Dr. Debdip Bhandary
SCoPE Lab
Soft & Condensed Matter Process Engineering Lab
Department of Chemical Engineering & Technology, IIT (BHU) Varanasi
We use natural intelligence to solve complex engineering problems in interfacial science. We model molecular interactions using hard and soft potentials and build virtual stages where these molecules move (MD / MC / DPD / QM) to reveal how they evolve in time and space, and we teach machines (ML) to learn from that evolution and develop AI algorithms that accelerate the process. Statistical mechanics turns positions and forces into properties, which is how we build an engineering understanding of interfaces.
We complement this with experiments and continuum-scale modelling in the Interfacial Science & Engineering (ISE) group, a multi-department research group at IIT (BHU).
Team | Openings | Alumni | Contact
Team
Principal Investigator
Dr. Debdip Bhandary
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering & Technology, IIT (BHU), Varanasi
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, IIT Kanpur · Post-doctoral research- RPTU, Kaiserslautern, Germany
Project Scientist
Dr. Yagyank Srivastava
ANRF Project Scientist I
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay
Next-generation energy devices through data engineering
Research Scholars
Akanksha Soni
On professional leave
M.Tech., Chemical Engineering, MNNIT Prayagraj
Response behaviour of polymers, and the design of a multi-responsive polymer material
Prateek Chowdhury
SCoPE alumnus, M.Tech. 2022
M.Tech., Chemical Engineering, IIT (BHU) Varanasi
Dynamics of liquid crystals
Co-supervised with Dr. Abir Ghosh
Sangeeta Kumari
CSIR - NET Junior Research Fellow
M.Sc., Life Sciences, Central University of South Bihar, Gaya
Drug delivery and the dynamics of siRNA
Co-supervised with Dr. Pradip Paik
Anshika Tiwari
M.Sc., Microbiology, Patna University
Computational molecular genetics engineering
Amartya Sam
ANRF Junior Research Fellow
M.Sc., Chemistry, Burdwan University
Hairy nanoparticles and their multi-functionality
M.Tech. Students
Gurpur Pavan Pai · joined 2025
B.E., Chemical Engineering, R. V. College of Engineering, Bengaluru
Interfacial engineering
Kuldeep Singh · joined 2025
B.E., Chemical Engineering, Panjab University
Interfacial engineering
Amit Vishwakarma · joined 2026
B.E., Chemical Engineering, NIT Durgapur
Interfacial engineering
Ankur Niranjan · joined 2026
B.E., Chemical Engineering
Project being finalized
B.Tech. Project Students
Sravan and Tanmay Jha · 2025–26
Modeling battery health
Uday Sakya and Suraj Verma · 2025–26
Structural correlation on a curved surface
Shravani, Subham Meena, and Subeyal Wali · 2025–26
Structure–diffusion correlation in electrolytes
Interns
We host a small number of summer interns each year. See Openings.
Openings
We are looking for people who want to spend a few years building something carefully. Motivated students and PhD candidates are welcome to join the shindig.
- Ph.D. (institute admission): Applications open in April and October. Background in Chemical Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, or Life Sciences. Prior exposure to LAMMPS, GROMACS, or Python is an advantage, not a requirement.
- Project positions (JRF/Project Associate): 1-2 Openings are available, depending upon the background and project requirements.
- M.Tech. and B.Tech. projects: TWO projects each year in interfacial engineering, energy materials, and soft matter.
Write to debdip.che@iitbhu.ac.in with your CV and a one-page research statement. Please mention the name of the position in the subject line.
