A Sustainable Environmental Solution:  Biological Treatment of Morpholine and Its Derivatives (MAID) in Industrial Effluents 

Dr. Rupak Kumar, CDSCO, New Delhi 

The sustainable solution is an ancient core concept (ACC) that continues to be the only solution for healthy and productive life into a distant future. It is a multidimensional and multidisciplinary concept covering almost all spheres of human activity at global, national, local and individual scale. So it has become everybody’s cup of tea and observed to have two obligations on its two sides of a coin. One side is the alleviation of poverty and the other, the protection of environment. A perspective solution for environmental sustainability is achieved through the biological route which is considered as one of the cleaner, greener and safer, way of sustainable waste management practices for decontaminating wide range of pollutants and its mitigation. As per U.S EPA 2010, almost 4 billion pounds of toxic chemicals were released into the environment and increases annually at the rate of 16%. Morpholine and its derivatives (MAID) is one such chemical which is extensively used in myriad industries – from power plants to petroleum refineries. Consequent to its wide range of applications and solubility, significant amount of this chemical is released via industrial effluents into environment. In the natural environment, its secondary amine functionality leads to nitrosation to form N-nitrosomorpholine, a well characterized carcinogen. The large-scale annual usage of morpholine (25,000 CA) and its potentially carcinogenic effects thus have environmental interest for its sustainable solution. The focus of our research is to reduce the pollutant morpholine and its derivatives in industrial discharge and investigate the reduction in chemical oxygen demand (COD) via the route of microbial degradation to conserve the natural environment and resources, and to curb the negative impacts on biota.

Funding and Research Opportunities in Europe  

Prof. Dinesh Pathak, University of West Indies, St Augustine Campus, Trinidad. 

Funding and Research Opportunities in Europe  will be explored which can help students to choose European countries as destinations to do better science. 

Quantum Dots - New Class of extraordinary materials for future technology   

Prof. Dinesh Pathak, University of West Indies, St Augustine Campus, Trinidad. 

With the growing applications of Nanotechnology in devices, Quantum dots materials are also considered remarkable due to size dependent tunability. In this project, researchers will get an idea of quantum dot materials, their controlled synthesis/ processing , tunable properties and applications. This Technology is strongly being pushed into the market  e.g. Quantum dot display television by samsung etc and like in Solar cell they are expected to give efficiency near to 60 % 

Raman Spectroscopy Based Detection Technique 

Vikram Singh, Institute of Technology & Management Meerut 

Raman spectroscopy is a variety of vibrational spectroscopy that allows the easy interpretation and extremely sensitive structural identification of specimen-based on their unique vibrational properties which is also called fingerprints. Because of continuous technological developments in Raman spectroscopy, the technology has advanced in development and more applications are now possible. This project will demonstrates the preponderance of the principal categories of Raman spectroscopy. We will present, general project on theoretical and instrumental Raman technology, as well as its applications throughout many domains. The purpose of the project is to highlight potential applications of many types, particularly those developed to distinguish distinct specimens such as biological, chemical, microbiological, and many others. In this project, we will focus on Raman spectroscopy applications in the following domain, including theories, instrumentation, popular type Raman Spectroscopy & few application according to current scenario such as in Corona-virus detection & nano-material characterization, and even certain chemical field applications 

Using the in-silico approach "Protein Structure Prediction and Validation"

SOMENATH DUTTA, Young Research Fellow,  International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-Hyderabad), Pre-Ph.D. Fellow, IAAM Sweden. 

In this project, interns will learn how to retrieve biological data from various sources and how to work with it. Then, using the in-silico method, we will predict and validate the Protein's 3D structure. It covers everything from the basics through retrieval and browsing in filed databases like NCBI, Uniprot, and RCSB-PDB to BLAST, Pairwise Alignment, Multiple Sequence Alignment, and Phylogenetic Analysis. Finally, we'll look at how to predict a protein's 3D structure using homology modelling, as well as show how to validate this 3d structure. At last, we'll learn how to prepare a research paper, use plagiarism and citation detection software.

