List of Projects (academic and otherwise)

Current

PhD

My PhD work focuses on the use of Non-Equilibrium Statistical Physics tools to answer questions in ecology. Systems in the natural world are constantly changing and fluctuating. These are very different from the kinds of systems that physicists studied extensively in the last century, i.e, equilibrium systems. Ecosystems are an example of a very complex system that has a lot of interactions which can potentially drive it away from equilibrium. For systems outside equilibrium, time becomes an important parameter.

In this backdrop, my PhD currently focuses on how ecosystems react to perturbations. We are able to model ecosystems by considering different processes and associated parameters. When there is a fluctuation or a change in one of these parameters, the system reacts to it. Currently, my work is trying to predict how these reactions will occur under different scenarios. The work is still in initial stages. Once there are more details, I will update a page with more explanation.

Past

Cogito137 - Science Communication Magazine

While at University for Master of Science degree, I was involved in starting a science communication magazine (around Febraury 2020). The initiative was spearheaded by one of the PhD students in the university, Arunita. I served as the initial website manager and the magazine designer in addition to helping set up the magazine. The initiative has been very active for over a year and is involved now in conducting various national level workshops and symposiums in collaboration with ministries and institutes across India. The magazine also highlights various Women scientists working in different IISERs (the set of national science universities in India). The issues and the articles can be found online here - Cogito137.

Campus Radio IISER Kolkata

During Bachelors at University, I was involved in setting up the university radio station. I served as the Chief of Operatiosn for this internet based radio for over a year. Currently, this initiative is very active within the university, publishing weekly newsletters and conducting various talk shows and informative shows for the students and the local population near the University.

Non-Linear Workbook in Python

The Nonlinear Workbook by Willi Hans Steeb is a book with various algorithms and methods used in the field of non-linear dynamics. The book contains the tools and brief overview of the math behind the tools, ranging from chaos to genetic algorithms to neural networks.

During this project under the supervision of Dr. Ananda Dasgupta at IISER Kolkata, I attempted to try and code these algorithms in Python (sometimes using additional packages). The ultimate goal was to try and maybe convert this into a package for ready use. But that wasn't achieved. In due time, I will try and continue to pursue this goal.

Additionally, Dr. Ananda Dasgupta has a very nice blog at Cafe Physics. It has not been updated in a while, but even the old ones are very refreshing and provide very good insight into different topics in Physics.