Alumni
Name | Degree | Thesis / project | Present Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abhay L. Jasani | M.Tech., June 2026 | Battery engineering | Kingfa Sci. & Tech., China |
| Niraj K. Laladiya | M.Tech., June 2026 | Interfacial engineering at the electrode/electrolyte interface | Kingfa Sci. & Tech., China |
| Dr. Mona Vishwakarma | Ph.D., June 2025 | Estimation of the energy barrier for micelle-mediated nucleation growth on surfaces: strategic reduction and application in drug delivery | National Post-Doctoral Fellow, ICT Jalna Project Associate, IIT Kanpur |
| Amit Roy | B.Tech., May 2025 | Characterising molecular structuring at vapour–liquid interfaces | LOHUM, Pune |
| Umang Agarwal | B.Tech., May 2025 | Excess-entropy–diffusivity scaling for interfacial properties | Ph.D. candidate, Materials Science, National University of Singapore |
| Dr. Sushma Yadav | National Post-Doctoral Fellow, 2024 | Next-generation energy devices | Delhi University |
| Mahesh Dhakad | M.Tech., June 2024 | Interfacial behaviour of hairy nanoparticle droplets on atomically smooth to physically patterned rough surfaces | Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. |
| Shweta Kumari Nathani | M.Tech., June 2024 | Molecular dynamics study of positive electrode materials for sodium-ion batteries | L&T, Mumbai |
| Ayush Jha | B.Tech., June 2024 | Electric-field-induced instabilities in nano-water droplets | Ph.D., Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University |
| Priyanka Ghosh | SERB Junior Research Fellow, 2022–23 | Quantification of solvent behaviour | Ph.D., Chemistry, IIT Indore |
| Chiragkumar C. Solanki | M.Tech., June 2023 | A molecular insight into positive electrode materials for sodium-ion batteries | HWB plant, Tuticorin |
| Deepanshu Bagwan | M.Tech., June 2023 | Structure and dynamics of polymer-tethered nanocomposites in bulk and at interfaces | — |
| Prateek Chowdhury | M.Tech., June 2022 | Interfacial and cargo-carrier behaviours of amphiphiles | Ph.D. candidate in the group |
| Gauri Garg | M.Tech., June 2021 | Study of model polymer chains using molecular dynamics simulations | — |
Contact
SCoPE Lab, Room 222, Department of Chemical Engineering & Technology,
IIT (BHU) Varanasi, Varanasi 221005, India
Phone: +91-542-716-5973 · debdip.che@iitbhu.ac.in
Page last updated: September 2026
Research Interests
Computational Tools
Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator · classical molecular dynamics
Molecular dynamics, with a focus on biomolecular systems
Electronic structure and materials modelling from first principles
Computing Facility
2 × GPU workstations
Intel Xeon, 32 cores · NVIDIA RTX 5000 16 GB · 128 GB DDR4
2 × CPU workstations
Intel Xeon, 48 cores · NVIDIA P4000 5 GB · 192 GB DDR4
IIT (BHU) Varanasi · 837 TFLOPS
192 CPU nodes · 20 high-memory nodes · 11 GPU nodes
Research Funding
- Te-MobiX, MAHA-EV Mission, Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), Government of India · June 2025
- Start-up Research Grant (SRG), Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), Government of India · December 2021
- Institute Seed Grant, IIT (BHU) Varanasi · October 2019
Position Opening
One ANRF-funded Junior Research Fellow position is open on the Te-MobiX project
Motivated students and doctorates holding their own fellowship are welcome to be part of the shindig. Write to debdip.che@iitbhu.ac.in with your CV and a brief research statement.
Updated: September 2026
Publications
Just accepted
Mahesh Dhakad, Deepanshu Bagwan, Amartya Sam, Debdip Bhandary; Soft Matter, 2026. Accepted.
review
Excess Entropy–Diffusivity Scaling Approach for Predicting Cononsolvency in Aqueous NIPAm–Cosolvent Systems
Akanksha Soni, Debdip Bhandary; under review.
From Miscible to Immiscible: Excess-Entropy Scaling Signatures of Solvation in Methanol, Ethanol, and Hexane in Water
Akanksha Soni, Priyanka Ghosh, Debdip Bhandary; under review.
Prateek Chowdhury, Satyajeet Choudhury, Debdip Bhandary, Abir Ghosh; Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 1038, 2026, A54.
Mona Vishwakarma, Debdip Bhandary; Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 130 (23), 2026, 5902–5912.
Desh Deepak Yadav, Debdip Bhandary, Pradip Paik; Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 28, 2026, 13304–13308.
Thermodynamic Discontinuity in Evaporating Thin Solvated Nematics
Prateek Chowdhury, Debdip Bhandary, Abir Ghosh; Journal of Chemical Physics, 164, 2026, 114701.
Can Excess-Entropy–Diffusivity Lens Re-image Wettability?
Prateek Chowdhury, Umang Agarwal, Debdip Bhandary; Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 130 (11), 2026, 4256–4263.
Mona Vishwakarma, Debdip Bhandary; Computational Materials Science, 266, 2026, 114537.
