Dr. Palas Roy
Assistant Professor
- Office: 233, SBS
- palasroy@iitbbs.ac.in
- Department of Chemistry
Research Interests:
Latest News
1. First publication and cover art accepted in Chemical Science! Congratulations Suhani. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SC05548B
Dr. Palas Roy has joined IIT Bhubaneswar as an Assistant Professor in the School of Basic Sciences (Chemistry). He is a native of Berhampore (Murshidabad) in West Bengal. He did his BSc (Chemistry Honours) from Krishnath College Berhampore (University of Kalyani). He further went on to complete his MSc (Chemistry) from IIT Kharagpur and pursued his Ph.D. from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Mumbai (TIFR). His dissertation focused on the “Probing the Fate of Excitons in Organic Semiconductors”. His research interests include developing femtosecond spectroscopic tools to characterise excited state in organic semiconductors. Dr. Palas Roy has also worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Northwestern University, USA and Senior Research Associate at the University of East Anglia (UEA), UK. His postdoctoral work focused on developing femtosecond spectroscopic tools for studies of molecular photoswitches and dimers.
He received several awards for securing university topper position during BSc. His PhD was selected for the “2018 IUPAC-Solvay International Award for Young Chemists” (one of five winners worldwide) and “2019-Best PhD thesis award at TIFR”. He received Travel Grant from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) for attending an international conference (HOPV-2016) in the UK. His postdoctoral work at UEA received a “2021-Special Merit in Research Award” and oral presentation at several international conferences.
At IIT Bhubaneswar, Dr. Roy plans to investigate photodynamics in next-generation energy materials using time-resolved spectroscopy and provide design principle to improve their efficiency. Current focus of his Spectroscopy & Optoelectronics Lab is to control and efficiently harvest photogenearted triplet and charges.
Education
| Degree | Discipline | Year | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| BSc | Chemistry (Hons) | 2006-2009 | Krishnath College (University of Kalyani)) |
| MSc | Chemistry | 2009-2011 | Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur |
| PhD | Experimental Physical Chemistry | 2011-2017 | Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Mumbai |
MSc Spring 2023-25 Group Theory and Spectroscopy (CY5L008)
MSc Autumn 2024-25 Application of Fluorescence Spectroscopy (CY7L017)
ITEP Autumn 2024 Thermodynamics and Colligative Properties (CY2L301)
ITEP Spring 2025-26 Chemical Equilibrium & Electrochemistry (CY2L304)
BTech Spring 2023-25 Chemistry (Physical) (CY1L001, CY1L002)
BTech Autumn 2023-24 Chemistry Laboratory (CY1P001)
Current PhD Students
Sushree Suhani Puhan
[Ph.D. Joined Jul 2024] Research- Novel Blue light emitters; Email – a24cy09019@iitbbs.ac.in ; Hometown – Bhubaneswar; B.Sc. Chemistry Ravenshaw University; M.Sc. Chemistry Odisha University Of Technology & Research
Shubhendu Sekhar Patra
[Ph.D. Joined Dec 2024] Research- NIR Harvesting Photovoltaics; Email – s25cy09001@iitbbs.ac.in ; Hometown – Balasore; B.Sc. Chemistry Fakir Mohan Auto. College ; M.Sc. Chemistry Utkal University
Satyasmita Swain
[Ph.D. Joined Jul 2025] Research- Long-range Charge Separation; Email – a25cy09005@iitbbs.ac.in ; Hometown – Cuttack; B.Sc. Chemistry Utkal University; M.Sc. Chemistry Utkal University
Current Project Students
Pushkar Suman
[MSc Project, Jul 2025- May 2026] Research- Plasmonic Nanomaterials; Email – 24CY05019@iitbbs.ac.in ; Hometown – Rajasthan; B.Sc. Chemistry ….; M.Sc. Chemistry IIT Bhubaneswar
Allisha Panigrahi
[MSc Project, Jan 2026- May 2026] Research- Room-temperature Phosphorescence; Email – allishapanigrahi@gmail.com ; Hometown – Bhubaneswar; BS-MS Chemistry OUTR
Aniket Kapri [MSc Project, Jul 2023- May 2024]: Photon upconversion
Rittik Das [MSc Project, Jul 2024- May 2025]: Novel Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Materials
Lingampalli Likhith [Summer Intern 2024, 25]: Erasmus Mundus SERP master program
Hitanshu Kar [Summer Intern 2024]: BS-MS Chemistry NISER
Rudranarayan Pradhan [Winter Intern 2025]: MSc Chemistry IIT Delhi
Postdoctoral Opportunities:
PhD Opportunities:
Roy Group is aiming to push the limit of current state-of-the-art optoelectronic technologies by addressing the following questions.
