About Me

I am originally from the east Indian state of Odisha, however I have had the somewhat unique experience of having grown up in various cities across India (Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh and Delhi!). This provided me with a wide variety of perspectives, and connect with people from across India.

Apart from astronomy, I am actively engaged in science outreach for which I also write on platforms like Quora. Writing plays an important role for me, as I use short stories, poetry and music to express myself. I also play the guitar sometimes, and wouldn't mind joining a game of football!

You can find more about my professional background below:

EDUCATION

2021 - Present

Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching.

Here I'm pursuing my PhD at MPA, Garching working with Prof. Benedetta Ciardi.

2016 - 2021

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) - Mohali, India.

Here I completed my integrated Bachelor's and Master's degree in Physics with Astronomy minors. For my Master's thesis I worked with Prof. Kulinder Pal Singh and Dr. Vinay Kashyap (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory).

PAST RESEARCH EXPERIENCES

May 2020 - April 2021

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory | Harvard & Smithsonian

Here I worked with Chandra data to explore the possibility of star-planet interactions in the nearby star system HD179949. Worked remotely from India due to the CoVID-19 pandemic.

May 2019 - July 2019

Astronomisches Rechen Institut, University of Heidelberg

Here I worked with Prof. Andreas Just and Branislav Avramov, on data from numerical N-body simulations of the merger of 2 Supermassive Black Holes during a galaxy merger. I studied the interactions of the black holes with individual stars to better understand the properties of stars in the loss cone. Results have been showcased here: Properties of loss cone stars in a cosmological galaxy merger remnant.

May 2018 - July 2018

University of California, Santa Barbara

Here I worked on projects with Prof. Robert Antonucci and Dr. Vikram Khaire.

With Prof. Antonucci, I worked on understanding properties of AGN, and have been working on analysing archival data for various AGN sources (Cygnus A, PG1630+377, etc.). This work is still ongoing.

With Dr. Khaire, I worked on simulations on CLOUDY of the Circumgalactic Medium, to calculate the variation induced in estimates of physical parameters of the cloud like density and metallicity depending on the chosen UV Background model for quasars. Results have been showcased here: How Robust are the Inferred Density and Metallicity of the Circumgalactic Medium?

I have continued collaborating with Prof. Antonucci on other projects as well, and acted as a co-mentor to undergraduate interns he hired in 2019 and 2020.

May 2017 - July 2017

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai

Here I worked with Prof. Shankar Ghosh at the experimental soft condensed matter physics lab on the topic of “Granular Self-Organization by Autotuning of Friction under the influence of Controlled Mechanical Noise”. I developed an efficient and easily replicable experimental setup, to provide a source of mechanical noise to a granular system in a rotating cylinder, with controllable frequency and amplitude of noise. I also undertook the data collation process, using high-speed cameras, and developed an image processing code to study the motion of individual granules.