Unravelling COVID-19 mysteries using Data Science-based approaches 

Tarun Kumar, IIT Madras

Current pandemic has impacted our lives at all scales. To fight with the situation, policy makers develop several plans and execute them. In this project, we will understand the nature of spread of COVID-19 using epidemic models. We will study the impact of different guidelines issued by the state and central governments on the spread. This project will help us discover hidden information in such pandemics and our learnings can be utilized in future to combat such spreads. 

Review on methods for the treatment of wastewater containing Dyes and Pigments. 

Simran Sony, IIT Ropar

Dyes and Pigments are complex organic molecules that are widely utilized in different industries leading to effluent discharge, thus polluting water and disturbing the aquatic life. A wide range of physiochemical and biological methods have been introduced for the dye remediation. Constant research developments over the last decade resulted in the evolution of traditional physiochemical methods into advanced oxidation processes. Likewise, biological treatments have also advanced from using microorganisms to biocatalysts and integrated biochemical approaches for dye remediation. We will review articles to provide a connoisseur scientific insight based on the existing methodologies and recent advancements in the treatment of dye contaminated wastewater.

Introduction and Implementation of Machine Learning in Physics. 

Danish Furekh Dar, GSI Helmholtz Institute, Germany

Machine Learning (ML) is fast providing new powerful tools for physicists to bring out essential information from large amounts of data, either from experiments or simulations. In this project, the student will start by exploring basic insights of machine learning and later creating a model and implementing to some real physics datasets.

Biosynthesis of Copper-Zinc bimetallic nanoparticles for agricultural applications

Dr. Saravanan K, Creative Carbon Labs Pvt Ltd

The use of copper-based fungicides such as copper oxychloride 50% WP for agricultural practices have been well recognized. With the advent of nanotechnology, the biocidal property of copper nanomaterials and their composites have been explored towards developing antimicrobial nanoformulations. In recent times, biological synthesis of copper nanomaterials is continuously growing as it is regarded as environment friendly compared to other synthetic approaches. In this study, plant extracts from tulsi, scientifically known as Ocimum tenuiflorum (L.) would be employed to prepare copper-zinc bimetallic nanoparticles. Further, the prepared nanoparticles would be tested in vitro and in agricultural lands to evaluate the antimicrobial potency.

Science Communication on Environmental Issues: Using various platforms 

Dr. Monika Koul, Associate Professor, Department of Botany, Hansraj College University of Delhi

Science and Technology in India is progressing by leaps and bounds. In fact, we are becoming global leaders in many fields of science, especially space science, biological science, mathematics and astronomy. Many developmental projects have kickstarted and infrastructure has improved in every state of India. However, we are also facing challenges such as food insecurity, rising pollution of land and water and erratic weather conditions. Environmental pollution, natural calamities, disasters and pandemics are on rise. It is important to have trained manpower to communicate about these issues and raise awareness based on facts. It is also our responsibility to create a knowledge society and have informed opinions on scientific issues. I want students who are keen to write and communicate on these issues on TV, Social Media, Newspapers, Periodicals and magazines. I will guide students on various aspects of science writing and communication.

To create a visualization tool to understand basic Physics 

Vipul Badhan, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar

To perform a physics experiment and creating a numerical code using programing language to visualize the problem and theoreticaly predict the results of the defined problem 

The Journey of Yeast: from leavening bread and brewing beer to enabling Gene Cloning.

Vanshija Vashisht, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar

The project would be a detailed study into the world of Yeast, the omnipresent fungus and its many uses and both the chemical and the genetic component of its action with a focus on its manipulation for Gene Cloning .

It would comprise of the following sections:

Yeast in the Microcosmos and its Origin

Fermentation- the Action, the Chemistry and its uses 

“The Memoir of the Fermentation of Alcohol” by Louis Pasteur

History: Archaeological evidence of use of yeast in winemaking

Evolutionary trends of Yeast

Use in Food and Liquor Manufacture Today

Gene Cloning- An Introduction

Use of Yeast in Gene Cloning: (Lab visit)

Yeast Artificial Chromosomes- 

What are YACs?

How are these manufactured?

Advantages of YACs

Experiment: Preparation of Baker’s Yeast from molasses

Experiment: Preparation of Ginger beer with Yeast 

(a series of DIY experiments would also be undertaken)