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How molecules/materials behave in presence of light?
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What are the efficiency loss mechanisms?
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How to harvest photogenerated carrirers efficiently?
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Novel design principle to control their performance?
We develop time-resolved spectroscopic tools to investigate photodynamics in optoelectronic molecules and materials and design novel molecular breadboards. The current focus of Roy Group is alligned towards three challenging directions as follows.
Photodynamics in Molecules and Materials
Absorption of light by molecules leads to the formation of molecular excited states, consisting of coloumbically bound electron-hole pairs, called excitons. The excitons can undergo different processes (relaxation, emission, annihilation, formation of triplets and charges etc) depending on the nature of potential energy surfaces. In order to engineer the excited state potential, first it is important to understand the nature of the excited states and molecular parameters that govern their dyna
mics. We are investigating the photodynamics in next-generation optoelectronic molecules and materials. Novel insights thus obtained will be useful to design
efficient photomaterials which will be vital to place India at the forefront of optoelectronic research. The current projects are
*Tuning thermally activated delayed fluorescence (Suhani et al., Chem. Sci. 2026 Advance Article)
*Efficient blue light generation through Upconversion
*Harvesting triplets for energy conversion
Designing Molecular Optoelectronic Breadboards
Controlling the photogenerated excitons is essential for many new and emerging technologies in optoelectronics that will be vital to the economic success of India. However the current state-of-the-art optoelectronic materials are limited by the number of available methods and their efficacy in guiding these excitons for an output that can be radically new and lead to efficient emerging technologies. We ar
e coupling different molecules and materials in Molecular optoelectronic breadboards such that the excitons can follow the designed photodynamical pathways. This will direct excitons from one place to another providing a novel output. Efficacy of these processes in the breadboard will be investigated using time-resolved spectroscopic tools. The current projects are
*Designing photodynamics in hybrid materials
* Long-range charge separation for photovoltaics
Time-resolved Spectroscopic Tools
We are developing cost-effective time-resolved electronic and vibrational spectroscopic tools to characterise the excited state photodynamics. The current projects are building
* Time-correlated single photon counting spectrometer
*Flash photolysis spectrometer
* ns-Raman spectrometer
After Joining IITBBS:
- Sushree Suhani Puhan, Laxmipriya Dash and Palas Roy@; “Hydrogen-Bonding Environment Suppresses Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence” Sci. (2025 Just Accepted) DOI: 10.1039/D5SC05548B
- Palas Roy, Andy S. Sardjan, Wojciech Danowski, Wesley R. Browne, Ben. L. Feringa@ and Stephen R. Meech@; “Substituent effects on first generation photochemical molecular motors probed by femtosecond stimulated Raman” Chem. Phys. 161, 074504 (2024) DOI: 10.1063/5.0216442
- Palas Roy, Andy S. Sardjan, Wesley R. Browne, Ben. L. Feringa@ and Stephen R. Meech@; “Excited State Dynamics in Unidirectional Photochemical Molecular Motors” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 146, 18, 12255 (2024) DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c01019
- Palas Roy, ≠ Andy S. Sardjan,≠ Wojciech Danowski, Wesley R. Browne, Ben. L. Feringa@ and Stephen R. Meech@; “Control of Photoconversion Yield in Unidirectional Photomolecular Motors by Push-Pull Substituents” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 145, 36, 19849 (2023) DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c06070 (≠equal contribution)