Divya Mathur, Vipin K. Maikhuri, Sushma Yadav, Nidhi Bhardwaj, Shreya Pandey, Hangshika Sharma, Meenakshi Thakur, Alok Chandra Bharti, Debdip Bhandary, Anna Senrung; In Silico Pharmacology, 14, 2026, 10.
Molecular Insights into the Bio-oligomer Complexation with siRNA towards Therapeutic Applications
Desh Deepak Yadav, Debdip Bhandary, Pradip Paik; Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 129, 2025, 8166–8176.
Sukanya Patra, Desh Deepak Yadav, Gurmeet Singh, Jyotirmayee, Prakriti Sundar Samanta, Divya Pareek, Aman Srikant Kukada, Anjali Ramsabad Mourya, Debdip Bhandary, Pradip Paik; Nanoscale, 17, 2025, 20231–20250.
Mona Vishwakarma, Debdip Bhandary; Journal of Molecular Liquids, 430, 2025, 127708.
Mona Vishwakarma, Debdip Bhandary; Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 703, 2024, 135403.
Micelle-Mediated Growth of Gold Nanocrystals on a Surface
Mona Vishwakarma, Debdip Bhandary; Computational Materials Science, 247, 2024, 113147.
Solution Critical Temperature through Excess-Entropy–Diffusivity Lens
Akanksha Soni, Debdip Bhandary; Journal of Molecular Liquids, 394, 2024, 123785.
Influence of Temperature-Guided SAM Growth on Wetting and Its Mass Transfer Models
Prateek Chowdhury, Ayush Jha, Debdip Bhandary; Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 127 (38), 2023, 8208–8215.
Evolution, Stability, and Applicability of Surfactant Aggregates in Targeted Delivery
Prateek Chowdhury, Debdip Bhandary; Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 127 (13), 2023, 3001–3009.
Presentations
Presenting author in bold.
Solution Critical Temperature through Excess-Entropy–Diffusivity Lens
Akanksha Soni, Debdip Bhandary; IIChE CHEMCON 2023, Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata, 27–30 December 2023.
Electrodynamic Instabilities in Levitated Droplets: A Molecular Insight
Prateek Chowdhury, Ayush Jha, Debdip Bhandary; IIChE CHEMCON 2023, Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata, 27–30 December 2023.
Understanding Critical Solution Temperature through Excess-Entropy–Diffusivity Lens: A Molecular Dynamics Study
Debdip Bhandary; AMMM-2023, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, 11–14 December 2023.
Critical Solution Temperature through Excess-Entropy–Diffusivity Lens
Debdip Bhandary; Soft-Matter Young Investigators Meet (SMYIM-2023), Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand, 12–14 June 2023.
Discharge Landscape of Methotrexate from Chitosan-Based Capsules Poster
Mona Vishwakarma, R. Verma, M. Kumar, Debdip Bhandary; International Conference on Complex Fluids and Soft Matter (CompFlu-2022), IIT Kharagpur, 19–21 December 2022.
Entropy Scaling to Characterize the Responsive Behaviour of PNIPAm Poster
Akanksha Soni, Priyanka Ghosh, Sakshi Alegaonkar, Debdip Bhandary; International Conference on Complex Fluids and Soft Matter (CompFlu-2022), IIT Kharagpur, 19–21 December 2022.
Self-Assembly Driven Ripening of Nanocrystals
Mona Vishwakarma, Debdip Bhandary; Sustainability, Department of Chemical Engineering, University College of Science & Technology (Rajabazar Science College), University of Calcutta, Kolkata, 18–21 December 2022.
Self-Assembly Driven Ripening of Nanocrystals
Mona Vishwakarma, Debdip Bhandary; ME@75 Research Frontiers Conference, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 29 June – 1 July 2022.
Can Surfactants Be Used for Drug Delivery? A Molecular Dynamics Study
Prateek Chowdhury, Debdip Bhandary; ME@75 Research Frontiers Conference, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 29 June – 1 July 2022.
Courses Taught
Department of Chemical Engineering & Technology, IIT (BHU) Varanasi.
