Our Team

Dr. Hemant KumarHK
Principal Investigator

Dr. Hemant Kumar

Associate Professor · Computational Physics
Google Scholar Faculty Page

Dr. Hemant Kumar leads the SCALE Group at IIT Bhubaneswar. He joined IIT Bhubaneswar in 2019 as an Assistant Professor and has served as Associate Professor since 2026. His group develops physics-based and data-driven models across AI for materials, molecular simulation, electrolyte and battery materials, nanoscale systems, genome biophysics, and gene regulation, while training students at the interface of computational physics, statistical mechanics, molecular simulation, machine learning, and materials or biological systems.

Current research directions

  • AI for materials, electrolyte design, and sodium batteries
  • Solid electrolytes, ion transport, and multiscale simulation
  • Genome biophysics, DNA packing, and gene regulation
  • Physics-based models from bioinformatics and molecular data
School of Basic Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar
Room 133, SBS Building
hemant[at]iitbbs.ac.in
+91 674 713 5404
PhD, IISc Bangalore · Postdoc, UPenn
2019
Current Members

Current Scholars

Swayamshree SenapatiSS
Swayamshree Senapati
Gene Regulation · TADs
Working on coarse-grained models of genome organization, TAD-level regulation, and kinetic descriptions of transcriptional activity.
Coarse-grained MDTADsEnhancer-promoter contactsGene regulation
swayamshree[at]iitbbs.ac.in
Sidhant Kumar BarikSK
Sidhant Kumar Barik
Ion Transport · Liquid Electrolyte Design
Working on ion transport and liquid electrolyte design for battery systems, using multiscale simulations and machine-learning potentials to connect solvation structure with electrolyte performance.
Ionic transportLiquid electrolytesMultiscale simulationsML potentialsComposite electrolyteElectrolyte design
a22ph09003[at]iitbbs.ac.in
Soumyashree Das AdhikariSA
Soumyashree Das Adhikari
Sulfur Cathodes · Battery Materials
Working on sulfur cathode synthesis and design for battery materials, combining DFT, electrolyte and solvation insights, and electrochemical analysis to understand mechanisms controlling battery performance.
Liquid electrolytesIonic solvationElectrochemical analysisDFTSulfur cathodes
a23ph09010[at]iitbbs.ac.in
Itipragnya PatiIP
Itipragnya Pati
Ion Transport · Sodium-Sulfur Batteries
Working on ion transport, liquid electrolyte design, and sodium-sulfur battery materials, using molecular dynamics simulations and machine-learning-assisted models to understand electrolyte structure and battery performance.
Ionic transportElectrodesComposite electrolyteElectrolyte designSodium-sulfur batteries
a24ph09020[at]iitbbs.ac.in
Ashutosh SrichandanAS
Ashutosh Srichandan
PhD Student · Electrolytes for Metal Batteries
Joined in July 2026. Working on electrolyte design for metal batteries using molecular simulation and machine-learning models.
Electrolyte designMetal batteriesMD simulationsML models
Debojyoti MahanataDM
Debojyoti Mahanata
PhD Student · Quantum Materials
Joined in July 2026 under joint supervision with Prof. Rajan Jha. Working on quantum materials using first-principles and machine-learning approaches.
Quantum materialsDFTML
Aritri SarkarAS
Aritri Sarkar
MSc Project Student · Composite Electrolytes
Working on composite electrolytes using molecular dynamics simulations and machine-learning models.
Composite electrolytesElectrolyte designMD simulationsML models
ShobhnaS
Shobhna
MSc Project Student · Liquid Electrolytes for Metal Batteries
Working on liquid-electrolyte design for metal batteries using molecular dynamics simulations and machine-learning models.
Liquid electrolytesMetal batteriesMD simulationsML models
Former Members

Alumni

Dr. Saheb Bera
2D Materials & MXenes
PhD 2025
Dr. Pratik Mishra
Sensors & Devices
PhD 2025
Dr. Vishnu Sudarsanan
ML Potentials for Battery Materials
Postdoc 2025
Sweta Das
2D Materials & Tribology
PhD 2025
Dr. Ram Sewak
ML for Solid-State Electrolytes
Postdoc 2023