- Palas Roy, Wesley R. Browne, Ben. L. Feringa@ and Stephen R. Meech@; “Ultrafast Motion in a Third Generation Photomolecular Motor” Nat. Commun. 14. 1253 (2023) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36777-6 (Editors’ Highlight)
- Kiri Addison, Palas Roy, Giovanni Bressan, Karolina Skudaite, Josh Robb, Philip B. C. Page, Eleanor K. Ashworth, James N. Bull and Stephen R. Meech@; “Photophysics of the Red-form Kaede Chromophore” Chemical Science, 14, 3763 (2023) DOI: 10.1039/D3SC00368J
Before Joining IITBBS:
- Pragya Verma, Mariusz Tasior, Palas Roy, Stephen R. Meech@, Daniel T. Gryko, and Eric Vauthey@; “Excited-state Symmetry Breaking in Quadrupolar Pull-push-pull Molecules: Dicyanovinyl vs. Cyanophenyl Acceptors” Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. (2023 Advance Article) DOI: 10.1039/D3CP02810K
- Palas Roy, Faisal Al-Kahtani, Andrew N. Cammidge, and Stephen R. Meech@; “Solvent Tuning Excited State Structural Dynamics in a Novel Bianthryl”, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 14, 253 (2023) DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c03469
- Palas Roy, Gokul T. Anandan, Nagaraj Nayak, Anil Kumar, and Jyotishman Dasgupta@; “Raman Snapshots of Side-Chain Dependent Polaron Dynamics in PolyThiophene Films” J. Phys. Chem. B 127, 567 (2023). DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c06185
- Giovanni Bressan, Michael Jirasek, Palas Roy, Harry Anderson, Stephen R. Meech@ and Ismael Heisler@;“Population and Coherence Dynamics in Large Conjugated Porphyrin Nanorings”, Chem. Sci. 13, 9624 (2022). DOI: 10.1039/D2SC01971J
- Palas Roy, Andy S. Sardjan, Arjen Cnossen, Wesley R. Browne, Ben. L. Feringa@ and Stephen R. Meech@; “Excited State Structure Correlates with Efficient Photoconversion in Unidirectional Motors” J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 12, 3367 (2021). DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c00710
- Palas Roy, Giovanni Bressan, Jacob Gretton, Andrew N. Cammidge, and Stephen R. Meech@; “Ultrafast Excimer Formation and Solvent Controlled Symmetry Breaking Charge Separation in the Excitonically Coupled Subphthalocyanine Dimer” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 60, 10568 (2021). DOI: 10.1002/anie.202101572
- Palas Roy, Andy S. Sardjan, Wojciech Danowski, Wesley R. Browne, Ben. L. Feringa@ and Stephen R. Meech@; “Photophysics of First-Generation Photomolecular Motors: Resolving Roles of Temperature, Friction, and Medium Polarity” J. Phys. Chem. A. 125, 1711 (2021). DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.0c11050
- Palas Roy@ “Hot-carriers in Organic Photovoltaics” Pure Appl. Chem. 93, 223 (2021). DOI: 10.1515/pac-2020-1001 (Invited article)
- Dale Green, Palas Roy, Christopher R. Hall, James N. Iuliano, Garth A. Jones, Andras Lukacs, Peter J. Tonge and Stephen R. Meech@; “Excited State Resonance Raman of Flavin Mononucleotide: Comparison of Theory and Experiment” J. Phys. Chem. A. 125, 6171 (2021). DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.1c04063
- Palas Roy@, and Jyotishman Dasgupta; “Temporal Probing of Excitons in Organic Semiconductors” Pure Appl. Chem. 92, 707 (2020). DOI:10.1515/pac-2018-1230 (Invited article)
- Andy S. Sardjan, Palas Roy, Giovanni Bressan, Laura Comprido, Wesley R. Browne, Ben. L. Feringa@ and Stephen R. Meech@; “Ultrafast Excited State Dynamics in a First Generation Photomolecular Motor” ChemPhysChem 21, 594 (2020). DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201901179 (Journal Cover Feature)
- Shawn Irgen-Gioro, Palas Roy, Suyog Padgaonkar, and Elad Harel@; “Low Energy Excited State Vibrations Revealed in Conjugated Co-Polymer PCDTBT” J. Chem. Phys. 152, 044201 (2020). DOI:10.1063/1.5132299
- KC Krishnapriya≠, Palas Roy≠, Ulrike Salzner, Jyotishman Dasgupta@ and Satish Patil@; “Spin Density Encodes Intramolecular Singlet Fission in Pentacene Dimers” Nat. Commun. 10, 1 (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07736-3 (≠equal contribution)