CHE532 Molecular Simulations Postgraduate
Odd semester 2024–25 2025–26 2026–27
CHE519 Mathematical Methods in Chemical Engineering Postgraduate
Odd semester 2023–24
CHE204 Mass Transfer Operations I Undergraduate
Even semester 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
CHO102 Fluid Mechanics Undergraduate
Odd semester 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
CHE211 Equipment Design Undergraduate
Even semester 2019–20 2020–21
Join the Group
A PhD in SCoPE Lab is computational. You will build molecular models, run them on our workstations and on Param Shivay, and turn positions and forces into something an engineer can use. Projects sit somewhere between soft matter, interfaces, and energy materials, and most of them involve a collaborator in another department.
We are looking for people eager to devote themselves to advancing science and technology. Motivated students and doctoral candidates are welcome to embark on another fascinating journey.
People who have finished here have gone on to doctoral programmes at Johns Hopkins, the National University of Singapore, IIT Kanpur, and IIT Indore, and to industry roles at Indian Oil, L&T, and LOHUM. The full list is on the people page.
Who We Are Looking For
A master's degree in Chemical Engineering is the most direct fit, but the group runs on people from several backgrounds:
Prior exposure to LAMMPS, GROMACS, Quantum ESPRESSO, or Python helps, but it is not a requirement — people have arrived here having written no code at all. Willingness to work across departments matters more.
Routes In
Institute Assistantship
Funded through IIT (BHU). Apply in the institute's PhD admission cycle, which opens in [months].
M.Tech. in Chemical Engineering preferred. B.Tech. holders with a valid GATE score are also eligible.
With your own fellowship
CSIR/UGC-NET JRF, DST INSPIRE, DBT, and other national fellowship holders can join outside the regular cycle.
Write anytime — there is no window to wait for.
Project positions
JRF and Project Associate posts on funded projects, currently including Te-MobiX under the ANRF MAHA-EV Mission.
ONE JRF position is available.
Fellowships You Can Bring
If you hold or can win one of these, the route in is simpler and you have more freedom over what you work on.
CSIR–UGC JRF (NET)
The most common route for candidates from science backgrounds. Apply before you join.
DST INSPIRE Fellowship
For high-ranking science graduates. Apply before you join.
ANRF–CII Prime Minister's Fellowship for Doctoral Research
Applied for after you register, within 14 months of registration, jointly with a sponsoring industry partner. Worth discussing with me early if you want to go this way.
Savitribai Jyotirao Phule Fellowship for Single Girl Child
UGC scheme. Apply before you join.
How to Apply
Email debdip.che@iitbhu.ac.in with the position in the subject line, and attach:
- Your CV.
- A one-page research statement: what you would like to work on, and why this group in particular. This is the part that gets read most carefully.
- Transcripts, and your GATE, NET, or fellowship details if you have them.
- Names and contact details of two referees.
A statement that could have been sent to any group is easy to spot. Reading one or two of our papers first will serve you better than a longer CV.
You can expect a reply within two weeks.
Updated: September 2026
About Me
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Technology at IIT (BHU) Varanasi, and I have been running SCoPE Lab here since July 2019. My work is in interfacial science and soft matter, approached through molecular simulations - molecular dynamics, Monte Carlo, dissipative particle dynamics, and first-principles calculations - with a growing interest in what machine learning can do to shorten the slow parts of that work.
I trained as a chemist before earning a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering, and took my M.Tech. and Ph.D. at IIT Kanpur, and worked at the Laboratory of Thermodynamics in TU Kaiserslautern (now RPTU) and at IIT Kanpur's high-performance computing facility before coming to Varanasi. The group's work has been supported by grants from ANRF, SERB, and the Institute.
What I can offer is a well-posed problem, the computing facility to attack it, and enough of my attention to see it through.
Education
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur | Advisor: Dr. Jayant K. Singh, Professor, Chemical Engineering
M.Tech., Chemical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur | Advisor: Dr. Animangsu Ghatak, Professor, Chemical Engineering
B.Tech., Chemical Engineering
University College of Science & Technology, University of Calcutta
B.Sc. (Hons.), Chemistry
Scottish Church College, University of Calcutta
Positions
Assistant Professor June 2019 – present
Department of Chemical Engineering & Technology, IIT (BHU) Varanasi
Senior Project Scientist
High-Performance Computing Facility, IIT Kanpur
Research Associate
Laboratory of Thermodynamics, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, Technical University of Kaiserslautern, Germany
Updated: September 2026