Join us

Email Sayan directly with your CV, a short cover letter on why our research interests you, and (for postdoc/PhD applicants) 1-2 possible funding sources you could bring or apply for. There's no fixed deadline. Positions are reviewed on a rolling basis, so reach out any time. Sayan aims to respond within a couple of weeks; a polite follow-up after that is completely fine.

PhD funding typically comes through an institute assistantship, which requires a GATE rank in the top 5% (95th percentile or above). If you're NET-qualified instead, you can bring your own fellowship to fund the PhD. Either requirement is waived if you have a Master's from a centrally funded institution (IITs, IISERs, NITs) with a CGPA of 8.0 or higher. Stipend amounts follow standard national norms, and for exceptional candidates, a top-up from the lab's project funds may be possible, just ask Sayan about this upfront.

Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship (PDF) positions come up periodically, ask Sayan if one's currently open. Otherwise, Sayan is happy to help strong candidates prepare external fellowship applications (NPDF, DST WISE and similar), and project postdoctoral positions are sometimes available too, worth asking about when you get in touch.

It depends on the role. UG and Master's students are welcome with no prior experience. We'll train you. PhD applicants should be JRF/GATE qualified (or equivalent) in chemistry, materials science, physics, chemical engineering, or related domains. Postdoc applicants should have a PhD with relevant experience in materials chemistry, catalysis, organometallics or photochemistry.

Most of all, a genuine willingness to learn and take ownership of a project, technical background matters less than curiosity and follow-through. For PhD and Master's applicants, a strong foundation in your subject and a clear interest in our research areas go a long way. For postdoc applicants, we generally look for 1-2 first-author publications in Q1 journals relevant to our research, alongside a track record of independent problem-solving.

IIT Kanpur's standard PhD admissions route is through GATE/JRF/NET, but we're happy to discuss alternative pathways for international or self-funded candidates. Email Sayan to talk through your situation.

Not as a prerequisite: most of our work is experimental (synthesis, catalysis, electrochemistry, materials characterisation). Basic data analysis skills (Excel/Origin/Python) are useful but can be picked up on the job. If you're strong computationally, we can shape a custom project with a heavier analytical emphasis to match.

Hands-on, lab-based research on real decarbonisation problems: building and testing adsorbents, catalysts, electrolysis cells or membranes, using robust experimental and validation techniques. Projects span the four themes on our Research page, often in collaboration with our partner labs.

SWACHH Lab is a small, growing group with around a dozen members, ranging from postdocs to graduate students to interns. We value close mentorship, regular one-on-ones, and a collaborative culture where senior members help onboard newer members. Day to day, the culture is self-driven, with real project ownership: you're expected to take initiative on your project rather than wait for step-by-step instructions, but with regular check-ins and support whenever you're stuck. We'd rather you learn to troubleshoot and think independently than simply follow a fixed protocol.

Yes. National conference visits within India are supported directly by the lab or the department. International conference travel can be supported through external funding agencies such as ANRF (Anusandhan National Research Foundation), students can also contribute their own contingency funds toward this, and Sayan actively helps students and postdocs prepare these applications as well as fellowship and job applications.

Roughly 9am-6pm on weekdays, with weekends and gazetted holidays generally off. Science doesn't always run on a schedule, so there's flexibility around that, but we don't expect students to work beyond hours, on weekends, or on gazetted holidays.

PhD students follow IIT Kanpur's institute-wide leave rules: 15 days of vacation leave and 8 days of casual leave per semester (partially carried over if unused), plus 8 days of medical leave per semester with a medical certificate, none of which affect your stipend. Maternity leave of up to 3 months is also available. Longer absences need a supervisor-approved semester leave. Postdoctoral Fellows are eligible for 30 days of personal leave and 8 days of casual leave per academic year, plus up to 20 days of unpaid medical leave per academic year with a medical certificate. See the full institute leave rules for details.

IIT Kanpur is one of India's premier engineering institutes, on a large green campus in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. It offers strong research infrastructure, competitive institute fellowships, and a vibrant student community. SWACHH Lab is part of the Department of Sustainable Energy Engineering (SEE), one of IIT Kanpur's newer, mission-focused departments dedicated entirely to energy-transition research, spanning solar, storage, biofuels, hydrogen and decarbonisation technologies, and bringing together chemists, physicists and engineers with strong ties to industry and government energy programmes. SWACHH Lab itself is based in Lab 304(H), DJAC (Diamond Jubilee Academic Complex).

Kanpur is a large, historic industrial city in Uttar Pradesh, with a much lower cost of living than India's metro cities, a growing food and market scene, and good rail connectivity as a major junction on the Delhi-Kolkata line, plus a small domestic airport. Campus life at IIT Kanpur, with its own markets, eateries and green spaces, covers most day-to-day needs, with the wider city there for when you want a change of scenery.