- Palas Roy, Shreetama Karmakar, and Jyotishman Dasgupta@; “Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy” Book Chapter-9 in “Molecular and Laser Spectroscopy: Advances and Applications” by Prof. V. P. Gupta, Elsevier 193-215 (2018). DOI:10.1016/B978-0-12-849883-5.00009-7
- Palas Roy, Ajay Jha, Vineeth B. Yasarapudi, Thulasi Ram, Boregowda Puttaraju, Satish Patil and Jyotishman Dasgupta@; “Ultrafast bridge planarization in donor-π-acceptor copolymers drives intramolecular charge transfer” Nat. Commun. 8, 1 (2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01928-z
- Melby Johny, K. Vijayalakshmi, Ankita Das, Palas Roy, Aseem Mishra and Jyotishman Dasgupta@; “Modulating Phe-Phe dipeptide aggregation landscape by covalent attachment of an Azobenzene photoswitch” Chem. Commun. 53, 9348 (2017). DOI: 10.1039/C7CC04106C
- Tushita Mukhopadhyay, Boregowda Puttaraju, Palas Roy, Jyotishman Dasgupta, Andreas Meyer, Alexander Rudnick, Steffen Tscheuschner, Frank-Julian Kahle, Anna Köhler, and Satish Patil@; “Facile Synthesis and Chain-length Dependent Optical and Structural Properties of Diketopyrrolopyrrole-based Oligomers” Chem. Eur. J. 23, 13718 (2017). DOI: 10.1002/chem.201702131
- Palas Roy, Ajay Jha, and Jyotishman Dasgupta@; “Photoinduced Charge Generation Rates in Soluble P3HT:PCBM Nano-aggregates Predict the Solvent-dependent Film Morphology” Nanoscale 8, 2768 (2016). DOI: 10.1039/C5NR06445G
2025 AOSC-2025 International Conference, Goa, India; Invited talk “Hydrogen-Bonding Environment Suppresses Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence”
2025 NSRP-2025 Symposium, NISER Bhubaneswar, India; Invited talk “Resolving the role of solvent polarity, viscosity and hydrogen-bonding in thermally activated delayed fluorescence”
2024 First Materials Chemistry Symposium 2024, ICT-IOC Bhubaneswar, India; Invited talk “Controlling Unidirectional Motor Performance through Push-Pull Substituents”
2023 International Conference on Molecular Energy Transfer in Complex Systems, Jaipur, India; Invited Hot-topic talk “Controlling Unidirectional Motor Performance through Push-Pull Substituents”.
2023 Kaleidoscope: A Discussion Meeting in Chemistry, Udaipur, India; Invited talk “Can Ultrafast Science Help Optimise Unidirectional Motor Performance?”
2023 International Conference on Time-resolved Vibrational Spectroscopy, The Netherlands; Online participation.
2022 Chemistry Research Day, UEA; Oral presentation “Ultrafast Charge Separation in Covalently Linked Anthracene Dimer”.
2021 Chemistry Research Day, UEA; Oral presentation “Ultrafast Raman Snapshot of Unidirectional Motors in Motion”.
2021 Chemistry Seminar Series, UEA; Oral presentation “Ultrafast photophysics of molecular dimers”.
2020 Chemistry Research Day, UEA; Oral presentation “Excited state structural correlation for efficient photoconversion in artificial motors”.
2019 IUPAC World Chemistry Congress, Paris; Posters presentation “Probing the Fate of Exciton in Organic Semiconductors”.
2016 TIFR-DCS annual talks, India; Posters presentations “Ultrafast Exciton and Charge Dynamics in Organic Semiconductors” and “Tracking Singlet Fission in Semiconducting Organic Nanoparticles”.
2016 International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics-2016, Swansea, UK; Oral presentation “Tracking Exciton Dynamics in Low-Bandgap Conjugated Polymers using Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy”.
2016 National Conference on Recent Advances in Optical Sciences-II, Hyderabad, India; Oral presentation “Photoinduced Charge Generation Rates in Soluble P3HT:PCBM Nano-aggregates Predict the Solvent Dependent Film Morphology”.
2016 International Conference on Optics Within Life Sciences, TIFR/IITB, India
2016 National Workshop on Fluorescence and Raman Techniques, TIFR, India
2016 Modern Trends in Electron Transfer Chemistry: From Molecular Electronics to Devices, ICTS, Bangalore, India; Poster presentation “Tracking Exciton Dynamics in Low Band-gap Conjugated Polymers using Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy”.
