela as an Assistant Professor. Concurrently, with the Assistant Professorship, she spent one year (2013-2014) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, with the INDO-US fellowship award (IUSSTF Fellow) and was involved in developing a polarizable force field for carbohydrates. She received the DST-FASTTRACK and DAE-BRNS Young Scientist awards and is a Fellow of the Indian Chemical Society, Member of the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI), Prayagraj . She is a recipient of the CRSI Bronze medal in 2023. She has more than 13 years of teaching experience in General Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Statistical Thermodynamics, Computational Chemistry, and Molecular Modeling for undergraduate and postgraduate students. She has served several administrative responsibilities at the Institute level and is presently serving as an Associate Dean (Sponsored Research). Her research group uses state-of-the-art molecular dynamics simulations, enhanced sampling techniques, and network models to address biomolecular dynamics and solvents' role in maintaining their structure and dynamics. Her current research focuses on understanding the cosolvent-guided stability of proteins, protein aggregation prohibition, model membrane-small organic molecule interactions, and binding interactions between protein and glycan. Her research group also works on modeling salts and electrolyte additives for rechargeable batteries.
Positions Held:
Professor, NIT Rourkela, ( Since July 2024 )
Associate Professor, NIT Rourkela, ( Feb 2020 - June 2024)
Assistant Professor, NIT Rourkela, India (Nov 2011 - Feb 2020 )
Indo-US Research Fellow, University of Maryland Baltimore, USA (Dec 2013 - Dec, 2014)
Senior Research Fellow, (CSIR-UGC), IIT Kharagpur, India (Feb 2009 - Nov 2011)
Junior Research Fellow, (CSIR-UGC), IIT Kharagpur, India (Feb 2007 - Feb 2009)
Junior Research Fellow, (Institute) IIT Kharagpur, India (Jan 2006 - Feb 2007).
Scholarships/Awards/Recognitions
Member of the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI), Prayagraj (2025)
CRSI Bronze Medal 2023 (2023)
Fellow, Indian Chemical Society (2018)
BRNS-DAE Young Scientist Research Award, by BRNS-DAE India (2018)
Indo-US Research Fellowship Award, by Indo-US Science & Technology Forum, DST (2013)
DST-FASTTRACK Young Scientist Award, by DST India (2013)
1st Prize, Eli-Lilly Asian Outstanding Thesis Award, by Eli-Lilly Company, USA (2012)
JRF CSIR-UGC NET, India (2005)
GATE, India (2005, 2006)
National Scholarship (1998)
Memberships:
Life Member, Indian Biophysical Society, (2025)
Life Member, Indian Photobiology Society, (2024)
Community Member, American Chemical Society (2020)
Life Member, Indian Chemical Society, (2018)
Life Member, Chemical Research Society of India (2013)
Member, Odisha Chemical Society, (2013)
Education:
Ph.D., Chemistry (Computational Biophysics), Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, 2012
Thesis Advisor: Professor Sanjoy Bandyopadhyay
Department of Chemistry
IIT-Kharagpur
M.Sc., Chemistry (Spl: Physical Chemistry), Vidyasagar University, Midnapur, West Bengal, India, 2005
B.Sc., Chemistry (Honours), with Physics and Mathematics, Midnapur College, Vidyasagar University, Midnapur, West Bengal, India, 2003
Professional/Postdoctoral Research Experiences:
Indo-US research fellow, Computer Aided Drug Design Center, University of Maryland Baltimore (Dec 2013 to Dec 2014)
Short-term visiting fellow, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago (May-June, 2012)
Referee:
Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data, ACS
Inorganic Chemistry, ACS
Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, ACS
Journal of Physical Chemistry B, ACS
ACS Omega, ACS
Journal of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, RSC
Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, Taylor & Francis
Journal of Molecular Modeling, Springer