2014 Advances in Spectroscopy and Ultrafast Dynamics-2014 symposium, IACS, Kolkata, India; Poster presentation “Capturing Photoinduced Charge Transfer States of P3HT:PCBM Mixtures in Solution”.
2013 FCS Satellite Confocal Workshop-2013, IISC-Bangalore, India
2012 Workshop at 23rd International Conference on Raman Spectroscopy, IISC-Bangalore, India
2023-Till date Assistant Professor, IIT Bhubaneswar (IITBBS), Odisha, India
Research Area: “Photodynamics of Optoelectronic Molecules and Materials”
2019-2023 Senior Research Associate, University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich, UK
Project: “Ultrafast Dynamics of Molecular Dimers and Photoswitches”
Supervisor: Prof. Steve Meech, UEA, Norwich
2018-2019 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Northwestern University (NU), Illinois, US
Project: “Unraveling Vibronic Coupling driving Ultrafast Generation of Polarons”
Supervisor: Prof. Elad Harel, NU, Illinois
2011-2017 PhD Chemistry, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, India
Dissertation: “Probing the Fate of Excitons in Organic Semiconductors”
Supervisor: Dr. Jyotishman Dasgupta, TIFR, Mumbai
Thesis External: Prof James Durrant, Imperial College, London
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Department/Institute Level
2025 Moderator for Interaction Meeting, Chemistry Faculty Recruitment (Special Drive) at IITBBS
2025-28 Chemistry Teaching Assistant Duty Coordinator
2025-28 Incharge of UG/PG Chemistry Laboratories, IITBBS
2025 Indenter for High-end equipments (UV-Vis, Fluorescence, Cryostat, Raman Laser) for IITBBS
2024-25 Teacher at JNV’s Science Teachers Training program, IITBBS
2024 Organizing Committee member for 12th &13th Convocation at IITBBS
2024-Till Date Faculty Coordinator for visits of school/college student at IITBBS
2024 JAM Selection Chemistry, IITBBS
2024 IIT JEE Duty, Kolkata
2024 Faculty in Charge of Raman Spectrometer, SBS, IITBBS
2024 Faculty Coordinator for preparing BTech in Chemical Technology Syllabus
2023 IIT JEE (Advanced) 2024 Question Vetting (10-20th Dec)
2023-Till Date Faculty Advisor (ITEP Chemistry), IITBBS
2023-24 Faculty Advisor (BTech), IITBBS
2023 Faculty Advisor (MSc Chemistry), IITBBS (July-Sep)
2023 Faculty Coordinator for ITEP for preparing Chemistry syllabus and ITEP administration
2023 School Exam Coordinator (School of Basic Sciences) for Spring end-semester BTech exam
2023 Faculty Coordinator for G20-Open Day Exhibition at IITBBS
2023 Faculty Trainer for improving presentation skill of final year PhD students at IITBBS
Ministry Level
2023 Liaison Officer for Hon’ble MP Shri Biplab Kumar Deb during IIT Council Meeting 2023,
IITBBS
Conference/Workshop/Seminar Organizing Committee
2025 Convenor for organizing World Standard Day-2025 at IITBBS on 11th Oct, 2025
2025-28 National Organizing Committee for ICORS-2028, IACS Kolkata
2025 Convenor for organizing AMEES-2025 at IITBBS during 16-18th May, 2025
Outreach Activities
2025 Honorable Judge for the School-level Bal Vaigyanik Science Exhibition at KV IITBBS
2025 Teaching and Guidance talk in Chemistry for Class X students at KV IITBBS
2013-17 Demonstrated science experiments using femtosecond laser to school students at the annual
science outreach programme ‘Frontiers of Sciences’ at TIFR-Mumbai.
Journal/Grant Review Activities
2025 Reviewer for the Journal of Chemical Physics (Apr) and ACS Applied Energy Materials (Jun,
Aug)
2024 Reviewer for the Journal of Physical Chemistry (Jan)
2024 Reviewed research grant proposal from The Leverhulme Trust, UK
2023 Reviewer for the Journal of Physical Chemistry (Mar, May, Aug)
Other Activities
2025 Question moderator for Odisha Staff Selection Commission Test
2024 Question setter for Odisha Staff Selection Commission Test
2020 Made journal cover picture for ChemPhysChem 2020. DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202000179
2016 Student coordinator for organizing the international conference on ‘Optics within Life sciences
2016’ at TIFR